1. AIM: How did Indus Valley peoples develop a highly complex society?
Do Now: Indus Valley Dig – Work in pairs
HW: See Web page

2. Chapter 3: Ancient Indian Civilizations
Harappan Excavations

3. I. Geography and Climate
Indian civilization developed in the Indus River valley about 4,500 years ago

4. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
2500 BC to 1500 BC – the Harappan Civilization developed in the Indus River valley
An artistic conception of ancient Lothal

5. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
The named derives from one of the two discovered cities - Harappa and Mohenjo Daro ("Mound of the Dead“)
Early settlements date to 7000 BC

6. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
Both cities were planned with wide streets, water systems, public baths, and brick sewers
Ruins of Harappa

7. This map shows the layout of Mohenjo-Daro, one of the principal cities of the Indus Valley civilization. The larger eastern area contained the residential and commercial sections of the city, which were laid out in a grid of large rectangular blocks. Rising more than twenty feet to the west stood the citadel, built on a mound of mud brick and rubble. Fortified by a brick wall and towers, the citadel contained the city’s shrine, assembly hall, baths, and granary.

8. The Great Bath was entered using two wide staircases, one from the north and one from the south. The floor of the tank is watertight due to finely fitted bricks laid on edge with gypsum plaster.

9. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
Each city had a strong central fortress, or citadel, on a brick platform
Excavated ruins of Mohenjo-daro

10. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
Storehouses for grain indicate careful planning and a strong central government
Harappa granary

11. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
Harappan farmers grew crops in irrigated fields and raised livestock
Ceramic sculpture of a small cart with vases and tools pulled by oxen, from Mohenjo-daro

12. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
As early as 2300 B.C., the Harappans traded with the people of the Tigris-Euphrates valley
This seal, found in Mesopotamia, indicates a product was made in Harappa, indicating trade took place between the two regions

13. Indus Valley Seals

14. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
A written language was developed but it has not been deciphered or connected to other languages

15. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
No temples or religious writings have been found, just animal images and some evidence of a mother goddess of fertility

16. Terracotta Figurines

17. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
The Harappan civilization disappeared - theories include changes in the Indus River, earthquakes, or invasion

18. II. Early Civilizations in the Indus River Valley
Harappan Excavations
A Walk through Mohenjo-Daro
A Walk around Harappa