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Moenjo
daro(Mound of the Dead), discovered in 1922, is situated
on the West Bank of the river Indus. It has one of
the earliest and the most developed urban
civilizations of ancient world. It forms a part of
the
Indus River civilization of Harappa
and was discovered in 1921. It is located 1287.48
km away from Moenjo
daro. The Indus River civilization flourished
from somewhere third till the middle of second millenium
B.C. before it vanquished from the world.
Moenjo daro had mud-brick and baked-brick buildings.
Covered drainage system in addition to this, soakpits
for disposal bins, a large state grannary, a spacious
pillared hall, a collage of priests, a large and imposing
building (probably a palace) and a citadel mound which
incorporates in its margin a system of solid burnt
brick tower.
Moenjo
daro looks like a planned, organized and
master architecture of urban settlement. Beneath the
citadel, parallel streets, some 30 feet wide, stretched
away and are crossed by other straight streets, which
divide the town into a great oblong block, each 400
yards in length, and 200 to 300 yards in width. The
most imposing remains are those of a Great Hall which
consisted of an open quadrangle with verandahs on
four sides, galleries and rooms on the back, a group
of halls on the north and a large bathing pool. It
was probably used for religious or ceremonial bathing.
Interestingly, the bullock carts, boats, drinking
jars, toys used even today in the adjoining areas,
bare strong resemblance to those used by the ancient
citizens of Moenjodaro. Through the discovery of coins
and potteries, archeologists believe that trade and
cultural links existed between Moenjodaro and the
contemporary civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt.
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Various objects that are found at Moenjodaro include
burnt clay male and female figurines, and models of
bird, a steatite bust a noble man or a priest-king,
wearing a loose robe on which the tretoil pattern is
engraved and a small dancing girl of bronze
with slim figures and flat negroid features. Steatite
seals bearing lifelike representation of animals and
mythological creatures such as the unicorn best illustrate
the figural. They bear short inscription in a remarkable
pictographic script, which has yet to be deciphered.
The various layers of the excavated site show that upon
the debris of the ancient civilization rose the buildings
and edifices of a much latter settlement dating back
to the Kushan
period (between the first and the third centuries A.D.).
The remains of the Buddhist
stupa
and the monastery, rising to the height of 10.66 meters
(35 feet) above the surrounding area, are of this later
period. How this remarkable civilization came to an
end after 1800 B.C. remains a mystery. Human skeletons
show signs of violent end. Weather this came as a result
of massacre is not certain.
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The urban planning at Moenjodaro
was pragmatic and at a high level. Its main thoroughfares
were some 300 feet wide and were crossed by straight
streets that formed blocks 400 yards in length and 200/300
yards in width. The walls of the city's mud-brick and
baked-brick
houses were designed to ensure the safety of its occupants
so that in times of earthquakes
the structures collapsed outwards.
It
had an elaborate covered drainage system, soak
pits for disposal bins, a state granary, a large
and imposing building that could have been a
palace, and a citadel mound with solid burnt-brick
towers on its margin. Judging from the remains,
the Great Hall was probably the most striking
of its structures, comprising an open quadrangle
with verandahs of four sides, galleries and
rooms at the back, a number of halls and a large
bathing pool perhaps used for religious or ceremonial
bathing. |
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