Everything about Harappa totally explained
Harappa (
Urdu:
ہڑپہ,
Hindi:
हड़प्पा) is a
city in
Punjab, northeast
Pakistan, about 35km (22 miles) southwest of
Sahiwal.
The modern town is located near the former course of the
Ravi River and also beside the ruins of an
ancient fortifed city, which was part of the
Cemetery H culture and the
Indus Valley Civilization.
The ancient city existed from about
3300 BCE until
1600 BCE and is believed to have had as many as 40,000 residents—considered
large for its time. Although the Harappa Culture extended well beyond the bounds of present day
Pakistan, its centres were in
Sindh and the
Punjab.
In
2005 a controversial
amusement park scheme at the site was abandoned when builders unearthed many archaeological artifacts during the early stages of construction work. A plea from the prominent Pakistani archaeologist
Ahmed Hasan Dani to the Ministry of Culture resulted in a restoration of the site.
History
The
Indus Valley civilization (also known as Harrappan culture) has its earliest roots in approximately 6000 BCE in
Mehrgarh. The two greatest cities,
Mohenjo-Daro and Harrappa, emerged circa 2600 BCE along the
Indus River valley in
Punjab and
Sindh. The civilization, with a
writing system, urban centers, and diversified
social and
economic system, was rediscovered in the 1920s after excavations at
Mohenjo-daro (which means "mound of the dead") in Sindh near
Sukkur, and Harrappa, in west
Punjab south of
Lahore. A number of other sites stretching from the
Himalayan foothills in east
Punjab,
India in the north, to
Gujarat in the south and east, and to
Balochistan in the west have also been discovered and studied. Although the archaeological site at Harrappa was partially damaged in 1857 when engineers constructing the
Lahore-
Multan railroad used
brick from the Harrappa ruins for
track ballast, an abundance of artifacts have nevertheless been found.
Culture and economy
Indus Valley civilization was mainly an urban culture sustained by surplus agricultural production and commerce, the latter including trade with
Sumer in southern
Mesopotamia. Both
Mohenjo-daro and Harrappa were built according to similar plans of well-laid-out streets, "differentiated living quarters, flat-roofed brick houses, and fortified administrative or religious centers." Weights and measures were standardized throughout the area and distinctive seals were used for identification of property and shipment of goods. Although
copper and
bronze were in use, iron was unknown. "Cotton was woven and dyed for clothing; wheat, rice, and a variety of vegetables and fruits were
cultivated; and a number of animals, including the humped bull, were
domesticated."
[ Wheel-made pottery—some of it adorned with animal and geometric motifs—has been found in profusion at all the major Indus sites. A centralized administration has been inferred from the revealed cultural uniformity; however, it remains uncertain whether authority lay with a priestly or a commercial oligarchy.
] Archaeology
By far the most exquisite but most obscure artifacts unearthed to date are the small, square steatite seals engraved with human or animal motifs. Large numbers of the seals have been found at Mohenjo-daro, many bearing pictographic inscriptions generally thought to be a kind of script. Despite the efforts of philologists from all parts of the world, however, and despite the use of computers, the script remains undeciphered, and it's unknown if it's proto-Dravidian or proto-Sanskrit.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Harappa'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://harappa.totallyexplained.com">Harappa Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
