Harappa

Harappa
Harappa

( Urdu) (Punjabi)

A large well and bathing platforms are remains of Harappa's final phase of occupation from 2200 to 1900BC.

Shown within Pakistan Location Coordinates Type Area Sahiwal District, Punjab, Pakistan 303744N 725150E Settlement 100ha (250acres) History Periods Cultures Harappan 1 to Harappan 5 Indus Valley Civilization Site notes Condition Ownership Publicaccess Ruined Public Yes [1]

Coordinates: 303744N 725150E [1]

Harappa (pronounced[ppa]; Urdu:

Punjabi:

is an archaeological site in Punjab, northeast

Pakistan, about 24km (15mi) west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River. The current village of Harappa is 6km (3.7mi) from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a railway station left from the period of British administration, it is today just a small crossroads town of population 15,000.

Harappa The site of the ancient city contains the ruins of a Bronze Age fortified city, which was part of the Cemetery H culture and the Indus Valley Civilization, centered in Sindh and the Punjab.[2] The city is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents and occupied over 100 hectares (250acres) at its greatest extent during the Mature Harappan phase (26001900BC), which is considered large for its time.[3][] The ancient city of Harappa was heavily damaged under the British Raj, when bricks from the ruins were used as track ballast in the making of the Lahore-Multan Railroad. In 2005, a controversial amusement park scheme at the site was abandoned when builders unearthed many archaeological artifacts during the early stages of construction work. A plea from the prominent Pakistani archaeologist Ahmad Hasan Dani to the Ministry of Culture resulted in a restoration of the site.[4]

History
The Indus Valley Civilization (also known as the Harappan culture) has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh, approximately 6000BCE. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged circa 2600BCE along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh.[5] The civilization, with a writing system, urban centers, and diversified social and economic system, was rediscovered in the 1920s after excavations at Mohenjo-daro in Sindh near Larkana, and Harappa, in west Punjab south of Lahore. A number of other sites stretching from the Himalayan foothills in east Punjab, India in the north, to Gujarat in the south and east, and to Balochistan in the west have also been discovered and studied. Although the archaeological site at Harappa was damaged in 1857[6] when engineers constructing the Lahore-Multan railroad (as part of the Sind and Punjab Railway), used brick from the Harappa ruins for track ballast, an abundance of artifacts has nevertheless been found.[7] The bricks discovered were made of red sand, clay, stones and were baked at very high temperature.

Location of Harappa in the Indus Valley and extent of Indus Valley Civilization (green).

Culture and economy

Indus Valley civilization was mainly an urban culture sustained by surplus agricultural production and commerce, the latter including trade with Sumer in southern Mesopotamia. Both Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa are generally characterized as having "differentiated living quarters, flat-roofed brick houses, and fortified administrative or religious centers."[8] Although such similarities have given rise to arguments for the existence of a standardized system of urban layout and planning, the similarities are largely due to the presence of a semi-orthogonal type of civic layout, and a comparison of the layouts of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa shows that they are in fact, arranged in Coach driver 2000 B.C.E. Harappa, Indus Valley Civilization a quite dissimilar fashion. The chart weights and measures of the Indus Valley Civilization, on the other hand, were highly standardized, and conform to a set scale of gradations. Distinctive seals were used, among other applications, perhaps for identification of property and shipment of goods. Although copper and bronze were in use, iron was not yet employed. "Cotton was woven and dyed for clothing; wheat, rice, and a variety of vegetables and fruits were cultivated; and a number of

Harappa animals, including the humped bull, were domesticated,"[8] as well as "fowl for fighting".[9] Wheel-made potterysome of it adorned with animal and geometric motifshas been found in profusion at all the major Indus sites. A centralized administration for each city, though not the whole civilization, has been inferred from the revealed cultural uniformity; however, it remains uncertain whether authority lay with a commercial oligarchy.

Archaeology
The excavators of the site have proposed the following chronology of Harappa's occupation:[] 1. Ravi Aspect of the Hakra phase, c. 3300 2800BC. 2. Kot Dijian (Early Harappan) phase, c. 2800 2600BC. 3. Harappan Phase, c. 2600 1900BC. 4. Transitional Phase, c. 1900 1800BC. 5. Late Harappan Phase, c. 1800 1300BC. By far the most exquisite and obscure artifacts unearthed to date are the small, square steatite (soapstone) seals engraved with human or Miniature Votive Images or Toy Models from animal motifs. A large number of seals have been found at such sites as Harappa, ca. 2500. Hand-modeled terra-cotta Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. Many bear pictographic inscriptions figurines with polychromy. generally thought to be a form of writing or script. Despite the efforts of philologists from all parts of the world, and despite the use of modern cryptographic analysis, the signs remain undeciphered. It is also unknown if they reflect proto-Dravidian or other non-Vedic language(s). The ascription of Indus Valley Civilization iconography and epigraphy to historically known cultures is extremely problematic, in part due to the rather tenuous archaeological evidence of such claims, as well as the projection of modern South Asian political concerns onto the archaeological record of the area. This is especially evident in the radically varying interpretations of Harappan material culture as seen from both Pakistan and India-based scholars.

