Anupama Nair
www.mediaeyenews.com
In the last part, I spoke about the Dholavira being declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and about Indus Valley Civilization. Here is more…
There were seven known biggest townships — Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and Ganeriwala in Pakistan and Dholavira, Rakhigarh, Lothal and Kalibangan in India. Let me now take you on a journey to these seven sites.
Mohenjo-Daro is the most famous site of the great civilization and is located in Larkana District west of the Sindhu (Indus) river in Sindh. It became not only the largest city of the Indus Valley Civilization but also one of the world’s earliest major urban centers. Mohenjo-Daro was one of the most sophisticated cities of the period, with advanced engineering and urban planning. The city of Mohenjo-Daro contains the Great Bath, which was a large, public bathing and social area. One seal found from Mohenjo-Daro showed a half-human, a half-buffalo monster attacking a tiger (the Sumerian myth of a monster created by Arura—the Sumerian earth and fertility goddess to fight Gilgamesh, the hero of an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem), shows the trade between two civilizations. Seals have been found at Mohenjo-Daro depicting a figure standing on its head, and another, the Pasupathi (resembling Bhagwan Shiva) seal, sitting cross-legged in a yoga-like pose and a harp-like instrument depicted on an Indus seal and two shell objects found at Lothal indicate the use of stringed musical instruments.
Harappa was a fortified city in Punjab (Pakistan) that is believed to have been home to as many as 23,500 residents living in sculpted houses with flat roofs made of red sand and clay. The city was spread over 370 acres and had fortified administrative and religious centers of the same type found in Mohenjo-Daro. Harappans demonstrated advanced architecture with dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms, and protective walls. These massive walls likely protected the Harappans from floods and may have deterred military conflicts.
Harappans were known for seal carving or the cutting of patterns into the bottom face of a seal, a small, carved object used for stamping. They used these distinctive seals for the identification of the property and to stamp clay on trade goods. Seals decorated with animal figures, such as elephants, tigers, and water buffalos have been one of the most commonly discovered artifacts found here. Harappans was also engaged in shell working, and shells used in their crafts have origins from as far away as the coast of modern-day Oman.
Both Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro had rulers (scales) of ivory uncovered from the ruins. One such specimen was even calibrated to 1/16 of an inch—less than 2 millimeters. These kinds of rulers were clearly very prominent, as even bricks of the valley’s buildings were found to follow the same measurements. The earliest existence of weighing scales also dates back to these cities, where balances were used to compare measurements and compare goods in trade. The excavations in both Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro showed a number of distinct examples of the culture’s art, including sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, and anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze, and steatite.
“Among the various gold, terracotta, and stone figurines found was a figure of a priest-king displaying a beard and patterned robe. Another figurine in bronze, known as the ‘Dancing Girl’, shows a female figure in a pose that suggests the presence of some choreographed dance form enjoyed by members of the civilization. Terracotta works also included cows, bears, monkeys, and dogs. In addition to figurines, the people of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are believed to have created necklaces, bangles, and other ornaments”.
Ganeriwala is situated near the Indian border on the dry river bed of the Ghaggar-Hakra, now part of a vast Thar desert. It is spread over 80 hectares and comparable in size with the largest sites of the Indus Valley Civilization, such as Mohenjo-Daro. But it has not been excavated, only identified. It may turn out to be among the top five largest towns of the Indus Valley Civilization. Although excavation has yet to begin at this site, a terracotta tablet was found, which bears similarity to the ones found in Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and Kalibangan. In this seal, we can find a cross-legged person (suggesting a yogic posture) and a kneeling person below a tree. The importance of Ganeriwala is, it is equidistant from both Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, so the excavation may provide more information about this ancient civilization.
I for one hope so. In the next part, I am going to talk about the sites in India.
(to be continued…)
Great article.
Wonderful piece of research
Wonderful piece of research
Wonderful piece of research
Great article
Great article
Great pride of India.
Great pride of India.
I would like to visit these sites.
I would like to visit these sites.
I would like to visit these sites.
Great article