The Indus Valley civilization was rediscovered in
1920-21 when engraved seals were unearthed in the
Punjab province of Pakistan at a site called Harappa,
a name which is often used to describe the
civilization as a whole. Subsequent excavations at
Harappa revealed the size and complexity of this
ancient city. Other sites were unearthed as well along
the banks of the Indus River, including the equally
large city of Mohenjodaro. Through archaeological
and historical research, we can now say for certain
that a highly developed urban civilization flourished
in the Indian subcontinent over five thousand years
ago. Though the Indus Valley script remains
undeciphered, the numerous seals, statuary, and
pottery discovered during excavations, not to
mention the urban ruins, have enabled scholars to
construct a reasonably plausible account of the Indus
Valley civilization.
Some kind of centralized state, and certainly fairly
extensive town planning, is suggested by the layout
of the great cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. The
same kind of burnt brick appears to have been used
in the construction of buildings in cities that were
several hundred miles apart. The weights and
measures also show a very considerable regularity,
suggesting that these disparate cities spread out
across a vast desert shared a common culture. The
Indus Valley people domesticated animals, and
harvested various crops, such as cotton, sesame,
peas, barley, and cotton. Indus Valley seals have
been excavated in far away cities such as Sumer,
suggesting that a wealthy merchant class existed,
engaged in extensive trading throughout the
subcontinent and the Near East.
Other than the archaeological ruins of Harappa and
Mohenjodaro, these seals provide the most detailed
clues about the character of the Indus Valley people.
Bulls and elephants appear on these seals, but the
horned bull, most scholars agree, should not be
taken to be congruent with Nandi, for the horned bull
appears in numerous Central Asian figures as well.
The women portrayed on the seals are shown with
elaborate coiffures, sporting heavy jewelry,
suggesting that the Indus Valley people were an
urbane people with cultivated tastes and a refined
aesthetic sensibility. A few thousand seals have been
discovered in Indus Valley cities, showing some 400
pictographs: too few in number for the language to
have been ideographic, and too many for the
language to have been phonetic
- (I.8201)
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