Suggested earliest writing

Clay tablets unearthed at Harappa, which were carbon dated 33003200BCE., contain trident shaped and plant like markings. They have suggested as possibly the earliest writings anywhere in the world, as opined by Dr. Richard Meadow of Harvard University, Director of the Harappa Archeological Research Project.[] This primitive writing is placed slightly earlier than primitive writings of Sumerians of Mesopotamia, dated c.3100BCE.[] These markings have similarities to what later became Indus Script.[] This discovery also suggests that the earliest writings by mankind developed independently in three places (Harappa, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt) between c.3500BCE and 3100BCE.[]

Harappa

Notes
The earliest radiocarbon dating mentioned on the web is 2725185BCE (uncalibrated) or 3338, 3213, 3203BCE calibrated, giving a midpoint of 3251BCE. Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark (1991) Urban process in the Indus Tradition: A preliminary report. In Harappa Excavations, 19861990: A multidisciplinary approach to Second Millennium urbanism, edited by Richard H. Meadow: 29-59. Monographs in World Archaeology No.3. Prehistory Press, Madison Wisconsin. Periods 4 and 5 are not dated at Harappa. The termination of the Harappan tradition at Harappa falls between 1900 and 1500BCE. Mohenjo-daro is another major city of the same period, located in Sindh province of Pakistan. One of its most well-known structures is the Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro.

Dholavira is another ancient town belonging to Indus Valley 2500 B.C.E. Red pottery with red and black Civilisation, established in India. The Harappans used roughly the slip-painted decoration, 4 15/16 6 1/8 in. (12.5 15.5cm). Brooklyn Museum same size bricks and weights as were used in other Indus cities, such as Mohenjo Daro and Dholavira. These cities were well planned with wide streets, public and private wells, drains, bathing platforms and reservoirs.

Harappa. Fragment of Large Deep Vessel, circa

References
[1] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Harappa& params=30_37_44_N_72_51_50_E_type:landmark [2] Basham, A. L. 1968. Review (http:/ / www. jstor. org/ view/ 0030851x/ dm991959/ 99p1005f/ 0) of A Short History of Pakistan by A. H. Dani (with an introduction by I. H. Qureshi). Karachi: University of Karachi Press. 1967 Pacific Affairs 41(4) : 641-643. [4] Tahir, Zulqernain. 26 May 2005. Probe body on Harappa park (http:/ / www. dawn. com/ 2005/ 05/ 26/ nat24. htm), Dawn. Retrieved 13 January 2006. [6] Michel Danino. The Lost River. Penguin India. [7] Kenoyer, J.M., 1997, Trade and Technology of the Indus Valley: New insights from Harappa Pakistan, World Archaeology, 29(2), pp. 260-280, High definition archaeology [8] Library of Congress: Country Studies. 1995. Harappan Culture (http:/ / ancienthistory. about. com/ od/ indusvalleyciv/ a/ harappanculture. htm). Retrieved 13 January 2006. [9] (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=Q8xHK6ibUMYC& pg=PA16& lpg=PA16& dq=Harappa+ cock+ fight& source=bl& ots=0iVMnkD9m5& sig=RBt1SvGwwTAgeu-PqZzEhvY-bAk& hl=en& sa=X& ei=JiEfUL35CYSQ9gTL3oDwAw& ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage& q=Harappa cock fight& f=false) Poultry: Identification, Fabrication, Utilization by Thomas Schneller Cengage Learning, Sep 28, 2009 - page 16

External links
Harappa.com (http://www.harappa.com) " Harappa Town Planning (http://www.srikanta-sastri.org/#/harappa-town-planning/4570840460)"-article by Dr S. Srikanta Sastri Art of the Bronze Age: Southeastern Iran, Western Central Asia, and the Indus Valley (http://libmma. contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/33948), an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Harappa

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File:WellAndBathingPlatforms-Harappa.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WellAndBathingPlatforms-Harappa.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Obed Suhail file:Pakistan location map.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pakistan_location_map.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: NordNordWest Image:CiviltValleIndoMappa.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CiviltValleIndoMappa.png License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Ekabhishek, Jungpionier, MM, Roland zh File:Coach driver Indus 01.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Coach_driver_Indus_01.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Miya.m File:Harappan small figures.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Harappan_small_figures.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: Trish Mayo from New York, US File:Red pottery, IVC.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Red_pottery,_IVC.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: amy dreher from Brooklyn, NY, United States

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