[INDOLOGY] Lead cubes with Indic numeration found in Thames River

[Richard G. Salomon]

"... in rivers in England, America, Canada, and New Zealand" --  but not in
India?

Rich Salomon

On Wed, May 13, 2020 at 4:29 PM Jacob Schmidt-Madsen via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> The grids on the sides of the cubes are indeed magic squares. Every row
> of numbers, whether read orthogonally or diagonally, adds up to 36,
> which identify the magic squares as associated with Rāhu. This is also
> borne out by the inscriptions at the bottom which read: "aum rāhave
> namaḥ".
>
> A quick search online reveals several reports of circular and triangular
> tokens with magic squares of either Rāhu or Ketu turning up in rivers in
> England, America, Canada, and New Zealand. E.g.:
>
> [1] http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?topic=20365.0
>
> [2]
>
> http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/286825-lead-elephant-coins-lead-bull-squares.html
>
> A poster on the latter forum states that: "I saw this a few summers ago
> in St. Louis MO. There was a whole family beside the river and two were
> throwing these type coins in and a few other items. Didn't ask anything
> as you could tell they were trying to keep it private."
>
> I did not find any reports about cubes, but the circular tokens can, for
> instance, be bought here:
>
> https://www.nanubhaiindia.com/products/283-rahu-yantra-coin.aspx
>
> I wonder if it would be considered inauspicious to pick them up, or
> whether they would already have served their ritual purpose (whatever
> exactly that might have been)?
>
> Best,
> Jacob
>
> Jacob Schmidt-Madsen
> Postdoctoral Researcher
> University of Copenhagen
> Denmark
>
> Richard G. Salomon via INDOLOGY skrev den 2020-05-14 00:30:
> > How strange! I wonder if these are "magic squares," which Allen
> > Thrasher studied years ago (but I don't know if he's on this list).
> >
> > Rich Salomon
> >
> > On Wed, May 13, 2020 at 1:58 PM Valerie Roebuck via INDOLOGY
> > <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> >
> >> Intriguing. However, not the River Thames, but the River Sowe at
> >> Coventry (the city in the MIdlands where Lady Godiva took her famous
> >> ride).
> >>
> >> Valerie J Roebuck
> >> Manchester, UK
> >>
> >>> On 13 May 2020, at 20:31, Charles DiSimone via INDOLOGY
> >>> <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Dear friends,
> >>>
> >>> Is anybody familiar with the lead cubes in the attached picture?
> >>> These were intriguingly found in the Thames River recently. The
> >>> story from a local periodical is here:
> >>>
> >>
> >
> https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/mystery-60-peculiar-cubes-inscriptions-18232422
> >>>
> >>> I imagine these were deposited in the river rather recently, but
> >>> maybe someone knows more. I’m curious what the ritual
> >>> surrounding depositing such items in a body of water might be.
> >>>
> >>> All my best,
> >>> Charles
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>>
> >>> Dr. Charles DiSimone
> >>> Ghent University _______________________________________________
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