Indus Valley Civilization

Old World Civilizations

Comparative Timeline

Harappan society and its neighbors, ca. 2000 B.C.E.

§Indus valley
–not desert
–well-watered and heavily forested
§500 miles along the river valley
–10-20 times larger than Mesopotamia or Egypt

Harappan culture sites

Foundations of Harappan Society

§The Indus River
–Silt-enriched water from mountain ranges
§Major society built by Dravidian peoples, 3000-2500 BCE
–Cultivation of cotton before 5000 BCE, early cultivation of poultry
–Decline after 1900 BCE
§Major cities: Harrapa (Punjab region and Mohenjo-Daro (mouth of Indus River)
–70 smaller sites excavated (total 1,500)

HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION

vWas discovered for the first time at Mohenjadaro and Harappa
vIs one of the modern and ancient civilizations.
vWas discovered in 1922 by Mr. R.D.Banerjee.
vIn Sindhi language, ‘Mohenjadaro’ means the ‘Mound of the Dead’.
§The Harappan culture existed along the Indus River in what is present day Pakistan.
§It was named after the city of Harappa. Harappa and the city of Mohenjo-Daro were important centers of the Indus valley civilization.
§This Indus Valley “civilization” flourished around 4000-1000 B.C.

CITY PLANNING

§very densely populated
§houses: two to three stories
§every house is laid out the same

§uniform culture over a wide area
§cities built on a common plan
–a grid: always NS and EW axes
§with twelve smaller grids
–kiln-dried brick

Major Cities: Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa

§The cities are well known for their impressive, organized and regular layout.
§They have well laid our plumbing and drainage system, including indoor toilets.
§Over one thousand other towns and villages also existed in this region.

§Harappa and Mohenjo-daro
–surrounded by smaller cities, towns, and villages
§one situated in the north
§one situated in the south

Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa

Mohenjo-daro

view of the “Citadel”

SALIENT FEATURES

§There was a separate fortified area and a distinct settlement.
§Two types of roads:-
i. Main roads

ii. smaller streets

MAIN ROADS:-
* 10 metres broad
* started from the main entrance of the fort
* reached the centre of the settlement

STREETS: 

§At Mohenjo-Daro narrow streets and alleyways are off of the major streets, leading into more private neighborhoods.Many of the brick houses were two stories high, with thick walls and high ceilings to keep the rooms cool in the hot summer months


SMALLER STREETS:
* parallel to each other
* Joined main road at right angle
* 2.45 meters in width

TOWN PLANNING OF INDUS CIVILIZATION

HOUSES :

* Made of burnt bricks

* Upper storey

* had kitchen and bedrooms

* had latrine and bathrooms

Double-stair house

Mohenjadoro houses and drains

Mohenjodaro toilets

A bathroom on a private residence

§Private wells were rebuilt over many generations for large households and neighborhoods.This well in DK G area at Mohenjo-daro stands like a chimney because all of the surrounding earth has been removed by excavation.
A large public well and public bathing platforms were found in the southern part of Mound AB at Harappa.
§These public bathing areas may also have been used for washing clothes as is common in many traditional cities in Pakistan and India today.

Mohenjo-Daro

§This shows the high western mound made up of a massive mud brick platform and brick houses of the Harappan period ( 2600 to 1900 B. C.).

§Pipes were fixed to facilitate water to reach underground drain.
§Underground drains had manholes provided with lids for the holding

A large drain or sewer

GREAT BATH

§12 meters long
§7 meters broad
§2.5 meters in depth







* Has steps to climb down into it from both the north and the south.

Great Bath – large structure whose central sunken area would have been
filled with water

GREAT BATH FLOOR

GRANNARY

§The "granary" of Harappa is found on Mound F.
§It is a brick structure that was built on a massive brick foundation over 45 meters north-south and 45 meters east-west.
§Two rows of six rooms that appear to be foundations are arranged along a central passageway that is about 7 meters wide and partly paved with baked bricks. Each room measures 15.2 by 6.1 meters and has three sleeper walls with air space between them. 


Warehouses to store grains were found at Harappa, Mohenjadaro and Lethal. 

Store house at Harappa

GRANNARY AND WELL

ECONOMY- AGRICULTURE

§The Mesopotamian model of irrigated agriculture was used to take advantage of the fertile grounds along the Indus River.
§Earthen walls were built to control the river's annual flooding.
§This civilization was the first to cultivate cotton for the production of cloth. Several animals were domesticated including the elephant which was used for its ivory. 

ECONOMY (AGRICULTURE)

§The Mesopotamian model of irrigated agriculture was used to take advantage of the fertile grounds along the Indus River.
§Earthen walls were built to control the river's annual flooding.
§This civilization was the first to cultivate cotton for the production of cloth. Several animals were domesticated including the elephant which was used for its ivory.

