INDUS VALLEY
CIVILIZATION
2600 to 1900
BCE
MOHENJO-DARO
What can
this photo
tell us about
the Indus
Valley
Civilization?
CRASH COURSE: INDUS VALLEY
 Watch John Green quickly explain the Indus Valley…
INDUS VALLEY GEOGRAPHY
INDUS VALLEY
 The Indus Valley civilization flourished around 2,500 B.C.
in the western part of South Asia, in what today is Pakistan and
western India.
 It is often referred to as Harappan Civilization after its first
discovered city, Harappa.
 The nearby city of Mohenjo-Daro is the largest and most
familiar archaeological dig in this region .
 It was not discovered until the 1920's. Most of its ruins, even
its major cities, remain to be excavated.
FILE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION INTO
THE APPROPRIATE SPICE CATEGORY
 INTRO TO SPICE CHARTS
MAP
CONCLUSIONS MADE ABOUT IVC
 Mountains block cold air & give the area a warm climate
 Indus carries a lot of silt and floods regularly twice a year.
 Access to river water for irrigation allowed farmers to produce
two crops a year.
 Monsoons = seasonal winds that af fect the climate and way of
life
 Summer monsoons bring heavy rains, causing flooding that
helps the soil
 People depended on monsoons to grow crops
 Monsoons sometimes unpredictable
THE GATEWAY TO AN INDUS CIT Y
THE GRANARY AT HARAPPA
CONCLUSIONS MADE ABOUT IVC
 Identically planned cities and construction suggests
a strong central government
 High degree of standardization in city building and even in the
size of bricks
 used a grid pattern
 A fortress (citadel) built on a brick platform overlooked each
city – probably the center of government and religion
 The settlement was thought to house roughly 5,000 people,
and had houses, a granary, baths, assembly halls and towers.
 Peaceful people – few weapons found
VIEW OF THE CITADEL
CONCLUSIONS MADE ABOUT IVC
 Houses were made of oven-baked bricks
-Each house had at least one bathroom
with plumbing to sewers
-Houses rose to several stories and
had enclosed courtyards
• Similarity in housing indicates little dif ferences between
social classes.
CONCLUSIONS MADE ABOUT IVC
 Technological advancements included extensive irrigation
systems, the potter’s wheel, kiln -baked bricks, sophisticated
bronze metallurgy, and a system of writing.
CONCLUSIONS MADE ABOUT IVC
 Extensive trade with the northwestern mountain areas, Iran,
Afghanistan, and artifacts found show that Indus and Sumer
(in Mesopotamia) traded
 Trade = bronze and copper tools; jewelry out of gold, shells,
ivory; clay pots; woven cloth; silver containers
 People had better access to metal; artisans used metal to
make utilitarian and luxury items
 Majority of objects found hand been tools
JEWELS BROUGHT FROM MINES BY
TRADERS
CONCLUSIONS MADE ABOUT IVC
Had a system of writing, but has not yet been deciphered.
CONCLUSIONS MADE ABOUT IVC
• Size of settled region larger than Egypt or Mesopotamia.
• Religious objects and symbols clearly linked to Hinduism
CONCLUSIONS ABOUT IVC
All of what we know comes from physical archeological evidence.
THEORIES ABOUT THE END
 The end of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1500BCE
 Researchers believe that the decline of the Indus Valley
Civilization was due to breakdown caused by natural disasters
and ecological change
• Suggestions: Drying up of Hakra river, salinization, and
erosion.
• Urban centers collapsing meant the elite way of life, but its
probable peasants adapted and survived.
PARTNER WORK: EACH STUDENT
RECORD IN NOTEBOOK
 How do you know that this archeological find is the remnants
of a river valley civilization and not just a Neolithic farming
village? Explain. (Hint: What makes a civilization a
civilization?)
 Compare Indus Valley with Mesopotamia. What do these
places have in common? What are some dif ferences?
(Discuss 3 of each)
 What don’t we know about the Indus Valley? What is missing
from the information we have that would fill in the gaps?
(Discuss at least 3 items)