Mohenjo Daro, history, Indus Valley, two sections, Citadel, Lower Town, great bath, granary ,features, trade, arts, death..

1. MOHENJO DARO

2. Mohenjo Daro
 The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze
Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE) located in the
western region of South Asia, and spread over
what are now Pakistan, Northwest India, and
eastern Afghanistan.
 Excavations first conducted in 1921-22, in the
ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro,
both now in Pakistan.
 Believed to be created by the Dravidians.

3. Mohenjo Daro
• The Indus city was made of mud-brick buildings.
It had walls and roads.
• Water was very important to Indus people, so
the builders started by digging wells, and laying
drains.
• Most Indus people, perhaps 9 out of 10 people
were farmers and traders.

4. Mohenjo Daro
Mohenjo-Daro is divided into two section
Citadel
• Smaller in area but highly developed.
Lower Town
• Large in area but less developed than citadel.

5. Mohenjo Daro
 At the western end of the
site is an area known as the
Citadel. This area of the city
was built on top of a mound
of bricks almost 12 metres
high. A large staircase ran
up the side of this mound.
 Citadel area may have been
used for public gatherings,
religious activities or
important administrative
activities.

6. Mohenjo Daro
 The "great bath" is without doubt the earliest
public water tank in the ancient world.
 Finely fitted bricks laid on edge with gypsum
plaster and the side walls.
 Most scholars agree that this tank would have
been used for special religious functions where
water was used to purify the bathers.

7. Mohenjo Daro
 In 1950, Sir Mortimer Wheeler identified one large
building in Mohenjo-Daro as a "Great Granary".
 Certain wall-divisions in its massive wooden
superstructure appeared to be grain storage-bays,
complete with air-ducts to dry the grain.
 Granary is adjacent to the Great Bath.

8. Mohenjo Daro
Lower Town
 The "Lower Town" is made up of numerous
lower mounds that lie to the east and may
represent multiple walled neighborhoods.
 The Lower Town is organized on a grid system
with four avenues running from north to south
and four running from east to west. The
avenues are several meters wide and have
drains running down the middle or side of the
road.

9. Mohenjo Daro
Features of Houses in Lower Town
 Most of the homes are made of baked bricks
in a standard size of 28 x 14 x 7 meters.
 The remains of stairways, seems to suggest
that many of the buildings had two storeys.

10. Mohenjo Daro
 The houses were cool inside. Thick walls kept
people cool in the heat of summer.
 Walls were covered with mud plaster. It is not
clear if people painted the walls.
 The structure of the houses has one or more
toilets or toilet connected to a centralized
system.
 Underground sewer pipes are said to be
planned and organized by a centralized
government.
 Over 700 public and private wells have been
found at Mohenjo-Daro.

11. Mohenjo Daro
Trade
 Indus Valley cities lived by trade. Farmers
brought food into the cities. Trade goods
included terracotta pots, beads, gold and silver,
coloured gem stones, metals, seashells and
pearls.

12. Arts
 Most artifacts unearthed
were toys indicating that
the Dravidians liked
entertainment and loved
to play.
 Their disappearance
remains a mystery due to
no traces of war were
evident.

13. Possible Causes of
Disappearance
 Famine, hunger, drought.
 Ecological factors/Natural disasters
◦ Flood.
◦ Earthquake.
◦ Volcanic Eruption.
 Plagues.
 Invasions by another civilization like the
Aryans.