The Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley civilization was a very advanced culture that thrived between 3300 BCE and 1400 BCE. It was centered around cities in present-day Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. It was a great place for trade and it also provided the people with tin and lapis lazuli, which was used to make jewelry.
The Art of the Indus Valley Civilization
The artists of the Indus Valley civilization had a great sense of art and they created very realistic figures of humans and animals. They had a good imagination and they did their work with a lot of care. They made seals, pottery, terracotta figures, and other artifacts.
Gold Jewelry and Detailed Figurines
They also made gold jewelry and a variety of anatomically detailed figurines in bronze and terracotta. Some of the figurines depicted a priest wearing a beard and a robe, while another showed a dancing girl in bronze.
Diverse Artefacts of the Indus Valley Civilization
There were several different types of artifacts from the Indus Valley Civilization, and they tell us a lot about their society and the way they lived. They include statues, seals, pottery, and gold jewelry.
Advanced Architectural and Communication Systems
One of the most fascinating things about the Indus Valley Civilization is that it was a very advanced civilization that was able to create sculptures, seals, pottery, and figurines. They also had a very clear imagination and they were able to do a very good job at modeling the artifacts.
Intricate Architecture and Water Systems
During the Indus Valley Civilization, they were able to build cities with intricate architecture and well-designed housing. These cities were built with a master plan, baked brick homes, and elaborate water supply and drainage systems.
System of Communication and the Indus Script
In addition, they had a very developed system of communication through the use of seals and stone tablets. They had a written language called the Indus script which was written from right to left using ten symbols arranged in a horizontal line.
Debate over the Indus Script
It is very difficult to understand what this language was actually saying because there are no other similar symbols in the Indus script, and there is a big debate about whether it was an ideographic or phonetic language.
The Indus Script and its Significance
The Indus script was found on the clay and stone tablets of the Harappan Civilization. The inscriptions have been carbon dated to 3300-3200 BCE, and they appear to be written from right to left.
An Independent Written Language
A lot of research has been done on the Indus script, and it is now thought that it may have evolved independently from other written languages like Mesopotamia and Egypt. It is still unclear what the Indus script meant, but it was a sign of a sophisticated society that had been well established for hundreds of years.
Famous Sites and Urbanization
The Indus Civilization is believed to have been one of the first to be 'urban' or 'settled', which means that it had organized housing and a system of social control. Its most famous sites are Mohenjo-Daro (modern-day Pakistan) and Harappa in Pakistan, as well as Lothal and Kalibangan in western India.
