The name of Mohenjo-daro

is widely recognized as

one of the most important

early cities of South Asia

Some buildings in L area are constructed on top of a massive mud brick platform that can be seen here as

grey-olive mud brick below the eroding red fired bricks.

The Great Bath is situated along a north-south street with a drain covered with limestone blocks. In the background is the so-called Granary, while in the

foreground are the walls of several domestic structures.

The "great bath" is without doubt the earliest public water tank in the ancient world. Most scholars agree

that this tank would have been used for special religious functions where water was used to purify and

renew the well being of the bathers.

At the foot of the stairs is a small ledge with a brick edging that extends the entire width of the pool. People coming down the stairs could move along

this ledge without actually stepping into the pool

itself. Small sockets at the edges of the stairs could

have held wooden planks or treads.

Great Bath

This drain cuts through the edge of the so-called granary. If the entire drain were constructed along with the Great Bath, this feature would

indicate that the original "granary" was built before the great bath

"Citadel" mound and Stupa in the mistLocal villagers cross the site in a donkey cart in the early

morning mist, with the Buddhist stupa perched on top of the "citadel" mound. The modern road winds through the low-

lying area between the "citadel" and "lower town."

One of these fragmentary figures is called the "Priest-King" even though there is no evidence that

either priests or kings ruled the city.

Male and female human figurines as well as animal figurines were made of terracotta

Various factors contributed to the decline of Mohenjo-Daro

There have been some suggestions

that the entire site was

destroyed by floods

These two local boys decided to hang out

in the ancient city after delivering a pot of milk to their father who is one of the site

watchmen. The distinctive decorated hat worn by the older

boy is worn throughout Sindh

province in Pakistan

The Indus River and "lower town"

The tops of eroding buildings have been capped with a protective layer of mud brick

This general view of houses shows the color of the brick walls prior to use of mud brick and clay

slurry for conservation. The lower parts of the walls have the natural reddish color of fired brick.

One relatively successful low cost technique used to

combat the destructive nature of

salts in the fired bricks is to cover the walls with a thick layer of

mud and straw plaster and to spray them

with clay slurry.

Some of the later houses were constructed on top of massive deposits of garbage consisting of

brick rubble, broken pottery.

Close-up view of the pillared hall, which may have been a hall of assembly with paved walkways and places for people to sit in ordered rows along each

aisle between massive brick pillars

A large open space or courtyard (10 meters square) is surrounded by a wall that had 13 openings, possibly for windows. This unique structure is situated in the northern part of an extremely large building complex

containing around 78 rooms and passageways, but no well. The building lies to the east of the Great Bath and was thought to be a "college" or

residence of priests.

Many houses had stairs leading to upper courtyards of the

building or to a second floor. This house in HR

area had a double staircase that would

allow people to enter and exit the upper

courtyard in an orderly fashion. Some scholars

feel this may have been a palace or a temple.

House A1 may have been a temple or palace of an important leader. Two doorways lead to a narrow

courtyard at a lower level. A double staircase leads to an upper courtyard surrounded by several rooms.

Toilets would have been an essential feature in Mohenjo-daro, but the early excavators identified most toilets as post-cremation burial urns or sump pots. This brick structure had

a hole in the top that was connected to a small drain

leading out of the base into a rectangular basin (not reconstructed). Early

excavators suggested this might have been a toilet.

In some neighborhoods, large courtyards were connected to numerous smaller buildings built at

different levels.

This view into two small rooms shows tapered

walls that were built to support a second floor. Later rooms were built directly on top of these

walls because they provided a strong

foundation.

The original walls in a large building complex referred to as the ChiefÕs house have been repaired and conserved. This view shows some reconstructed ground floor rooms and

steps leading to a second story room

Oxcarts could not reach many

of the urban neighborhoods.

Pack animals and pedestrians could have used

this narrow lane.

The streets and alleyways wind through

the neighborhood

and are oriented

along a strict grid plan.

Covered Drain emptying down slope on major street leading to the Great Bath.

Wells were made with wedge shaped bricks to make a strong circular structure. Some bricks were made with

special grooves to keep the ropes from sliding sideways when drawing water.

This oval well is located in room 19 northeast of Great Bath. It is the only well with an oval

structure and may have been used to

draw water for nearby bathing

platforms or for filling the Great Bath.

This well was associated with a finely constructed bathing platform. A stairway leads up to the well and platform from a lower room.