Indus Valley Civilization Slide Lecture
Accompanying Lecture Notes:

Our story really begins with the Himalayas (slide 2)
These mountains, the highest in the world- and still growing!, are full of glaciers that are the source of many rivers in India, Tibet, and the Middle East, including the Indus and Ganges, the sacred river of Hindu India

Indus Valley Civilization, also called Harappan for first excavated city (Harappa, 1920)

Develops in Indus River Valley between 2,600 and 2,300 BCE

Modern Pakistan (note the Afghanistan/Pakistan/India Map)

Over 70 cites identified
            Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are largest (35,000 population)
Troy, NY had a population of 49,170 in 2000

Part of the difficulty (slide 12) is that many ancient sites are still occupied by modern people.  Here we have the modern city of Harappa sitting on top of part of the ancient city.  Why is this a problem????  Can’t ask them to move to dig up some old bricks!

Slide 13= ‘Great Bath’ at Mohenjo-Daro.  Ask students to ID what this is.  Blank stares will ensue.  Point out that this is a WELL PRESERVED site for the time.  It is certainly difficult to tell anything about how the people lived from low brick walls.
            Then go on to point out that to the trained eye, this bath is very advanced and may indicate not just a society wealthy enough to create a public bath, but perhaps that bathing and making yourself ‘clean’ was important to their religion or culture, since they spent lots of money on this feature of the city, as well as on wells, drains and covered sewers (something that will not appear again until ancient Rome)

Signs of Civilization:
            City Planning- Slide 18- Plan of Mohenjo-Daro- Note the careful, organized grid pattern, indicates that someone was thinking about what the city should look like- it’s not just a random collection of buildings, but has clear streets.

            Trade- Weights- Slide 21- What are they for? Weighing goods to determine prices for trade!!!!
            Trade system map
            Toy Carts and toy boat, maybe a reflection of how goods were transported along trade routes- Slide 25 shows modern cart and boat on Indus in Pakistan that are remarkably similar
            Appear to be trading glass (Slide 27-33) and precious stone beads all over the place- a jewelry making center with advanced technology

            Writing- on seals, but not yet understood (might just be proper names, like family crest) Seals used for trade, like family crest, tied to bags of goods
                        Slide 40- Yogi seal- a god or priest, perhaps, image that carries over into Aryan civilization and Hinduism
                       
            Developed Art- Priest-King, slide 41

 

Other things to explore????
            Bronze tools
            Fired brick
            Raised citadel with a wall- religious district? Home of king?