Two versions of the city's name: conventional and authentic

In modern science, the name "Mohenjo-Daro" has long become familiar and indisputable, but there is no need to talk about its authenticity. The name, taken from the Sindhi language, literally means "hill of the dead" and became widespread only in the middle of the twentieth century. The true name of the city remains a mystery, but an analysis of the written sources found in the complex gives every reason to believe that during its heyday this settlement was called "Kukkutarma", which in translation from the local dialect meant "rooster city". The fact is that in Mohenjo-Daro the cult of this bird was developed, which served more as a ritual element than food. In addition, it is likely that this city was the birthplace of domestic chickens.

The history of the discovery of the ancient city near the Indus River

For almost 4 thousand years, Mohenjo-Daro remained unknown to science and could not have left a trace in history at all, if not for the 37-year-old Indian archaeologist Rakhal Das Banerjee. The young scientist worked in the Archaeological Survey of India and was engaged in research in the field of ancient cultures of the East. In 1922, he went to the banks of the Indus, as he learned about the ancient Buddhist structure located there. Arriving with his team at the site, he was amazed to find a huge complex dating back to an earlier period of history than expected. In the same year, Banerjee attracted John Marshall to his project, with whom they conducted the first excavations of Mohenjo-Daro.

Already at the initial stages, the cultural connection of the settlement with other city-states of this period became obvious. The layout of the streets, the location of religious buildings and the artifacts found confirmed the age of the Hill of the Dead. The first expeditions and archaeological excavations were quite intense. For 40 years, groups of scientists from all over the world have come to the banks of the Indus to find as much information as possible about the unique settlement. Unfortunately, it was not until the 1960s that it became known that existing excavation techniques were very crude and damaged fragile material. This discovery led to the restriction of work in this area, except for those aimed at conservation and preservation of already discovered areas.

Mysterious Destruction

Like any ancient city, Mohenjo-Daro attracts attention with its buildings, which help to better understand the life and thinking of our ancestors. But one factor makes this settlement much more mysterious and interesting than its neighbors. The thing is that from the first days of excavations, scientists discovered finds that, in their entirety, testified to a very strange event that once occurred in the village. Around the 15th century BC, a cataclysm struck the city, instantly destroying all its inhabitants. Several factors support this theory:

• firstly, all the buildings of the settlement are completely or partially destroyed, but with one curious nuance: in the center of the city, the greatest deformation is observed, while the outermost houses have minor defects. In other words, the city looks like some kind of bomb was thrown into its center, the waves of which swept from the center to the periphery of Mohenjo-Daro;
• secondly, all the bricks from which houses are built look like they were baked at a temperature of several thousand degrees, but scientists have not been able to find any devices that could process building material in this way. In addition, layers of glass were discovered, the melting of which also requires temperatures unattainable for a person of that time;
• thirdly, like Pompeii, the remains of people were found on the streets of Mohenjo-Daro, whose poses more likely indicate carefree walks than attempts to escape from danger.

All together, these finds have been haunting the minds of both scientists and ordinary tourists for decades. Indeed, what catastrophe could lead to such an destruction of an entire settlement? All descriptions of damage are incredibly similar to what was found in the infamous Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after they were dropped by atomic bombs. Some researchers even put forward hypotheses about the existence of an advanced Indus civilization that could use explosives and similar technologies.

In addition, scientists come to the conclusion that this cataclysm was noticed by the inhabitants of that time and even received its reflection in written sources. The sacred texts of Hinduism contain records of "divine fire" that fell on a large city, completely destroying its population. People of that time saw in this event the retribution of angry gods, which was supposed to serve as a warning to neighboring settlements.

Staircase to the top

Cultural monuments and archaeological finds

But not only the mysterious disappearance of the city attracts thousands of tourists to these places. The unique layout of the space makes it possible to get acquainted with the features of ancient urban planning, which was extremely logical and practical. Along perfectly flat streets 10 meters wide, there are identical houses with flat roofs, which at the same time served as terraces. Modern developers could learn from such schematism and ideal stylistic integrity.

