Summer 97 - At Mohenjaro-daro (Harappan/Indus civilization, late 3rd mill. to early 2nd mill. B.C.), Sindh prov.
A very significant place, from 2100 - 1750 BC this grew to become the largest city ever & anywhere to that time, and in the world's largest ancient civilization (the Harrappan/Indus), a city with town planning, an advanced sewage system, free-standing 2-story wells, impressive plumbing and water management in every respect, and huge granaries. The Harrappans had hieroglyphic writing (still undeciphered, their most common media was perishable), grew and raised a great variety of grains and livestock (the chicken is their gift to the world), traded extensively with Mesopotamia, and had it going on until the invasion by a horde of inbred Aryans on horseback from that instrument of history the Central Asian steppe (the Harappans didn't have the horse), who destroyed Harappan/Indus cities, irrigation systems, etc., imposed the caste system, and pushed ancient India into the longest dark age in world history. For 800-900 years the locals lost their literacy, and writing wouldn't be in use there again until the mid-1st millenium BC when it re-emerged in Gandhara under the Persians.
phys.org/news/2017-05-pakistan-lost-city-mohenjo-daro.html
- Update.: More, new info. re the Aryans and their invasion.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSVZB3zJ35I
- I like this shot because it looks like the stairs are melting. It was taken in brain-addling heat, I had to wear a sopping wet towel on my head as I toured the ruins. The next day I went on a tour from Karachi to Chaukundi tombs, Makli Hills (the largest cemetery in S. Asia), Thatta (where I toured the famous Mughal 'Shah Jejan mosque') and Banbhore (with the ruins of the first mosque in the Indian subcontinent right on the coast, and the museum there) with some media types from Paris in a taxi, and with a guard we hired with a huge rifle, and it was a great day for photography. I knew it would be because my camera broke here the day before soon after I took this photo, some circuitry must have melted (then I had to buy a 2nd-hand Minolta, the same make, in Lahore). According to legend there's a wind in Sindh called Lu that's so hot it can rip your skin off. (I think there was some Lu in my hotel room in Karachi.)
- A documentary re the Harrappan civilization: www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5bqAKixgYA At the 6 min. pt.: "2,000 yr.s before Christ this land was settled by new-comers from the border regions of ancient Persia [Baluchistan today]. Today it is desert. But on this spot they founded the largest city of the Indus civilization, with 40,000 people [within] an area of a square kilometre. The streets reflect the genius of their builders. The city layout is a model of ancient town planning. Residential blocks are defined by long, straight arteries crossing at right angles. The main street is never less than 9 m.s wide. It's easy to imagine it filled with colourful crowds. ... "
- Videos on youtube are getting better and better.: youtu.be/kxP1zornb-w?si=nrLriuPCw0VUjEtt A short transcription from this vlog: "At its height [in @ 2,000 BC], the civilization spanned over 3,000,000 km.s2, larger [at least in area] than Egypt and Mesopotamia combined. It really was huge, colossal, and allegedly was a peaceful, egalitarian society, which I've click-baitingly referred to as a 'Communist Utopia' b/c the algorithm rules my life." The vlogger challenges the Harappan stereotype as pacifist and relatively defenseless. Some Harappan cities have bastions in their walls and elaborate gates, and some cities show signs of having been burnt, etc. But he notes that there seems to be a lack of artwork in the record depicting any violence (apart from one seal depicting men pointing spears at one another). So they might have been relatively peaceful. (It's always relative.) But there's also a lack of images of kings and queens in the record, and a dearth of palaces, grand tombs, and monuments, while the houses seem to be uniform in size. The most opulent tomb excavated contained @ 70 pots, but no sacrificial victims, nothing impressive or distinct in terms of scale or building material, etc. This is why 'the Pharoah Nerd', another vlogger, refers to the Harappans as "strangely egalitarian". Harappan cities also lack large temples (although I think the large rectangular 'bath' might have been or was likely something of a temple).
