1. Indus River Valley Civilization
Directions: Using pages in your text , the attached reading, and your own knowledge, classify the information about the Indus River Valley Civilization (Harappan). In the first column list the FACTS that scientists know about the civilization and in the second column list the CONCLUSIONS scientists have reached.
Words: suggests, think, must have, probably, concluded, appear, indicate

2. FACTS
CONCLUSIONS

3. Assignment
Read pages
Complete page 174 #2, 3, 5 only

4. Crash Course: Indus Valley Video 9:34

5. 2:50

7. Largest of early civilizations Developed in river valleys urban
Facts
Largest of early civilizations
(2500BC-1500BC)
Developed in river valleys
urban
Large cities
Harappa/Mohenjo Daro
Streets – checkerboard pattern
Walled fortress
Uniform brick
Areas of large buildings
Areas two storied buildings
Bathing Facilities
sewer system
Fragments of cloth
Farmed
Figurines of bulls & women
Clay Seals (carving pictographs) found in Mesopotamia
Cities built and rebuilt over time – less uniform brick - streets not repaired
Conclusions
May have developed from hunting & gathering to agricultural
Well organized gov’t with building codes – urban planning
Harappa/Mohenjo Daro
Capital cities of strong empire
Districts: gov’t, workshops for craftsmen, and residential
Collected food as form of tax
First to grow cotton/domesticate chickens
Worshipped Mother goddess, cattle important
Writing system to identify goods
Traded with several civilizations
Gradual decline: at first thought invaders NOW environmental changes
Final Collapse Aryans maybe – video

8. Roots of Indus Valley Civilization
Earliest civilizations in Indus Valley was discovered in 1856 by a railroad crew.
Harappa
Mohenjo-Daro or “Hill of the Dead”
Both cities shared urban design and architectural features.
3 miles in circumference with populations of 40,000
The civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt never disappeared completely. Hebrew and Greek accounts and surviving artifacts, like the pyramids kept them alive in popular imagination.
The civilization of the Indus valley was lost almost entirely, so its excavation did not begin until the 1920’s.
Railroad crew in 1856 discovered thousands of old fire-baked bricks in the desert and use them to lay the road bed. Scattered among the old bricks workers discovered steatite stone seals marked with artistic designs.

9. Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus civilization began with some major developments like the introduction of writing and a surprisingly uniform culture over the whole of the greater Indus valley. According to Parpola this development was due to increased maritime trade and closer cultural contacts with Mesopotamia and the Gulf region. There is now general agreement that Meluhha mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions refers to the land of the Indus. Parpola lays stress on the importance of Harappan contacts with West Asia, which provide relevant parallels and potential sources of information on the Harappan culture.
Vast territory united in homogeneous culture suggests strong centralized government, integrated economy and good internal communications

11. Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
To the north is a citadel or raised area.
In Mohenjo-Daro, the citadel is built on an architectural platform about 45 feet above the plain.
On the summit was a huge communal bath.
Next to the large bath was a huge open space—a granary where food was stored from possible floods.
Fortified walls mark the southeast corner.

13. Elaborate Public Baths

15. Bath area
Mohenjo-daro ( BCE). Almost every house unit at Mohenjo-daro was equipped with a private bathing area
with drains to take the dirty water out into a larger drain that emptied into a sewage drain.
Many of these bathing areas had water-tight floors to keep moisture from seeping into the other rooms nearby or below.

16. This brick structure had a hole in the top that was connected to a small drain leading out of the base into a rectangular basin. Early excavators suggested this might have been a toilet.

18. A small well was located in the southeast corner (top right) and circular brick depressions were set into the floor, presumably to hold pottery vessels. The early excavators suggested that the room might have been a dyer's workshop.

19. Standard Weights and Measures
Cubical weights in graduated sizes. These weights conform to the standard Harappan binary weight system that was used in all of the settlements. The smallest weight in this series is grams and the most common weight is approximately 13.7 grams, which is in the 16th ratio. In the large weights the system become a decimal increase where the largest weight is 100 times the weight of the 16th ratio in the binary system. These weights were found in recent excavations at Harappa and may have been used for controlling trade and possibly for collecting taxes Harappa Archaeological Research Project

20. The famous "Dancing girl" found in Mohenjo-daro is an artifact that is some 4,500 years old. The 10.8 cm long bronze statue of the dancing girl was found in 1926 from a house in Mohenjo-daro.

