Harappa

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Indus valley civilization ancient civilization that flourished from about 2500 BC to about 1500 BC in the valley of the Indus River and its tributaries, in the northwestern portion of the Indian subcontinent, i.e., present-day Pakistan. At its height, its geographical reach exceeded that of Egypt or Mesopotamia. Since 1921 this civilization has been revealed by spectacular finds at Mohenjo-Daro, an archaeological site in NW Sind, and at Harappa, in central Punjab near the Ravi River. These sites, each of which measures more than 3 mi (5 km) in circumference, were once great urban centers, the chief cities of the Indus civilization. They had large and complex hill citadels, housing palaces, granaries, and baths that were probably used for sacred ablutions; the great bath at Mohenjo-Daro was c.40 ft (12 m) long and 23 ft (7 m) wide. Beyond the citadels were well-planned towns, laid out in rectangular patterns. Houses, often two-storied and spacious, lined the town streets; they had drainage systems that led into brick-lined sewers. The economy of the Indus civilization was based on a highly organized agriculture, supplemented by an active commerce, probably connected to that of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. The arts flourished there, and many objects of copper, bronze, and pottery, including a large collection of terra-cotta toys, have been uncovered. Most notable, however, are the steatite seals, exquisitely engraved with animal figures and often bearing a line of pictographic script. On some seals are depicted a bo tree or, as some authorities hold, a Babylonian tree of life, and others have as their central figure the god Shiva, who later became preeminent in the Hindu pantheon. The writing, long a riddle to archaeologists, has yet to be satisfactorily deciphered; the language appears to be structurally related to the Dravidian languages. The origin, rise, and decline of the Indus valley civilization remain a mystery, but it seems most probable that the civilization fell (c.1500 BC) to invading Aryans .

Bibliography: See Sir John Marshall, Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization (3 vol., 1931); E. J. H. MacKay, The Indus Civilization (1935, repr. 1983); S. Piggott, Prehistoric India (1950); Sir Mortimer Wheeler, The Indus Civilization (3d ed. 1968); J. H. Hawkes, The First Great Civilizations (1973).

Indus civilization A highly developed urban civilization in the lower valley of the River Indus, in South Asia, which flourished from about 2500 to 1500 BC. Archaeological excavation, which began in the 1920s, is still being carried out and many important questions remain unanswered. City life seems to have ended abruptly c.1500 BC, possible causes being flooding, alteration of the course of the Indus, overpopulation, or an ARYAN invasion.

Among more than 70 sites now excavated, those at MOHENJO-DARO, Harappa, Kalibangan, and Lothal seem particularly important for revealing a civilization based on the use of bronze, copper, and stone tools, and also city planning, including granaries, baths, drains, and straight streets. There is evidence of contact with Mesopotamia, but the script, known by the discovery of seals which were probably used in trade, has not yet been deciphered. The nature of religious worship is also uncertain, although stone and terracotta figures, as well as motifs on the seals, suggest links between the Indus cults and later post-Aryan Hindu religious concepts. The civilization provides evidence of an important stage in India's past, and of one of the world's first highly developed urban communities.

Harappā. Archaeological site and modern name of a city of the Indus Valley civilization, on the left bank of the Rāvī River in the Pañjāb, in what is now Pakistan. Harappā was the first of two major Indus Valley cities to be discovered by archaeologists; hence the Indus Valley civilization is designated the ‘Harappā culture’. The site of Harappā was first excavated, 1924–1931, and again after the Second World War.

Harappa see Indus valley civilization .