THE INDUS RIVER CIVILIZATION

Social Studies 10| A. Morrison

OUTCOME

• 1.5 Explain how humans populated the major regions of the world and adapted to local environment.

DEVELOPING A THESIS

You are not required to take full notes for the following material; however, you DO need to listen in order to:• Create a thesis for each

civilization we discuss.• Support your thesis with three

pieces of evidence.

REVIEW

•Thesis| a statement or theory that is put forward as an argument to be proved.• A thesis must be based in

evidence.

10 000BCE – 0CE

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS

By 10 000 BCE: humans occupied nearly every region of the Earth.

By 5000 BCE: most groups had discovered agriculture (independently, or through trade networks).

By 3000 BCE: the first true early civilizations had begun…

THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

• c.3300BCE-1300BCE•Modern day Afghanistan/Pakistan/India

• Existed alongside Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Yellow River Civilizations• Also called the Harappan Civilization,

after Harappa – the first of the city sites to be excavated.

THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

•Over 1500 towns and villages, but most famous are cities Harappa, and Mohenjo-Daro.•May have been a total

population of over 5 million across all territory.

THE INDUS VALLEY

CIVILIZATION

• City ruins were torn apart for ballast during building of the East Indian Railway.•Main excavations done

through early-mid 1900s, but sites are still yielding new finds.

CITIES

•Mohenjo-Daro: population est. 20 000-40 000

• Best-preserved site, and where we’ve learned the most from.

•Harappa: possibly as many as 20 000 people.

• Mohenjo Daro 101 (2:59)| www.video.nationalgeographic.com/video/101-videos/mohenjo-daro-101

INDUS VALLEY CITIES WERE EXTREMELY ADVANCED!

Built on planned grids, angled to take advantage of local wind patterns (kept cities cooler).

Extensive sewerage and drainage systems.

Houses included working flush toilets.

Wells located throughout the cities provided drinking water for houses.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

May have been egalitarian.

• No evidence of administrative buildings or governmental structure.

• No palaces or forts.

Social structure seems to have mostly consisted of various artisans and tradespeople.

Must have been some sort of centralized government – sophisticated cities could not have been built without it.

• Bricks were standardized sizes, even between cities.

DAILY LIFE

• Many figurines depict women with headdresses, which may have indicated status.• Women represented

fertility, which was important.• Possible women held

high status and served in public roles.

RELIGION

• No evidence of large or central temples.

• Evidence for religion is sparse, and widely-interpreted.

• Many figurines of women or goddess-like figures suggest there was a worship of fertility.

• May have been worship of a Father God and Mother Goddess.

RELIGION

• Religion may have been practiced privately, or in the open air.• The Great Bath at

Mohenjo-Daro may have been a place of ritual purification.

WRITING

• The Indus River civilization had a written language.

• The written language has not been decoded, so we don’t know whether symbols indicated ideas, or sounds.

• Theories about the spoken language are widely disputed, but it seems to have been shared within the region.

• Writing found on tablets, seals, ceramic pots, and ritual objects.

SEALS

• Intricately carved seals are widely found, but there is no single agreed-upon theory about what they were for.

ART• Solid grasp of pottery, bronze work, carving, pottery, shell-working, bead-making.•Grasp of anatomy and

proportion preceededthe Greeks by thousands of years.

WORK & TRADE

Labour divided between artisans, merchants, farmers.

Skill-level and trade practiced may have determined social standing.

Farming may have been an area in which women actively participated.

Granaries, warehouses, docks all show there was busy trade.

Artisans grouped into distinct neighborhoods.

ARCHITECTURE

• There are no monuments built by the Indus Valley civilization.

• There are, however, famous buildings:

• The Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro

• Docks: exceptionally well built

• The Citadel

• City walls: huge walls protected the cities (7m thick)… may not have been to protect from attack, but from river floods!

Drone View of Mohenjo-Daro (8:57)| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2ibUMQ5cgI

TRADE

• The people of the Indus River traded extensively – as far as Mesopotamia.

DAILY LIFE

• May have been a completely peaceful civilization.• Lots of children’s toys,

games, art, trade goods… no weapons.

Indus Valley Diorama - Indian Science and Technology Heritage Gallery - National Science Centre - New Delhi

TECHNOLOGY

•Wheeled carts•Hotels

•Wax and clay molds to cast copper• Standardized system of

measurements and weights• Buttons

•Democracy?

VIDEO

• Crash Course World History: Indus Valley Civilization (9:34)| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ndRwqJYDM

END

SOURCES| INDUS RIVER

• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/mohenjo-daro/

• https://www.ancient.eu/article/695/harappa-an-overview-of-harappan-architecture-and-t/

• https://www.harappa.com/content/women-ancient-sindh-bronze-age-figurines-indus-valley-civilization

• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-beginnings/ancient-india/a/the-indus-river-valley-civilizations