Mohenjo-Daro

Now declared an archaeological site of the Harappan civilization, Mohenjo-Daro is located along the Indus River in India and was intact around 2500 BC at the time of the Bronze age. Mohenjo-Daro flourished along with 100 other settlements along the Indus, however, it and the city of Harappa were the most populated. With roughly 30,000 citizens, the city demanded to have the latest in housing development. This included a strive toward cleanliness and sanitation. Citizens were conveniently able to dispose of their garbage through a slit cut into their house which would then fall into containers lined up on the street below. Mohenjo-Daro’s brick floored bathhouses were even designed to have dirty water drain through clay pipes into an underground gutter system. Although advanced in architecture, citizens of Mohenjo-Daro lived on a simple form of agriculture. They lived by farming wheat, barley, rice, and some cotton for cloth. Scholars also believe that the Indus valley civilization had domesticated cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, cats, and dogs. Some evidence of Mohenjo-Daro’s prosperity can be traced back to trade between the Harappan civilization and Mesopotamia. There are remains of seals that merchants used to mark goods that were to be traded among cities.

The ruins of Mohenjo-Daro can be found in present day Sind in southern Pakistan. Mohenjo-Daro is a great source of information to scholars being that the Indus valley civilization was one of the world’s first great civilizations.

Sites for further Information

    "Treasures of a Lost Civilization"
    http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/stern/stern3-19-98.html

   "Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa"
    http://www.commercenetindia.com/kit/hismohen.html

   "The Mohenjo-Daro Dancing Girls"
    http://www.tantraworks.com/Ancient_Tantra.html#girls

   "The Harappa Homepage"
    http://www.harappa.com/

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