MADE BY: DEEPAK PRADHAN

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Harappa Civilization

HARAPPAN CULTURE Indus valley

not desert well-watered and heavily forested

500 miles along the river valley 10-20 times larger than Mesopotamia or Egypt

Great links to the sea and mountain passes allowed extensive trade.

At first scholars thought the civilizations of the Indus Valley had developed the art of city building from the Sumerians and other people of Mesopotamia, but later scholars believed that Harappa had grown up independently.

Written records, the key that re-opened the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt are scarce in the Indus valley. The only written materials so far discovered are seal inscriptions that give only limited information. Scholars have not succeeded in their attempts to decipher the script. They differ substantially in their interpretations. As a result, our understanding is limited.

HAD THE FIRST INDOOR PLUMBING AND DEVELOPED PLANNED CITIES.

The city of Harappa was vandalized for thousands of years before, as well as during the railroad constructions and few artifacts remain. Mohenjo-Daro was on a high water table, and any deeper excavation threatens to flood the site. It is impossible to dig down to the foundation level of the city.

LACK OF SOURCES literate culture

we cannot read the writing writing on bricks and seals did not use paper or clay tablets

Historians have not yet deciphered their system of writing.

“Unicorn” seal + writing

More seals

…and more seals...

Seated “yogi” : early Shiva?

CAREFULLY PLANNED CITIESOriginating around

2500 B.C.E. the thriving civilizations survived for around 500 years.

Both Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, two of the largest among 500 sites, were three miles in circumference with around 40,000 people.

MOHENJO-DARO AND HARAPPATo the north is a citadel or

raised area.In Mohenjo-Daro, the

citadel is built on an architectural platform about 45 feet above the plain.

On the summit was a huge communal bath.

Next to the large bath was a huge open space—a granary where food was stored from possible floods.

Fortified walls mark the southeast corner.

MOHENJO-DARO AND HARAPPA•The lower city was laid out in a gridiron with the main streets about 45 feet wide.•Private houses, almost every one with its own well, bathing space, and toilet consisting of a brick seat over a drainage area.•Brick-lined drains flushed by water carried liquid and solid waste to sumps, where it was carted away, probably to fertilize nearby fields.

MOHENJO-DARO AND HARAPPA•The town plan was regular.•Even fire-baked bricks were uniform in size and shape.•The regularity of plan and construction suggests a government with organization and bureaucratic capacity.•No monumental architecture clearly marks the presence of a palace or temple.•There is little sign of social stratification in the plan or buildings.

Grid map of Mohenjo-daro

Mohenjo-daro : aerial view

Mohenjo-daro view of the “Citadel”

The “Great Bath”

another view of the “Great Bath”

looks like a small tower, but actually it is a neighborhood well

A bathroom on a private residence

A public well in Harappa, or perhaps an ancient laundromat...

A large drain or sewer

ARCHITECTURE, CON’T large grain storage facilities near temples a theocracy ?? planned economy

Harappan granary

KEY FEATURES A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is

evident in the Indus Valley Civilization making them the first urban centres in the region. The quality of municipal town planning suggests the knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority on hygiene.

 Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets

The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms, and protective walls. 

SUMMARY Harappa was highly structured, organized

urban culture with an agricultural economy They probably worshipped gods and

goddesses of fertility and have practiced yogic meditation and asceticism.

The destruction of the civilization: flooding and water resources (the shifting of water system)

Thanks friends to listen me……

THE END