Mohenjo-daro

Mohenjo-daro was one of the earliest major cities in human history.

It was a central part of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation. This civilization also went by the name Harappan Civilisation. It grew from earlier prehistoric cultures in the Indus region. The city was built around 2500 BC. It existed at the same time as ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. At its peak, the city held an estimated population of at least 40,000 people.

Today, the site is located in the Larkana District of Sindh, Pakistan. It sits on a ridge within the floodplain of the Indus River.

The city was famous for its advanced civil engineering.

Builders used a grid plan to arrange rectilinear buildings. Most structures were made of fired and mortared brick. Some buildings also used sun-dried mud-brick and wooden superstructures. The city covered an estimated area of 300 hectares. It was divided into two distinct sections. The first part was a high area called the Citadel. This mound supported large public buildings and assembly halls. The second part was known as the Lower City. This area contained many residential houses, some of which had two stories.

Water management was a primary feature of Mohenjo-daro's urban planning.

The inhabitants built over 700 wells throughout the settlement. This provided roughly one well for every three houses. This large number of wells allowed people to rely on rainfall and the nearby river. The city also featured a sophisticated sewage system. Waste water was channeled into covered drains that lined the major streets. These drains moved waste away from homes toward the Indus River. Some prestigious houses even had private rooms for bathing. One building even contained a hypocaust, which is an underground furnace used to heat water.

Several massive structures served the community.

The Great Bath was a large, elaborate public pool. It featured steps leading down into a brick-built basin. To keep the water from leaking, builders lined the pool with bitumen. This pool may have been used for religious purification. Another large building was called the Pillared Hall, which likely served as an assembly hall. Archaeologists once identified a building as a "Great Granary." It had a wooden superstructure with air-ducts for drying grain. However, some experts now suggest it may have been a "Great Hall" instead. This is because no actual grain was found there during excavations.

Archaeologists have spent decades uncovering the secrets of the city.

R. D. Banerji first visited the site between 1919 and 1920. He found a flint scraper that proved the site was very old. Large-scale excavations followed under leaders like John Marshall and Kashinath Dikshit. In the 1945 excavations, Mortimer Wheeler and Ahmad Dani worked at the site. Later, George Dales led the last major series of excavations in 1964 and 1965. Since then, most work has focused on conservation and surface surveys. In 1980, Mohenjo-daro became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This was the first site in South Asia to receive this honor.

Many unique artifacts have been recovered from the ruins.

These items show the skill of the Indus people. They found gold and jasper jewellery, as well as copper and stone tools. Some people used the lost wax technique to create bronze figurines. One famous find is a small bronze statue known as the "Dancing Girl." They also found carved seals and children's toys. One researcher, Iravatham Mahadevan, suggested the city's ancient name might have been Kukkuṭārma. This name translates to "the city of the cockerel." This suggests that cock-fighting might have held religious significance.

The reason for the city's decline is still a subject of study.

Some theories suggest that the city suffered from repeated flooding. A researcher named Mortimer Wheeler believed the city was silted over by floods several times. Other experts, like Gregory Possehl, proposed a different idea. He suggested that the land was worn out by using too many resources. This includes the overuse of land for crops and pastures. He also noted the heavy demand for wood to make bricks and pottery. Whether through floods or resource depletion, the city was eventually abandoned.