Harappa Civilization

HarappaCivilization

Indus River Valley Civilization

6000 BCE – Nomadic herding people.5000BCE – More rainfall ~ more food ~ bigger population

Began domesticating sheep, goats, cows & water buffaloBegan planting crops

Cotton

Terraced Farm Fields

The Himalayas

Ancient model of an ox cart

A modern ox cart that looks very similar to the ancient model

4000 BCE – trading with distant areas (shells & beads)2600 BCE – More rainfall ~ civilization as big as Mesopotamia & Egypt2300 BCE – trading with Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa 2 largest cities – over 40,000 each.

Made with standardized, baked bricks (long-lasting)Sewer system undergroundHeated bathing poolsArithmetic system with decimalsWritten language (undeciphered as yet)

Mohenjo-Daro – part of the city

Can you see the relationship between these two images?

Earliest public bath – Mohenjo-Daro

Private bath with drain to

sewer system,

Mohenjo-Daro

Street in

Mohenjo-Daro

Public Well in Mohenjo-Daro

Working platforms

Civilization disappeared between 1800 and 1700 BCE

Possibly due to shift in Indus River coursePossibly people downriver dammed it causing ruinous flooding upriverPossible decline in rainfall

Rainfall increased again in 1500 BCE ~ Groups of pastoral people called Aryans came through Khyber Pass to live on the Indus plains

Warriors with chariotsIndo-European – their language was related to most European languages

Modern Harappa