Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Mohenjo Daro (National Geographic Article)



In 1911, archaeologists first visited Mohenjo Daro, an ancient ruin on the Indus River. They excavated there for a long time, but they still haven’t figured out who occupied the city. The city has no flamboyant palaces, temples, or monuments. We still aren’t sure what type of government there was. However, we do know that modesty, cleanliness, and order were preferred, that pottery and tools of copper and stone were standardized, and that there was a system of tightly controlled trade. The city was very wealthy and had high stature.

In modern Pakistan, it’s located in the Larkana district of Sindh province in Pakistan. With no evidence of kings or queens, Mohenjo Daro was most likely a city-state.

There were many prized artifacts found – for example, a miniature bronze statuette of a female, known as the dancing girl. This statuette was discovered in 1926. There were also a few stone sculptures of males found broken, which archaeologists also found interesting.

Another mystery of Mohenjo Daro is what ended the civilization. There is no evidence of any flooding destroying the city, and the city wasn’t totally abandoned either. Archaeologists are still researching today, but there was no evidence found yet.

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