Indus River Valley Civilization CLOZE Reading

Word Bank

Government Food Read Planning Craftsmen Little 2,000 Harappan Mohenjo-Daro Sir John Hubert Marshall Natural disaster 40,000 Merged Brick Conclusions Buildings Artists Great bath Earthquake Citadel Clean Hindu Kush Artifacts Aryan Horses Historians Invaders Indoor Plumbing

Indus River Valley Civilization CLOZE Reading

Lost Cities of the Indus The ruins of the city discovered by Sir John Hubert Marshall in 1921 is called Harappa, after the name of a nearby town. Archaeologists don't know what the ancient people who lived in the city called themselves. Today, the entire Indus Valley civilization is called Harappan civilization. This civilization lasted for 2,000 years. A year after Harappa was uncovered, archaeologists found a second ruined city nearby. This city was called Mohenjo-Daro, which means "mound of death". Mohenjo-Daro Mohenjo-Daro was a large city. Historians think 40,000 people may have lived there. Streets crossed each other at right angles. Large avenues were paved with bricks. Side streets were narrower and most of them were left unpaved. Hundreds of one-room, brick buildings line the streets. Some apartments were several stories high and had indoor plumbing and courtyards. A citadel, or strong fortress, stood at the west end of Mohenjo-Daro. This citadel was surrounded by thick walls to protect it against invaders. Beside the citadel stood a large grain storehouse, where the farmers of Mohenjo-Daro stored crops of barley and wheat. Also nearby was an Olympic-sized Great Bath, which may have been used for religious ceremonies. Harappan Culture Archaeologists have studied the ruins of the Indus civilization, but they have had trouble learning how the Harappans lived. Scholars cannot read the symbols on Harappan artifacts yet. However, they have been able to make some Conclusions about life in the Indus Valley. Many conclusions are based on the remains found in Mohenjo-Daro. Planned Cities One of the most remarkable things about the ancient Indus Valley cities is their precise planning. Harappan bricklayers used standard-sized bricks, unlike the irregular-sized bricks used in Mesopotamia. Harappans also pioneered ways to keep their city clean. Many houses had their own toilets, and the city had a sewer system complete with "manholes." Projects like this need central planning by a strong Government. Since the city of Harappa had almost the same layout as Mohnejo-Daro - even though the two were 400 miles apart - historians conclude that the Indus civilization must have had a strong central government. Specialized Skills The ancient Harappans were skilled artists and craftsmen. Archaeologists have uncovered Artifacts in the ruins of the workshops that lined city streets. Jewelers made elegant jewelry with gold, conch shells, and gems. Skilled workers carved beautiful pictures into small squares of stone. These stone squares were probably used as seals to mark possessions. Potters decorated bowls, water jars and other pottery containers with colorful paintings. Metalworkers used copper to make fish hooks and elegant bronze statues. Weavers in the Indus River valley may have been the first to make cotton fibers into cloth. As in Egypt and the Fertile Crescent, such specialization required a surplus of food. Excess crops were collected and kept in large storehouses. Perhaps, as in ancient Egypt, government workers collected a part of farmers' crops as a tax. This stored grain may have been redistributed later, as payment to city workers or government employees. The Aryans The cities of the Indus Valley were abandoned around 1600 BC. What happened? There are several theories. The decline may have been due to a natural disaster, such as a flood or lack of rainfall. A change in rainfall or lack of river water would have made farming very difficult. Some archaeologists think that the Indus River changed course after a natural disaster such as an earthquake. This may have caused floods that destroyed the region's large cities; or it may have caused the course of the Indus River to change. Life went on in the Indus Valley, but the Harappan civilization never recovered. Around 1500 BC life in the Indus Valley changed again. A new group began crossing the icy passes of the Hindu Kush Mountains and moving east into the Indus Valley. These were Aryans from central Asia rode horses to herd cattle and sheep. Natural disasters or war may have caused them to migrate south through the mountains. To migrate means to move from one place to another to live. The Aryan people migrated west into Europe and south into India. Aryan means "noble one" in Sanskrit. The Aryans brought the Sanskrit language to the Indus Valley and the rest of the subcontinent. They also brought new religious ideas. Putting it together Harappan civilization was completely forgotten until scientists uncovered it in the 1920s. Even today, little is known about this civilization. However, the planning of these cities led Historians to conclude that Harappan civilization had a strong central government and economy. The Indus Valley civilization collapsed suddenly around 1600 BC. About 100 years after the collapse, groups of herders called Aryans began to settle the Indus Valley. In time, their culture Merged with that of the people of the Indus River valley to create a new culture.

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