Download
1 / 7
90 likes | 328 Vues
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS. Life in the Indus Valley. the ancient cities of Mesopotamia were not the only places where civilization was taking shape between 3000 and 2000 B.C.
E N D
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS Life in the Indus Valley
the ancient cities of Mesopotamia were not the only places where civilization was taking shape between 3000 and 2000 B.C. • far to the east of the Tigris-Euphrates river valley, the people of another river valley formed their version of a citystate • the Indus River valley (located in modern-day Pakistan) was similar to that of the Mesopotamian landscape • the environment was a desert region, watered by floods of the Indus River and its tributaries • the area was a humid and dry plain, requiring the early Indus inhabitants to rely on irrigation to develop systematic agriculture • the civilization that developed in the Indus River valley centered in several important cities, including MohenjoDaro on the Indus Rriverand Harappa on the neighboring Ravi River • Archeologists discovered these urban sites beginning in the 1920s A.D. • the culture they located is sometimes known as the Harappan civilization, named for the city-state
the work of archeologists has determined that the Harappans were some of the first city planners • over 100 city ruins have been excavated • the grandest sites reveal towns measuring more than three miles in circumference • near a typical city’s center stood a fortified complex where priests lived • in the city of MohenjoDaro, one of the largest cities, the fortified citadel included a great sunken bath where the privileged citizens could bathe, as well as a granary, or food storage center • extending from this center complex, the urban planners of MohenjoDaro designed streets in a grid pattern, flanked by houses, shops, and courtyards • woven awnings extended over the doors of shops to protect citizens from the glare of the desert sun • City streets were wide thoroughfares, often measuring over 30 feet across, allowing easy passage of people, animals, and two-wheeled oxcarts
unique to Harappan towns were the bricklined sewage systems which delivered waste outside of the city • manholes lined the streets where city workers could enter the drainage system, correcting any blockage problems • the Harappan people were civilized enough to invent a form of writing which has not yet been deciphered by modern scholars • as a result, life in the Indus Valley remains largely a mystery • it is known that the Indus people were extensive traders and hard-working farmers • Their craftsmen worked with metals including copper, bronze, and silver, fashioning each into tools, weapons, and cooking utensils • Indus trading ships and camels sent trade goods along the rivers and over land, even trading with the Sumerians
the Indus people appear to have been highly disciplined, yet they enjoyed games and playing dice • their artisans made toys, including monkey puppets on strings • they kept pets such as dogs and cats, and singing insects which they kept in small clay pots
Think About It... • What similarities do you see between the civilization found in the Indus Valley and that of the Mesopotamians? What differences can you determine? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
