🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Mohenjo-daro had a sophisticated grid layout with covered drains, showing urban planning ahead of many later civilizations.
Mohenjo-daro, in modern Sindh, Pakistan, thrived from 2600–1900 BCE as a meticulously planned urban center with grid streets, granaries, and advanced drainage systems. Around 1900 BCE, the city was suddenly vacated, leaving infrastructure, wells, and workshops intact. Scholars suggest climate change, river course shifts, and economic decline caused depopulation. Despite the desertion, Indus cultural practices persisted elsewhere. Archaeological evidence shows high craftsmanship in pottery, beads, and seals, preserved for posterity. Mohenjo-daro’s sudden silence challenges assumptions about urban permanence. The city’s intact streets, baths, and public buildings continue to fascinate archaeologists and historians. Its disappearance remains one of the most enigmatic events in ancient urban history.
💥 Impact (click to read)
The departure from Mohenjo-daro disrupted trade, social organization, and governance in the Indus Valley. Populations dispersed to smaller settlements or other cities, spreading technological knowledge and cultural practices. Archaeologists study urban design, hydraulic engineering, and artifacts to understand societal structure and resilience. Social hierarchy and administrative systems vanished with the city’s depopulation. The disappearance exemplifies how environmental and economic pressures can quietly dissolve urban life. Mohenjo-daro serves as a case study for non-violent urban collapse in prehistory. Its deserted streets and granaries highlight both achievement and vulnerability in early civilization.
Today, Mohenjo-daro is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, preserved for research, education, and tourism. Excavations reveal streets, baths, granaries, and drainage systems that inform understanding of urban planning and daily life. Studies focus on resilience, adaptation, and social organization in ancient cities. Preservation efforts highlight technological sophistication and cultural achievements. The city’s abandonment offers lessons in environmental management, urban sustainability, and societal vulnerability. Mohenjo-daro continues to captivate historians, archaeologists, and the public. Its legacy demonstrates the fragility and brilliance of one of the world’s earliest urban civilizations.
Source
Mohenjo-daro Archaeological Project, UNESCO and Government of Pakistan, 2020
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