Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Mystery of Mohenjo-Daro

          Although the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro has been excavated many times, we still don't know very much about it.  It is no mystery about the architecture people had or the tools they used, but archaeologists are unable to understand what kind of government and religion the city had, as well as how that ancient culture was destroyed.
          Mohenjo-Daro had a very complex water system.  There were pipes running all through the city, which transported waste and excess liquid out into the countryside.  Also, there is major evidence that the citizens of Mohenjo-Daro were very clean.  They had baths in almost every house, and there was an especially big structure called the "Great Bath."  These are evidence that cleanliness and controlling water were very important to the Mohenjo-Daro culture.
         It is very difficult for archaeologists to figure out what kind of religion and government structure the people of Mohenjo-Daro, because there is so little evidence.  The most artifacts that scientists have obtained are one small statue of a naked girl, and some broken sculptures of men on thrones.  Although there is no hard evidence that the throne-men were really rulers, archaeologists view these as very hopeful signs.  Some people believe that Mohenjo-Daro was really governed by a city-state, and few think that there wasn't any form of government at all; the city had such complex and well-structured architecture, and everything was so organized, that there just had to be a leader in there somewhere.

          Lastly, Mohenjo-Daro was abandoned at some point of time, but there is very little evidence explaining why people left it.  Scientists don't understand what happened; there weren't any major floods or natural catastrophes (or so the say), and the city wasn't entirely emptied.  Some archaeologists think that the citizens of Mohenjo-Daro left their city, because the Indus River changed its path.  This would have altered the trade routes through Mohenjo-Daro, which would have made it hard for the city to trade with other cultures.  This, in turn, would stop Mohenjo-Daro from being so successful, and it wouldn't be able to sustain as many people as it once had.  That way, many, but not all of the Mohenjo-Daroians would have left the city. 

Source: Roach, John. "Lost City of Mohenjo Daro -- National Geographic." Science and Space Facts, Science and Space, Human Body, Health, Earth, Human Disease - National Geographic. Web. May 2011. <http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/mohenjo-daro/>.

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