Mohenjo Daro, which means 'the mountain of the dead' is an ancient city and an archeological site located in Sind district of Pakistan. It is a UNESCO world heritage site which was first discovered in 1921, by a farmer plowing his field it is said to be built around 2500 BC, and it is among the largest and most important cities, and maybe even served as an administrative center of the Indus Valley Civilization. It was an extremely well-planned city considering the standards of that time and could rival any city from the Mesopotamian or Egyptian civilization. The standout feature of Mohenjo Daro is its perfectly aligned and 90-degree style grid pattern designs used in planning streets and usage of underground drainage system.
City Outline:
Built entirely out of kin-fire bricks with a square patterned outline arranged in a perfect grid pattern. Twelve main streets ran through the city, dividing it into twelve blocks of which eleven were residential in nature while the twelfth block housed a citadel. It is said that the facilities could easily accommodate up to a total of 35000 people. Public buildings also suggested a great degree of social organization.
Residential Houses:
Houses were designed in such a way so as to protect them from thieves and external noise. The majority of them were one-story, but some of them were two-story high. Each house has its well to draw water from. It also included separate areas demarcated for bathing, many of them also had courtyards. Houses were easily accessible to the smaller lanes and main streets.
The Great Bath:
One of the standout features of Mohenjo-Daro is the great bath which is astonishingly well preserved to this day. It had a length of 180 feet and a breadth of 108 feet. It had a simple plan-an open rectangle housing verandahs on all sides, accompanied with various galleries and rooms used for changing and recreational purposes. It also had a low floor alongside the flight of stairs leading for bathers who found the bath too deep and also for kids.
Granary:
The great granary complete with bays received and stored food which arrived in carts from the countryside. It also had ducts which circulated the air within which helped the grain stay dry and hence free from moisture, as a result, keeping it fresher for a longer period.
Prized Artifacts:
- A bronze statue of a nude dancing girl found in 1926
- Stone sculptures of male figures- denoting either a priest or king
- Stone tablets of animals in which the bull features prominently, indicating a devotion to Lord Pashupati.
Waste Management: A highly developed sewage system-entirely covered, with manholes at regular intervals along with public toilets at regular intervals showed a great way of efficient public waste management. For every house had an enclosed and independent sewer system which were connected to the main sewers with the help of a drainage pipe.
Fall of the city and civilization: Despite being bell fortified, it did lack city walls making it prone to enemy attacks. The city was destroyed and rebuilt for a total of seven times with the new cities built over the older ones. It is said that the Aryans invaded the city and destroyed it once and for all. Theories also suggest that maybe the Indus river changed its course leading to extensive flooding as a result of which the city could have been destroyed.