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Some Key Facts
Population at peak time - 5 million
Citadel Consisting of 5000 residents alone
Two storied buildings unearthed
Mohenjo Daro and Harappa reconstructed over
and over again 7 times due to damage and
floods.
Public Buildings for town
Visible goal of town planning to promote
socialisation
Harappa and mohenjodaro having same
architectural layout.
8. A view of the houses and streets, with the citadel and stupa mound in the background. The tops
of eroding buildings have been capped with a protective layer of mud brick that will help to soak
up the efflorescent salts and protect the underlying fired brick from fragmentation.
9. One relatively successful
low cost technique used to
combat the destructive
nature of salts in the fired
bricks is to cover the walls
with a thick layer of mud
and straw plaster and to
spray them with clay
slurry. When the salts
percolate to the surface of
the mud plaster, the
crystals form without
damaging the underlying
fired brick.
10. The great bath surrounded by a brick colonnade, measures approximately 12
meters north-south and 7 meters wide, with a maximum depth of 2.4 meters. In
the background is a massive brick structure with narrow passages that was
first identified as a hammam or hot-air bath, and later as the state granary.
11. The Great Bath was entered using two wide staircases, one from the north and one from the
south. The floor of the tank is watertight due to finely fitted bricks laid on edge with gypsum
plaster. Brick colonnades were discovered on the eastern, northern and southern edges, but the
western edge (at the left) was missing. Sir John Marshall assumed that they would have been
present and subsequent reconstructions have replaced these missing columns.
12. The pillared hall was approximately 27.5 meters square (90 feet square) with twenty square brick
pillars arranged in four rows, only two of which are still preserved. Strips of paved floors sloped
from south to north and each strip of flooring had row of bricks set on edge along both sides. The
cross wall in the foreground was built later and divided the hall into smaller rooms.
13. Close-up view of the pillared hall, which may have been a hall of assembly with
paved walkways and places for people to sit in ordered rows along each aisle
between massive brick pillars.
14. A large open space or courtyard (10 meters square) is surrounded by a wall that had 13 openings,
possibly for windows. This unique structure is situated in the northern part of an extremely large
building complex containing around 78 rooms and passageways, but no well. The building lies to the
east of the Great Bath and was thought to be a "college" or residence of priests.
15. Looking north along the street to the east of the Great Bath. The building on the
right is a single large structure called the College, and may have been the
residence of priests or other elites
16. This room in VS area was made with bricks set on edge to create a watertight floor. A small
well was located in the southeast corner (top right) and circular brick depressions were set into
the floor, presumably to hold pottery vessels. The early excavators suggested that the room
might have been a dyer's workshop.
17. The small room in the center of the photograph contained 14
skeletons, thought to be the remains of a massacre.
18. Wells were made with wedge shaped bricks to make a strong circular
structure. Some bricks were made with special grooves to keep the ropes
from sliding sideways when drawing water.
19. This oval well
is located in
room 19
northeast of
Great Bath. It
is the only well
with an oval
structure and
may have been
used to draw
water for
nearby bathing
platforms or for
filling the Great
Bath.
20. Although most wells were located inside private buildings, the city planners of
Mohenjo Daro provided some public wells that could be accessed directly from the
main street. This well and nearby walls have been covered with mud brick to protect
them from salt crystallization.
21. This unique well and associated bathing platform was discovered in the
course of building a catchment drain around the site. It was reconstructed on
the ground floor of Mohenjo-daro site museum.
22.
23. Overview of the "granary" area looking towards the southeast. The walls
have been partly restored for conservation purposes by the Department of
Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan.
29. A bathing platform in UM area with blocked up doorway leading into the room. The brick
floor was made with carefully fitted flat paved bricks and a smaller catchment drain along
the side of the platform. A small step was placed at one side of the platform, and a ledge of
finely fitted bricks protected the base of the wall.