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INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
ABOUT 4,500 YEARS AGO, one of the greatest ancient civilizations developed
along the banks of the Indus River in the western Punjab. The Indus Valley people
occupied a huge area, bigger than Ancient Egypt and Sumer together. Many of them
lived in villages, farming the valley’s fertile soil. But the civilization centered on the
two large cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. These cities were carefully
planned, with streets running in straight lines, similar to a modern
American town. With their courtyard houses and walled citadels,
they were the most impressive cities of their time. But floods often
damaged the walls, and the buildings needed repairing regularly.
It was probably a combination of water damage and poor harvests
that led to the decline of the civilization. After 1600 bce,
the Indus Valley civilization came to an end.
SEAL
Indus merchants carried
small seals such as this,
which they probably used as
stamps to sign documents
or mark goods. Each seal
has a picture of an animal,
together with a few
characters in the Indus
Valley’s unique script. No
scholar has been able to
decipher this writing.
Citadel area contained large
buildings, such as the great bath and
granary, protected by a strong wall.
Harappa
Mohenjo-daro
INDUS VALLEY
The Indus River flows
through eastern
Pakistan. The Indus
people lived in a broad
strip of land on
either side
of the river.
Most houses had
two storys and a
central courtyard.
MOHENJO-DARO
Straight main streets
show that city was
carefully planned.
INDUS GODS
Many houses in
Mohenjo-daro and
Harappa contained small
pottery statues of a female
figure with a head-dress
and jewelry. She was
probably a mother goddess.
Indus Valley people may
have worshiped her at home,
hoping that she would bring
them good harvests and a
plentiful food supply.
WHEELED TOYS
The children of the Indus Valley played with pottery toys
such as this wheeled oxcart. It is probably a model of
similar, full-size carts that were used to
take corn to the city’s great granary.
Archaeologists have also
found dice, marbles, and
small wheeled animals.
Flat-roofed, mud-brick
houses lined the straight
streets of Mohenjo-daro. Each
house had several rooms, with
small windows to keep out
the hot Sun. A courtyard
provided a shaded space for
working. Most houses also had
a bathroom, with a toilet that
drained out into sewers beneath
the streets. The city also
contained a great bathhouse,
which may have been used for
religious purposes. Historians
think that Mohenjo-daro and
Harappa each had about
40,000 inhabitants.
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