Ibra, the Indus Chimera | Seal M-300 Reimagined

Human face. Bull horns. Elephant trunk. Tiger hindquarters. Cobra tail. A 3D reconstruction of the composite creature on Indus seal M-300, found at Mohenjo-daro. Scholars read its parts as human, humped bull, elephant, tiger, cobra and markhor (Frenez and Vidale 2012). Some details are debated: the forelegs are read as markhor by Frenez and Vidale and as bovine by Mackay. This model follows Mackay's bovine reading. These identifications are interpretations of a worn carving, and the creature's meaning is unknown. The Indus script remains undeciphered. Name: Ibra, after a possible link to "(..)ibra, man of Meluhha", a partly broken name in a Mesopotamian inscription from Naram-Sin's reign. Reference: Frenez, D. and Vidale, M. 2012, "Harappan Chimaeras as Symbolic Hypertexts", South Asian Studies 28(2): 107-130.