Ancient Peoples and Places: Harappan Civilization PDF

Ancient Peoples and Places  I Introduction II The Indus Valley Civilisation 1. Antecedents to Harappan Civilisation Priest-King Mehrgarh, Harappa 2. Features of Harappan Civilisation - Urbanism - Architecture - “egalitarian” leadership - trade, craf...

Ancient Peoples and Places  I Introduction II The Indus Valley Civilisation 1. Antecedents to Harappan Civilisation Priest-King Mehrgarh, Harappa 2. Features of Harappan Civilisation - Urbanism - Architecture - “egalitarian” leadership - trade, craft, and agriculture FILM: Indus The Unvoiced Civilization Dancing Girl  *Origin of State Societies *primary states *arid/semi arid valleys: Nile; Tigris/ Euphrates; Indus/Ganges; Yangtze River/Huang Ho (Yellow River) [and also in Mesoamerica and Peru]  The Indus Valley Civilization in the context of other ancient civilizations  Dehli Karachi Kolkata The Indo-Gangetic Plain - Today’s most populous area in the world - Nearly 1 billion people (1/7 of world population) - 20+ megacities, incl. Delhi (23), Karachi (21), Kolkata (16) * Pakistan and NW India * Himalayas Himalaya Mountains Indus River ❖humped cattle, buffalo, and pig, around 4500 BC ❖wheat, peas, barley, lentils, rice ❖minerals/metals, Iranian plateau and Afghanistan Zebu, considered sacred to the Indus ❖ Valley Civilization in Pakistan reveals dentistry being practiced as early as 7,000 BC, with practitioners using bow drills to cure tooth ailments. ❖ A Sumerian text from ca. 3000 BC cites Hesira (5th Dynasty) teeth worms as the source of dental decay. ❖ Similar beliefs were detected in ancient China, India, Japan, Egypt, in the writings of Homer (ca. 850 BC), and as late as 1300 AD in the writings of surgeon Guy de Chauliac. ❖ Hesira, „Chief of Dentists and Physicians“ (Egypt) is the first known dentist (ca. 2600 BC). ❖ The Code of Hammurabi (18th century BC) refers twice to dental extraction (as punishment). I Introduction II Indus Valley Civilisation 1. Antecedents to Harappan Civilisation Mehrgarh, Harappa 2. Features of Harappan Civilisation - Urbanism - Architecture - “egalitarian” leadership - trade, craft, and agriculture Female Figurine, FILM: Indus The Unvoiced Civilisation Mehrgarh * *7000 BC Balochistan *6000 BC large farming villages on Indus plain *4000 BC fortifications, and trade of: shell, lapis lazuli, turquoise  * *first sites date to 3000-2400 BC *fortified towns *independent towns predating state-level society Harappa *British archaeologist *1950s excavations at Mohenjo-daro. *Proposed southwest Asian (Mesopotamian) influence, but … *excavations at Mehrgarh in the 1970s disproved Wheeler’s theory  Bolan Pass Khyber Pass Mehrgarh * *ancient trade routes along Khyber and Bolan pass from Iranian Plateau to Indus valley. *Khyber Pass is an integral part of the ancient Silk Road and one of the oldest known passes in history. *Famous invaders include: Darius I (Medo-Persia), Alexander the Great (Greece), Genghis Khan (Mongol empire).  * *Balochistan, Pakistan *Made of a number of narrow gorges and stretches *89 km (55 miles) long A historical sketch of Bolan Pass  * Ceramics, 3500-2000 BC, Mehrgarh *located at Bolan Pass, where the Iranian Plateau meets Indus floodplain *6000 BC occupied by nomadic pastoralists *5100 BC sedentary village, agricultural *earliest known farming village in South Asia *is seen as precursor of Harappan civilization  * *first evidence for agriculture pre- Mud-brick dwelling (storehouse?) dating Harappan Harappa, ca. 3500 BC period *rectangular mud- brick buildings * *compartmentalized storage Mehrgarh storehouses  * *early reliance on wild large game animals. *over time domestic animals of increased importance: Cattle, sheep, goats. *grindstones, sickle blades, wheat, barley. *local domestication? Bos = cattle Ovis = sheep Capra = goat * *axes, flint tools, stone vessels, ochre, turquoise (Turkmenistan) *conch shells (Arabian Sea) *lapis lazuli (Afghanistan) Female figurine from Mehrgarh I Introduction II Indus Valley Civilisation 1. Antecedents to Harappan Civilisation Mehrgarh, Harappa 2. Features of Harappan Civilisation - Urbanism (Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira) - Architecture - “egalitarian” leadership - trade, craft, and agriculture  * ✓ There is a leadership, but … ✓ … far more egalitarian than all other ancient civilizations. ✓ There is some fancy aristocratic housing, but … ✓ … a strong focus on urban planning for everyone. ✓ There is no glorification of a tiny ruling elite, but … ✓ … much of the civilization’s Stone sculpture: wealth went into the common The Priest-King of Mohenjo-Daro good.  8 important cities of the Indus Valley Civilization: - Harappa - Mohenjo-daro - Dholavira - Ganweriwala - Rakhigarhi - Kaligangan - Rupnagar - Lothal The Indus Valley Civilization * Harappa Mohenjo-daro Karachi Dholavira * Khyber Pass Bolan Pass Harappa Mohenjo-daro Dholavira Karachi  * *2600–2300 BC urbanization *Harappan state 2300-1750 BC *Harappa *Mohenjo-Daro, 40’000 people West Mound, Mohenjo-Daro *Dholavira  * *grid plan *public toilets, sewers *3 story buildings *minimal social inequality? *egalitarianism? Mohenjo-Daro street *  * Craft workshops in Harappa  * Harappa: Miniature Votive Images or Harappa: Coach Driver ca. 2000 BC Toy Models, ca. 2500 * Harappa: Fragment of Large Deep Vessel, circa 2500 BC. * Harappa: Painted Burial Pottery * West Mound Domestic area  * *showers, public toilets *sophisticated urban water control  * ▪dramatic inequalities in social status not apparent in houses or cemeteries Mohenjo-daro houses * *Citadel *Lower city *grid plan *3-storey buildings  * *mud brick mound *Great Bath *bitumen sealed *12 x 7 x 3 meters *granary, administration & other civic buildings Great Bath, Mohenjo-Daro  * ▪ 12 x 7 m and 3 m deep: a pool sealed by bitumen and surrounded by an elaborate arcade. Great Bath Great Drain  * *residential areas with courtyards *town wall *bazaars and workshops  * Stone sculpture: Bronze statuette: The Priest-King of Mohenjo-Daro “The Dancing Girl” of Mohenjo-Daro  * "Pashupati" (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit paśupati) figure showing seated figure. This seal discovered during excavation of the Mohenjo-daro has drawn attention as a possible representation of a "yogi" or "proto-Shiva" figure.  Dholavira - 5th largest city of 8 major Harappan centres. - Flourished ca. 4500 years ago (from ca. 2650-2100 BC) and slowly declined until ca. 1450. - 15 m high stone walls engulf the city. - Sophisticated water system (above and underground) Extraordinary: - Known “grandest city.” - Fortress and Lower Town. - Reservoirs (magnificent engineering capabilities). - 4 gates (N-S-E-W). The main gate is the N-gate, looking on a ceremonial place. Dholavira Plan of Dholavira  Dholavira One of Dholavira’s reservoirs, with steps  FILM: Indus - The Unvoiced Civilization - 3 large rivers in Ancient Indian documents: Indus, Ganges, and Sarasvati (probably the intermittent and endorheic Ghaggar Hakra) - The city of Dholavira (water collection: Most important: rain, then river and well) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= * nhej8XShSvI (11:03) - Trade routes with Mesopotamia - The script of the Indus Valley civilization Watch at home: The Indus Valley Civilization: The Masters of the River https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5 bqAKixgYA (52:19)  * *Mesopotamian trade Agate with Magan (=Oman?), Dilmun (= Bahrain), and Meluḫḫa (=Harappa?) *ivory, carnelian from highlands exported to Mesopotamia Gold, agate and lapis lazuli from Harappan sites  * The three oldest civilizations in their trade connections  * *undeciphered *400 pictographs *boustrophedon style *weights and measures *Asko Parpola (brother of Assyriologist Simo Parpola), proposes a Dravidian connection Seals  * *Large population centers exquisitely organized down to minute details, such as sewage channels, standardized building materials (bricks were 28 x 14 x 7 cm), however … *Leaders remain almost invisible. *Elite areas exist; however, impressive burials and palaces are noticeably absent. *Only monumental architecture: a bath! *… was there an ethos of equality?  * *1700 BC gradual abandonment of urban centers. Reasons? *trade problems, collapse of Near Eastern trade centers? *deforestation and flooding? *Rigveda, Sanskrit document, describes Aryan invaders from the Caucasus? *florescence of Ganges River urbanism after 1100 BC. Female and infant burial Harappa  * *ceremonial bathing *yogic positions on seals *important symbolic role of elephants and cattle evidenced in modern Indus cultures *… but – what about Harappa’s “egalitarianism”  6-52 *Where is the Harappan influence in terms of social equality??? Or: * 6-53 Indian caste system  * 6-54 → In some lineages of Hinduism, Purusha is the “SELF” which pervades the universe. Vedic divinities are interpretations of the many facets of Purusha. → Purusha, after being dismembered, turns into the Moon (his mind), Sun (his eyes), and Wind (his breath). → From Purusha’s body, the world and the varnas, the castes/classes were built. → Purusha emanated Viraj, the female creative principle, from which he is reborn in turn after the world was made out of his parts. (Acc. to Chapter 5 of the Rigveda, one of the oldest traditions of Vedic literature, extensive oral religious traditions recorded around 500 BC) * 6-55 Purusha and the varnas coming from his body  * 6-56 → The Aryans arrived in India around 1500 BC. → The Aryans had a system of cosmic and social order. → When the Aryans arrived in India, they disregarded the local cultures. → They conquered and took control over regions in north India and pushed the local people southwards or towards the jungles and mountains in north India. → This prompted the society to create a system of class. → The arrival of the Aryans in Ancient India influenced the Indian caste system drastically. → The term Aryan originates from the Sanskrit word ārya, in origin an ethnic self- designation, in Classical Sanskrit meaning "honourable, respectable, noble.“ → Rigveda, a Sanskrit document (also) describing Aryan invaders, is one of the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language. Philological and linguistic evidence indicate that the Rigveda was composed in the north-western region of India, ca. between 1700–1100 BC.  FILM: Indus - The Unvoiced Civilization - 3 large rivers in Ancient Indian documents: Indus, Ganges, and Sarasvati (Ghaggar Hakra) - The city of Dholavira - Trade routes with Mesopotamia - The script of the Indus Valley civilization Alternatively, see documentary “The Indus – The Masters of the River” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmwY2q0_iLY History of Ancient India (2500-500 BC) (optional): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWhBOkTY5hk&t=1152s