Summer 97 - At Mohenjaro-daro (Harappan/Indus civilization, late 3rd mill. to early 2nd mill. B.C.), Sindh prov.
A very significant place, from 2100 - 1750 BC this grew to become the largest city ever & anywhere to that time, and in the world's largest ancient civilization (the Harrappan/Indus), a city with town planning, an advanced sewage system, free-standing 2-story wells, impressive plumbing and water management in every respect, and huge granaries. The Harrappans had hieroglyphic writing (still undeciphered, their most common media was perishable), grew and raised a great variety of grains and livestock (the chicken is their gift to the world), traded extensively with Mesopotamia, and had it going on until the invasion by a horde of inbred Aryans on horseback from that instrument of history the Central Asian steppe (the Harappans didn't have the horse), who destroyed Harappan/Indus cities, irrigation systems, etc., imposed the caste system, and pushed ancient India into the longest dark age in world history. For 800-900 years the locals lost their literacy, and writing wouldn't be in use there again until the mid-1st millenium BC when it re-emerged in Gandhara under the Persians.
phys.org/news/2017-05-pakistan-lost-city-mohenjo-daro.html
- Update.: More, new info. re the Aryans and their invasion.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSVZB3zJ35I
- I like this shot because it looks like the stairs are melting. It was taken in brain-addling heat, I had to wear a sopping wet towel on my head as I toured the ruins. The next day I went on a tour from Karachi to Chaukundi tombs, Makli Hills (the largest cemetery in S. Asia), Thatta (where I toured the famous Mughal 'Shah Jejan mosque') and Banbhore (with the ruins of the first mosque in the Indian subcontinent right on the coast, and the museum there) with some media types from Paris in a taxi, and with a guard we hired with a huge rifle, and it was a great day for photography. I knew it would be because my camera broke here the day before soon after I took this photo, some circuitry must have melted (then I had to buy a 2nd-hand Minolta, the same make, in Lahore). According to legend there's a wind in Sindh called Lu that's so hot it can rip your skin off. (I think there was some Lu in my hotel room in Karachi.)
- A documentary re the Harrappan civilization: www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5bqAKixgYA At the 6 min. pt.: "2,000 yr.s before Christ this land was settled by new-comers from the border regions of ancient Persia [Baluchistan today]. Today it is desert. But on this spot they founded the largest city of the Indus civilization, with 40,000 people [within] an area of a square kilometre. The streets reflect the genius of their builders. The city layout is a model of ancient town planning. Residential blocks are defined by long, straight arteries crossing at right angles. The main street is never less than 9 m.s wide. It's easy to imagine it filled with colourful crowds. ... "
- Videos on youtube are getting better and better.: youtu.be/kxP1zornb-w?si=nrLriuPCw0VUjEtt A short transcription from this vlog: "At its height [in @ 2,000 BC], the civilization spanned over 3,000,000 km.s2, larger [at least in area] than Egypt and Mesopotamia combined. It really was huge, colossal, and allegedly was a peaceful, egalitarian society, which I've click-baitingly referred to as a 'Communist Utopia' b/c the algorithm rules my life." The vlogger challenges the Harappan stereotype as pacifist and relatively defenseless. Some Harappan cities have bastions in their walls and elaborate gates, and some cities show signs of having been burnt, etc. But he notes that there seems to be a lack of artwork in the record depicting any violence (apart from one seal depicting men pointing spears at one another). So they might have been relatively peaceful. (It's always relative.) But there's also a lack of images of kings and queens in the record, and a dearth of palaces, grand tombs, and monuments, while the houses seem to be uniform in size. The most opulent tomb excavated contained @ 70 pots, but no sacrificial victims, nothing impressive or distinct in terms of scale or building material, etc. This is why 'the Pharoah Nerd', another vlogger, refers to the Harappans as "strangely egalitarian". Harappan cities also lack large temples (although I think the large rectangular 'bath' might have been or was likely something of a temple).