The Mystery of Mohenjo-Daro



The Mystery of Mohenjo-Daro

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The earliest civilization in Ancient India was the Harappan civilization. The Harappans were remarkable people who left behind the remains of two major cities—Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro—that archeologists use to study about this culture. But, remarkable as they may have been, this civilization disappeared in about 1500 B.C.E. with no trace of what happened. Archeologists are trying to use clues left behind to discover what must have happened.

Use the information and clues in the following readings to learn about the fate of the Harappan Civilization.

The City of Mohenjo-Daro

In its time, Mohenjo-Daro was a model of city planning. Straight wide streets crisscrossed the city. Most of the buildings in Mohenjo-Daro were made of bricks baked in ovens. Unlike the sun dried bricks of Mesopotamia, these oven baked bricks became harder and lasted longer.

Some of the houses in Mohenjo-Daro were built two stories high and were large enough to have a courtyard and rooms for servants. Even the smallest city houses had inside walls to make separate rooms for cooking, sleeping, and bathing. Almost every house in Mohenjo-Daro had a bathroom were running water could flow through brick pipes into a city drain. Each house also had a chute through which trash could be emptied into a bin in the street. The garbage would then be collected by city workers.

Which of the following conclusions makes sense according to the information about Mohenjo-Daro? Check each statement that supports the facts from the passage above.

____ Mohenjo-Daro was built to last a long time.

____ Mohenjo-Daro was an organized city.

____ Mohenjo-Daro was a leading trade city.

City People

Most of the people in Mohenjo-Daro were craft workers or merchants. Craft workers wove cotton cloth, shaped clay pots, and made metal items such as silver jewelry. Merchants then traded these goods as well as surplus grain for turquoise, gold, copper, and food. Because many people knew how to read and write, they signed their goods with insignias to identify who had made certain goods.

Harappan insignias have been uncovered in Ur and other Mesopotamian cities. Seals from Mesopotamia have also been found in the ruins of the Harappan port cities.

What evidence from the reading above supports the conclusion that the people of Mohenjo-Daro were very educated and intelligent?

The Mystery of Mohenjo-Daro

No one has lived in Mohenjo-Daro for more than 3,000 years. How the city and all the rest of Harappan civilization ended is still a mystery.

Archeologists have found signs of sudden death in Mohenjo-Daro. They discovered many unburied skeletons. The position of the skeletons suggests that the people had been running from something. Houses and other buildings appear to have been abandoned suddenly. Some skeletons showed evidence of sword cuts.

Natural evidence shows that the underground water systems had become salty. This and frequent flooding would have made soil hard to farm.

ASSIGNMENT:

Based on the evidence, what could have happened? Write a short paragraph explaining what you think caused the disappearance of the Harappan people in Mohenjo-Daro. Be sure to support your conclusion with facts from your reading.

You will be graded for:

• Statement of Opinion (3 pts)

• Supporting Evidence (5 pts)

• Sentences (2 pts)

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