RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

(Indus)

I.  How do we know?

A.  Archaeological excavations (~1920s)

1.  "twin cities (~40,000 people in each)

a) Harappa

b) Mohenjo-Daro

2.  India's first civilization (where & when)

B.  Seal inscriptions

1.  found when building railway (1856)

2.  not deciphered yet

II.  What do we know?

A.  Geography

1.  a land of  contrast

a) Himalayas               

b) Indus & Ganges

c) Deccan

2.  Khyber Pass

B.  Indus Civilization (2500-2000 B.C.E)

1.  relationship to Mesopotamia

2.  urban planning

a) streets

b) citadels

-- Great Bath

-- municipal granaries

c) housing

-- indoor plumbing

-- sewage system

3.  crafts (i.e. cotton)

4.  arrival of the Aryans

5.  legacy