In addition, in the center of the city there is a huge citadel, which, most likely, sheltered the inhabitants during possible flooding by the waters of the river. But the presence of the Indus brought residents more benefits than inconveniences. So, Mohenjo-Daro is one of the first cities with an incredibly developed system of irrigation and water supply. Scientists have found traces of public toilets and even baths. Also on the territory of the city there is a swimming pool with an area of ​​83 square meters. m., which was used during ritual actions and festivities.

It may seem that getting to a city like Mohenjo-Daro is not easy, but, fortunately, it is not. Just one kilometer from the settlement is an airport that receives regular flights from other cities in Pakistan. Depending on preferences, there are two ways to get from the terminal to the complex:

For those who want to save money or simply do not like to fly by plane once again, the Karachi-Quetta train runs around the region. Having reached the Larkana station on it, all that remains is to transfer to the bus, which takes passengers to the walls of Mohenjo-Daro in 40 minutes.

Previously, the tourist infrastructure in this area was poorly developed. Tourists usually left for Mohenjo-Daro early in the morning and, after spending the whole day in the complex, returned to Karachi - a large city with many hotels, beaches and interesting cultural monuments. Recently, the situation has begun to change, the Pakistani government has launched a project to develop the surroundings of the ancient city-state, and in the near future tourists will be able to spend the night in close proximity to Mohenjo-Daro.

Mohenjo-Daro is considered one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world. In 1980 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is located in Pakistan, in the province of Sindh. It is the largest ancient city of the Indus Valley and one of the first cities in the history of South Asia, a contemporary of the civilization of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia.

In 1922, on one of the islands of the Indus River, archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient city. Traces of fires and severe destruction were found, but not a single grave was found, so the city was named Mohenjo-Daro (Mohenjo Daro), which means "Hill of the Dead" in Sindhi. We still do not know what this city was actually called, how its inhabitants called themselves. Only one thing is known for sure - this is one of the greatest cities of antiquity. And one of the most mysterious, he died about 3700 years ago under very unusual and still unsolved circumstances. Cities rarely go into decline suddenly, and in this city, everything indicated that the catastrophe came instantly.

To date, only about 10 percent of the territory of Mohenjo-Daro has been opened and cleared, this is 260 hectares or more than 2.5 sq. km. Its outskirts are today buried under the silty deposits of the Indus. Excavations continued here until the 1960s. As archaeologists descended lower and lower, saline underground waters began to rise towards them. Salt coating is visible everywhere on the bricks. Salt began to corrode what was left of the city. And then, by decision of UNESCO, the excavations were mothballed.

But even the ancient brickwork of Mohenjo-Daro, unearthed during archaeological research, the perfection of which amazes archaeologists, reliably keeps the secrets of its city. The researchers did not find a single cemetery in the vicinity of Mohenjo-Daro. But the city existed for at least one and a half millennia. Numerous corpses of people and animals were not found in the ruins of buildings and structures.

In one of the houses, the skeletons of thirteen men, women and one child were found. Their remains bore signs of sudden death. But they were not killed and robbed - some were wearing bracelets, rings, beads. Throughout the city, archaeologists came across similar groups of skeletons, which testified that before their death, people freely walked the streets and were taken by surprise by death.

All this partly resembled the picture of the sudden death of people in Pompeii. Only a few of the several thousand skeletons found at Mohenjo-Daro actually showed signs of injury. During the excavations, neither weapons, nor the remnants of any military ammunition, nor even fragments of weapons or traces of devastation were found. The total number of skeletons was several thousand, which is very small for a large city. According to experts, during its heyday, about 50,000 people lived in Mohenjo-Daro.

Why did the inhabitants leave Mohenjo-Daro, where did tens of thousands of people who lived here go? These questions still remain unanswered.

Initially, Mohenjo-Daro was located on two islands on the Indus River. And as excavations and computer reconstructions of the city show, it was very comfortable to live there. Perhaps even more comfortable than in some modern cities. Wide cobbled streets, multi-room 2- and 3-storey houses, sewerage, water supply and other amenities.

