2. The Indus RiverValley
•Flows throughPakistan&
India
•The Harappans settledthe
land in 2500 B.C.
•Twicethesize of
Mesopotamia or Egypt
3. The Harappans
•The Harappans lives were
shaped by the Indus River
•Built dikes & Dams to
control the River
•Cleared land for farming;
built irrigation systems
•Earliest known people to
grow cotton
•Spun, wove, dyed cotton
cloth bright colors
•Used river mud to make
bricks, baked in the sun or
ovens
4. Two MajorCities:Harappa& Mohenjo-daro
•Oldest examples of
planned communities –
cities built to a definite
plan
•Buildings planned using a
street grid – or uniform
network
•Built first sanitation
system
•A citadel, or fortress,
stood above each city
•Inside citadel was the
Great Bath
5. Decline ofthe Harappans
•1700 B.C.
•Harappans either invaded
& killed or plagued w/
environmental problems
•By 1200 B.C. Aryans took
over Indus River Valley
•Indus River Valley was
self-sufficient – able to
take care of nearly all its
own needs
•Few artifacts found there
•Most of what we know comes
from legends
7. Evidence of Lost Civilization
•World knows very little of
Harappan civilization
•No translation of
Harappan writing, no
record of political history,
no royal tombs.
•Polytheistic religion; most
gods female
•No evidence of weapons;
peaceful
