Mohenjo-Daro: The Lost Civilization
Hush!
Let the voices in your head simmer down.
No rush. Feel the silence.
Alive? Let’s begin.
A flourishing civilization emerged on the bank of the river Indus in the third millennium BCE (around 2400 BC) and spread across North Western India. We Indians track our historical footprints from this world’s oldest civilization and call it “The Indus Valley Civilization” (IVC).
One of the esteemed excavated sites is Mohenjo-Daro, literally meaning the mound of the dead. The architecture, sculptures, seals, potteries, pieces of jewelry, and culture of the time exudes a profound sense of dignity, vivid imagination, and artistic sensibilities.
Architecture of modern times
A remarkable sense of town planning. Houses are laid out in a rectangular grid pattern. The roads ran in north-south and east-west directions and cut each other at right angles. Burnt mud bricks, layers of well-baked bricks glued together using gypsum mortar (modern-day plaster of Paris). The most striking feature is the advanced drainage system. Small drains ran from each house and were connected to larger drains running alongside the main roads. The drains were loosely covered for regular cleaning and maintenance. The importance placed on public hygiene is quite impressive.
Great Citadel
The city was divided into two parts. Upraised citadel and lower part of the city. Administrative buildings, pillared halls, and courtyards were built on the citadel, an indication of the residence of rulers and aristocrats. The lower part’s architecture suggests working-class houses, some were small one-roomed while some were double-storied. Most buildings had private wells and properly ventilated bathrooms.
Great Public Bath
Prevalence of great public bath indicating signs of ritualistic cleansing in their culture. Surrounded by an array of rooms and galleries.
Granary
Granaries also were on this upraised platform to protect grains from pests. It seems grains were collected in terms of tax from the people which were stored there to have a safe backup in case of epidemics and to pay wages.
Sculptures
Two widely used art of sculptures were present - Bronze and Teracotta (“पकी मिट्टी”)
Mother Goddess
The Mother Goddess figures were found in many excavation sites. A crude figure of a standing female adorned with necklaces hanging over prominent breasts. She wears a loincloth and a girdle. She also wears fan-shaped headgear. Facial features are also shown very crudely and lack finesse. She was probably worshiped for prosperity and might have been a goddess of fertility cults.
Dancing figurine
The world’s oldest bronze sculpture was excavated in Mohenjo-Daro. This four-inch figure depicts a naked girl wearing only ornaments, which include bangles on the left arm, an amulet, and a bracelet on the right. She stands in a classic Indian dancing posture with the right hand on her hip and the left on her left thigh.
Bearded priest
Found in Mohenjo-Daro and made of Steatite (stone with a soapy feel). Figure of bearded man draped in a shawl with trefoil patterns. Eyes are elongated and half closed as in meditation. Signifies men loved beards then & shall continue to do so in future as well #BeardedPriestForever.
Seals
Archeologists have found numerous seals of different shapes and sizes all across the excavation sites. The most common material used is Steatite yet copper, bronze, gold, ivory, and terracotta seals are also present.
On one side, an inscription in a pictographic script that is yet to be deciphered is written in a bi-directional writing style (left-to-right on one line, right-to-left on the next). On another side, animal impressions — unicorn, humped bull, tiger, elephant, buffalo, bison, goat, crocodile, etc. No evidence of cow though.
Archeologists have pointed out that seals were primarily used for commercial purposes and helped in communication. Discoveries of similar seals in Egyptian and Mesopotamia (Iraq & Kuwait) civilizations give evidence of use in trade. Some seals with a hole in them have been found on dead bodies indicating their use as amulets probably seen as some form of identification. For example — a mathematical figure on a seal indicates teaching class.
Technology and Crafts
Bronze smiths constituted an important group of artisans. They produced sculptures, seals as well as various tools and weapons such as axes, saws, knives, and spears. A piece of woven cotton has been recovered from Mohenjo-Daro. Spindle whorls were used. Weavers wove cloth of cotton and wool. People were conscious of fashion which can be inferred from the different styles of hair and beard.
Goldsmiths made jewelry of silver and gold brought probably from Afghanistan and other precious stones from South India. Both men and women wore ornaments like necklaces, fillets, armlets, and finger rings. Girdles, earrings, and anklets were worn only by women.
Animal domestication
Well, these people were soft. They domesticated oxen, buffaloes, goats, sheep, and pigs. Dogs and cats were pets as signs of feet have been noticed. People were also known as rhinoceros or elephants. Signs of horses are rare that clearly indicates Mohenjo-Daro culture was not horse-centered. The contemporary Sumerian cities in Mesopotamia practically domesticated the same animals.
Religious Practices
No temples have been found, no religious structures of any kind except the Great Bath.
The Female Diety — Mother Goddess
Mother Goddess was revered as Mother Earth, a fertility goddess connected with the origin & growth of plants. She was worshipped in the same manner as Egyptians worshipped the Nile goddess Isis.
The Male Deity — Pashupati Mahadev
A seal is found having an inscription of the male deity with three horned heads in a sitting posture of a yogi. Surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, and a rhinoceros and has a buffalo below his throne. At his feet, appear two deer. Identified as Pashupati Mahadev. Identification is doubtful as horned gods also appear in other ancient civilizations. Numerous symbols of male and female sex organs have been found. Possibly meant for worship like we people of Hindu society revere our God, Shiva.
What happened, how it ended?
By the 19th century BC, Mohenjo-Daro gradually disappeared. It is as difficult to explain the origin as its end. Various causes have been suggested. One such cause is the rainfall that gradually decreased affecting agriculture and stock breeding. Some suggest decreasing fertility of soil causing expansion of neighboring desert — present day Thar Desert. Some suggest the uplift of Indus Land and earthquakes forced people to migrate to other parts of the land, thus civilization was lost. People have also suggested the destruction of this ancient civilization was caused by Aryans though there is no evidence of war on this piece of land.
Whatever the reason may be, Mohenjo-Daro — Indus valley civilization is revered as India’s ancient civilization. The religious practices, the land of the people, and the art & culture of that time are part of India. We Indians, take pride in our ancient culture.