In the era of prosperity of Mohenjo-Daro, fertile lands stretched around it, and full-flowing rivers were transport channels. The population was engaged in agriculture and grew wheat, barley, sesame, dates and cotton. Rich harvests and convenient communication routes allowed the inhabitants of the city to exchange their products for raw materials, metal, precious stones and spices from Central Asia, Afghanistan, Persia and South India. Among the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro, many male and female terracotta figures and miniature images of various animals, as well as clay seals with pictographic inscriptions, were found.

Houses in Mohenjo-Daro were built of baked bricks, which, together with the remains of huge dams that protected cities from floods, and a dense network of sewers, indicates that the inhabitants of the Indus Valley, unlike the Sumerians of southern Mesopotamia, clearly had an excess of water, although today it is one of the driest places on the planet.

Indian civilization holds many unsolved mysteries. We do not know what it was actually called, who created it. The names of its cities are forgotten. The language of this civilization is also unknown, the hieroglyphs on the Indian seals still remain undeciphered. It is only known that it fell into decay rather quickly. To date, several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the reasons for the collapse of such an extensive, powerful and developed civilization. Among them: climate change associated with the movement of tectonic plates, floods, earthquakes, the invasion of nomadic tribes. However, later studies have not confirmed any of these hypotheses. And the death of Mohenjo-Daro generally came suddenly.

In Mohenjo-Daro, archaeologists discovered an area where the bricks were melted, and this gave rise to a number of fantastic hypotheses about the death of Mohenjo-Daro, up to modern nuclear weapons that allegedly existed in antiquity. From the studies carried out, one thing was clear: Mohenjo-Daro was the victim of some kind of environmental disaster, it happened suddenly and did not last long. However, its power was such that it led to the sudden and irreversible death of an entire city. An interesting fact is that almost simultaneously with Mohejo-Daro, other nearby large cities also died.

Reasons for the death of Mohenjo-Daro

Version one. Mohenjo-daro and black lightning

In the magazine "Around the World" No. 7 for 1987, an article by Professor M. Dmitriev "Black lightning over Mohenjo-Daro" was published. In it, the high temperature that melted the stones in the “epicenter of the explosion” was explained by the explosion of a large number of ball lightning or physico-chemical formations (PHO) (black lightning), which are unstable and a significant temperature arises during their decay. These formations are able to exist for a very long time and emit toxic gases. It is assumed that they "strangled" the inhabitants. Moreover, FHO can explode like ordinary fireballs. It is the aggression of a huge accumulation of “black lightning” that supporters of this hypothesis explain the melted stones and skeletons of people on the streets of Mohenjo-Daro.

But what caused black lightning to accumulate in Mohenjo-Daro? The ruins of the city are located in Pakistan, near the border with India. This is just at the junction of the Indian and Eurasian lithospheric plates. Huge tectonic stresses arise in this place in the earth's crust. It is believed that it was the collision of these two plates, lasting millions of years, that led to the emergence of a mountain-fold belt, now called the Himalayas.

The pressure at the junction of two plates could cause a huge electrical stress in rocks containing quartz. For the same reason, there is a voltage in the piezo lighter. Only the scale here is continental. At the same time, there is a huge tension between the Earth's surface and the upper atmosphere. The upper layer is ionized by solar radiation, it is electrically conductive. The surface of the Earth and the ionosphere become the plates of the all-planet capacitor. The layer of atmosphere between them is an insulator. You can imagine what kind of lightning can happen if you close the surface with the ionosphere. There was even a hypothesis that Nikola Tesla learned to cause an ionospheric breakdown and even said that he could burn an entire army or fleet with electricity at once.

Ancient Indian myths speak of some unbearable radiance. Perhaps it was the incredible ionospheric lightning.

If there really was an incredible lightning, then no less incredible fulgurite should remain from it. This is a channel of fused soil that extends deep into the earth at the site of a lightning strike.

This version of black lightning is supported by researcher V. Kandyba. It recalls the many ancient reports of strong airglows and all sorts of unusual phenomena in China, Ethiopia, India, Egypt, and Scotland.