ECONOMY

§The Harappan civilization was mainly urban and mercantile.
§Inhabitants of the Indus valley traded with Mesopotamia, southern India, Afghanistan, and Persia for gold, silver, copper.
§Cubical weights in graduated sizes.
§These weights conform to the standard Harappan binary weight system that was used in all of the settlements.
§The smallest weight in this series is 0.856 grams and the most common weight is approximately 13.7 grams, which is in the 16th ratio. These weights were found in recent excavations at Harappa and may have been used for controlling trade and possibly for collecting taxes.

TRADE

§with lower Mesopotamia
§but gradually declined

The central ornament worn on the forehead of the famous "priest-king" sculpture from Mohenjo-daro appears to represent an eye bead, possibly made of gold with steatite inlay in the center.

gold disc


SOCIAL LIFE

§Wore cotton and woolen clothes
§Dyed their clothes
§Did embroidery works
§Women used cosmetics
§Used fashionable hair-die, jeweler of gold, silver, bronze 

Art of bronze making was well known to them.

Soapstone statue of man, covering his body by printed cloth

which passes on his shoulder & below his right armpit

* a bronze figure of a dancing girl is highly prized piece of art.

Bronze dancing girl

ORNAMENTS

§This collection of gold and agate ornaments (see next slide) includes objects found at both Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
§At the top are fillets of hammered gold that would have been worn around the forehead.
§The other ornaments include bangles, chokers, long pendant necklaces, rings, earrings, conical hair ornaments, and broaches.
§These ornaments were never buried with the dead, but were passed on from one generation to the next.
§These ornaments were hidden under the floors in the homes of wealthy merchants or goldsmiths. 

Wore ear-rings, necklaces, bangles, girdles and bracelets

Indus gold ornaments

Mohenjadaro necklace

NECKLACE

§Necklace from Mohenjo-Daro made from gold, agate, jasper, steatite and green stone.
§The gold beads are hollow and the pendant agate and jasper beads are attached with thick gold wire.
§Steatite beads with gold caps serve to separate each of the pendant beads.

TRADE

* large number of steatite seals , plates, pots, earthen dolls and gold were found.

Moulded terra-cotta
Man killing bear with spear

Clay Seals

Silver Seal

"unicorn" seal + writing

Seals with many animals like the Brahmin bull, tiger, elephant, unicorns were found.

Indus moulded tablet terra-cotta

Harappan tablets

More seals

Gharial eating fish on molded terra-cotta tablet from Mohenjo Daro.

Seated “yogi” : early Shiva?

UNICORN

§This unicorn seal was also discovered during the late 1927-31 excavations at Mohenjo-Daro.
§One theory holds that the bull actually has two horns, but that these have been stylized to one because of the complexity of depicting three dimensions.
§However the manufacturing and design process behind seals was so sophisticated that the depiction of three dimensions might not necessarily have been a problem.

COPPER

COPPER PLATE WITH VERTICAL SIDES 

PAINTED BURIAL POTS OF INDUS
INDUS POTS

CERAMICS



















ELEPHANTS


ARTIFACTS

§These egg shaped whistles may have been used for music, a tradition that is still present in rural areas of Pakistan and India. 

CLAY SCULPTURE

Figurines

§Inside the city is an area that has been identified as a crafts quarter.
§Large quantities of manufacturing debris have been found in this area indicating the presence of workshops for making stone beads, shell ornaments, glazed faience ornaments, stone tools and possibly even gold working.

Workshop for making beads, shell ornaments 

- Harappa mound

BURIAL

§The body was placed inside a wooden coffin (which later decayed) and entombed in a rectangular pit surrounded with burial offerings in pottery vessels.
§The man was buried wearing a necklace of 340 graduated steatite beads and three separate pendant beads made of natural stone and three gold beads. A single copper bead was found at his waist. 

They buried the dead. Items of daily use of the deceased were also deposited in the tomb. 
§This burial was disturbed in antiquity, possibly by ancient Harappan grave robbers.
§Besides the fact that the body is flipped and the pottery disturbed, the left arm of the woman is broken and shell bangles that would normally be found on the left arm are missing.
§The infant was buried in a small pit beneath the legs of the mother. 

Burial of woman and infant at Harappa

LANGUAGE
§The Indus (or Harappan) people used a pictographic script.
§Some 3500 specimens of this script survive in stamp seals carved in stone, in molded terracotta and faience amulets, in fragments of pottery, and in a few other categories of inscribed objects.
§In addition to the pictographic signs, the seals and amulets often contain iconographic motifs, mostly realistic pictures of animals apparently worshipped as sacred, and a few cultic scenes, including anthropomorphic deities and worshippers.
§This material is important to the investigation of the Harappan language and religion, which continue to be major issues.

THE ORIGINS OF INDUS WRITINGS

§The origins of Indus writing can now be traced to the Ravi Phase (c. 3300-2800 BC) at Harappa.
§Some inscriptions were made on the bottom of the pottery before firing.
§This inscription (c. 3300 BC) appears to be three plant symbols.

ANCIENT INDUS

DECLINE

§Floods
§Earthquake
§Destroyed by Aryan invasion
§Increase in population & livestock – exhausted the natural resources.
§Soil erosion due to large scale brick-manufacture.