21. Writing
Indus inscriptions are found only on small objects, mostly stone seals and on pottery.
About 3700 inscriptions are presently known.
The inscriptions are all extremely brief, averaging not more than about five signs in a text. Longer inscriptions might have been written on palm leaves or cloth which have perished.
Cubical weights in graduated sizes. These weights conform to the standard Harappan binary weight system that was used in all of the settlements. The smallest weight in this series is grams and the most common weight is approximately 13.7 grams, which is in the 16th ratio. In the large weights the system become a decimal increase where the largest weight is 100 times the weight of the 16th ratio in the binary system. These weights were found in recent excavations at Harappa and may have been used for controlling trade and possibly for collecting taxes Harappa Archaeological Research Project

23. Unicorn Seal most common motif on Indus seals
Large square unicorn seal (25.) with perforated boss on the back (26). The unicorn is the most common motif on Indus seals and appears to represent a mythical animal that Greek and Roman sources trace back to the Indian subcontinent A relatively long inscription of eight symbols runs along the top of the seal. The elongated body and slender arching neck is typical of unicorn figurines, as are the tail with bushy end and the bovine hooves. This figure has a triple incised line depicting a pipal leaf shaped blanket or halter, while most unicorn figures have only a double incised line. The arching horn is depicted as if spiraling or ribbed, and the jowl is incised with multiple folds A collar or additional folds encircle the throat. In front of the unicorn is a ritual offering stand with droplets of water or sacred liquid along the bottom of the bowl. The top portion of the stand depicts a square grid or sieve, that actually may have been a circular cylinder Material: white fired glazed steatite Dimensions: 5.08 x 5.08 cm Mohenjo-daro, HR National Museum, Karachi, NMP Marshall 1931: pl. CIII, 8

24. 2:18
Back

25. Crash Course: Indus Valley Video 9:34

26. Early Civilizations of India

27. Assignment
Read pages
Complete page 174 #2, 3, 5 only

28. Dravidians:
people of Southern India who may be descended from the ancient Indus River Valley settlers
video

29. 3:36

30. Aryans are not… Theories now discredited CORRUPTION OF THE TERM ARYAN
Aryan race Theory – DISCREDITED
Made popular by Arthur de Gobineau
famous for developing the theory of the Aryan master race in his book An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races
1850’s
Theories now discredited
CORRUPTION OF THE TERM ARYAN

31. Aryans: or Indo-Aryans
Aryan race Theory – DISCREDITED
racial grouping based on distorted interpretation of Vedas (Sankrit)
late 19th century to the mid 20th century to describe peoples of Indo-European Eurasian heritage
Derived from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages (from Sanskrit) and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race
used by Nazis and others to support claims of supremacy – imagined race that were original Sanskrit speakers

32. Map

33. Aryans or Indo-Aryans
Migrated into South Asia from north of Black and Caspian Seas - Around 1500 BC
Sanskrit meaning “noble”
Tribes of the Indo-European peoples
Part of Linguistic family not a race
Nomadic herders
Skillful warriors: iron weapons, archers, wheeled wagons (chariots)
Rajah: hereditary chiefs
May have contributed to final collapse of Indus Valley Civilization

34. Influenced Indian Culture:
Long lasting effects of Aryans
village life
Religion
social structure

35. Village Life
Aryans moved across Indo-Gangetic Plains and settled into villages
Blended Farming and herding
Value on cattle
The word for war meant “a desire for more cows”
Vedas: Rain is like cow’s milk and the sun is its calf”
Governing: Rajahs: hereditary chief – rule village

36. Vedas (Religious Influence)
oral religious traditions of the Indo-Aryans
4 Vedas: oldest Rig Veda
Eventually recorded in Sanskrit
(written language developed by Indo-Aryans – root of Hindi and many other languages)
Aryan and Sanskrit Video (13:08)
Basis of Hinduism (long lasting effect)
And other Vedic Faiths

37. Varna (Social Structure)
created a complex system of social order – has been defined as: color in some cases also dye
Social structure and classes of the Aryans
Brahmins: priest
Kshatriyas: warriors
Vaisyas: land owners, merchants, herders
Sudras: servants, peasants (p. 174 quote)
evolved into caste (long lasting effect)
Caste: rigid system of social ranking by birth

38. Influenced Indian Culture:
Long lasting effects of Indo-Aryans
village life
Religion
social structure

39. Chapter 7 Making Generalizations
The geographic features of South Asia tended to isolate it from other regions. (natural barriers)
Water is an important and valued resources for farming in South Asia.
South Asia is a region of great cultural diversity.
The government of the Harappan civilization seemed to have been centralized and well organized.
Aryan migration to South Asia has had long lasting effects.