Deonte Hill, Benson, 4th Hour
My country project
Mohenjo-Daro was one of the largest city-settlements of the Indus Valley civilization of south Asia situated in the province of Sind, Pakistan. Mohenjo-Daro was built around 2600 BCE and was one of the early urban settlements in the world. This country existed at the same time as the civilization of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete. Mohenjo-Daro was abandoned around 1900 BC however, was rediscovered in 1922 by R.D. Banerji, an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India. Archaeologist discovered Mohenjo-Daro while conducting site. Archaeologist excavations on the is limited on what they know about this country because excavations were banned after 1965 due to damage done to the exposed structures by weathering. This essay will give an overview of Mohenjo-Daro’s; government, food supply, art, religion, technology, social structure and writing.
The government of Mohenjo-Daro is believed to have been strong because they had paved streets and man-made holes which served as the town sewer system. There is no obvious central seat of government or evidence of a king or queen. Artifacts and clues were found at Mohenjo-Daro which suggested that they had a unified government with extreme organization, with the city of Harappa due to their similarities in plan and construction. More excavations and studies are needed to determine the type of government which ran Mohenjo-Daro.
Mohenjo-Daro’s food supply consisted of the following; wheat, bread, rice and barley. The “Great Granary” is a place where it is believed that grain was stored. The Great Granary is a large building made out of thousands of bricks. The granary could hold enough food to feed the entire city for a long period of time. Farming produced the major portion of the food supply however, the farms had the following domesticated animals; sheep, pigs, zebus (a kind of cow), and water Buffalo.
Mohenjo-Daro’s art consisted of various sculptures, seals, pottery, and beaded jewelry. Archaeologists have found the remains of fine jewelry, including stones from faraway places. This suggests that the people living in Mohenjo-Daro valued art. One well known artifact which was found is a sculpture called the “Dancing Girl” She is described by archaeologist as confident of herself and the world. She is approximately 15 years of age posing with her hands of her hip and legs slightly forward. Another sculpture that was discovered is the “Priest King” (even though there is no evidence that either priests or kings ruled the city).
The seals and other artifacts found in Mohenjo-Daro point to a polytheistic region in Mohenjo-Daro. Certain plants and animals were sacred to them, the bull, rhinoceros, and trees. This shows a connection to Hinduism (Brahman, the creator and sacred bull). Cleanliness was also sacred to the citizens of Mohenjo-Daro as indicated by the Great Bath. The great bath was used for religious or spiritual ceremonies. The bath area was very well built, with a layer of natural tar to keep it from leaking. The pool measured 12m x 7m, with a depth of 2.4m.
The Mohenjo-Daro people achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. Their measurements were believed to be extremely precise; however, a comparison of available objects indicates large scale variation across the Indus Civilization. Their smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, was approximately 1.704 mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age.
The social structure of Mohenjo-Daro is not clear. It is not known how the people ruled themselves. Masks like those often worn by kings in ancient times were found, but the role and extent of the leader’s authority is unclear. The social classes of citizens of Mohenjo-Daro are also unknown.
The writing of Mohenjo-Daro people are shown by inscribed seals. Little progress has been made on deciphering this script. The scripts are difficult to decipher because they are very short and brief texts. The average number of symbols on the seals is five, and the longest is 26. The scripts also lack bilingual texts. Well over 400 distinct Indus symbols have been found on seals, small tablets, or ceramic pots. Much more research and studies are necessary to identify the writing style used by the people of Mohenjo-Daro. More site excavations are needed in order to learn more about the following; government, food supply, art, religion, technology, social structure, and writing of Mohenjo-Daro.
This essay is about Mohenjo-Daro and the 7 characteristics. These characteristic are important because, if they did not have all of these 7 characteristics they would not have been a civilization or a strong government. The characteristics provide basic needs needed for the people to live peacefully. The characteristics measure the progress of civilization and show the values of people. That includes my country project of Mohenjo-Daro.
