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

[Nagaraj Paturi]

This is a September ,2019 article:

https://www.beachcombingmagazine.com/blogs/news/mudlarking-modern-sacred-river

On Thu, May 14, 2020, 5:51 AM Elliot Stern via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> The same site Jacob referenced for the coins also offers cubes:
> https://www.nanubhaiindia.com/category/1472-lead-ramal.aspx.
>
> Elliot
>
> On May 13, 2020, at 7:55 PM, Richard G. Salomon via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> "... 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 _______________________________________________
>> >>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> >>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> >>> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
>> >>> committee)
>> >>> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list
>> >>> options or unsubscribe)
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> >> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> >> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
>> >> committee)
>> >> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list
>> >> options or unsubscribe)
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > INDOLOGY mailing list
>> > INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> > indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
>> > committee)
>> > http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options
>> > or unsubscribe)
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
>> committee)
>> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or
>> unsubscribe)
>>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
> committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or
> unsubscribe)
>
>
> Elliot M. Stern
> 552 South 48th Street
> Philadelphia, PA 19143-2029
> emstern1948 at gmail.com
> 267-240-8418
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
> committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or
> unsubscribe)
>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20200514/9eee2593/attachment.htm>