Version two. Mohenjo-daro and the earthquake

This version was put forward by the American geologist researcher D. Reiks, who studied the structure of the earth's layers in the Mohenjo-Daro region. He found that a hundred and forty kilometers south of the city was the focus of a strong earthquake that changed the face of the Indus Valley. It probably started with him. Apparently, the earthquake reared the earth, the Indus was blocked, and its waters turned back. Then the onset of mud flows began. Settlements near Mohenjo-Daro were buried under many meters of silt and sand. The townspeople tried to defend themselves, began to build dams, traces of which were found during excavations. But it became more and more difficult to fight against water and mud flows.
Scientists believe that the onset of the mud sea lasted about a hundred years. As a result, the elements won, and the city perished. Some scientists believe that one of the factors that provoke an earthquake may be atmospheric pressure drops. This version became especially popular after the strong earthquake experienced by India and Pakistan in October 2005. True, this version does not explain the melted brick.

Version three. Mohenjo-Daro and floods

Some historians believe that the city fell victim to a series of powerful floods - the flooding Indus often flooded Mohenjo-Daro, and the inhabitants were forced to leave the city. As pictures from space showed, the channels of the Indus River and a number of other local rivers changed their directions many times. The reason for this was the movement of the earth's crust. Moreover, the Indus flooded Mohenjo-Daro more than once. As a result, the sewage system was damaged, as a result of which, in a hot climate, terrible epidemics began that literally mowed down people. The survivors hurriedly left the city. In support of this version, the researchers refer to archaeologists who have established seven or nine layers of silt between the levels of the mature culture of Mohenjo-Daro. Thus, the city was successively destroyed and rebuilt at least seven times. Each time new cities were built on top of the old ones.

Version four. Mohenjo-Daro and weapons of the ancients

This version was presented in their book "Atomic explosion in 2000 BC." ("Atomic Destructionin 2000 BC", 1979) David Davenport and Ettore Vincenti. D. Davenport, an English researcher of the culture and languages ​​of Ancient India, an expert in Sanskrit, was born and lived for some time in India. He was obsessed with the idea of ​​translating ancient Indian texts from Sanskrit into English and objectively interpreting the philosophical meaning and historical facts contained in these texts. He also spent 12 years in Pakistan studying the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro.

D. Davenport, together with the Italian researcher Vincenti, found that about 3700 years ago, on the top of the hill around which Mohenjo-Daro was built, there was a powerful explosion similar to an atomic one (according to various estimates, the date of destruction varies from 1500 to 2000 BC . e.). They placed in the mentioned book a diagram of the destruction of buildings. If you look at it carefully, you can see a clearly defined epicenter, inside which all the buildings are swept away. As you move from the center to the periphery, the destruction decreases, gradually fading away. It becomes clear why the outlying buildings are the best preserved buildings of Mohenjo-Daro.

Upon careful examination of the destroyed buildings, D. Davenport and E. Vincenti found that the diameter of the epicenter of the explosion is about 50 m. At this place, everything is crystallized and melted, all buildings are wiped off the face of the earth. At a distance of up to 60 m from the center of the explosion, bricks and stones are melted on one side, which indicates the direction of the explosion.

As you know, stones melt at a temperature of about 2000 ° C. Sand turned into glass was also found in these places. (Exactly the same layers of green glass were found in the desert of Nevada (USA) after nuclear testing).

In the direction from the center to the periphery, the degree of destruction of buildings gradually decreases.

The researchers also found that the ancient city was destroyed by three powerful shock waves that spread over a mile from the epicenter of the explosion. Among the ruins in an area with a radius of more than 400 meters are scattered pieces of clay, ceramics and some minerals that have undergone rapid melting. All the people who were in the epicenter instantly evaporated, so archaeologists did not find skeletons there.

The researchers sent the so-called black stones, which were scattered around the streets of the city, to the Institute of Mineralogy of the University of Rome and to the laboratory of the National Research Council (Italy). It turned out that black stones are nothing more than fragments of pottery, sintered at a temperature of about 1400-1600 degrees, and then hardened.

By the way, similar formations, tektites, arising under the influence of high temperature, scientists find in different regions of the Earth. In 1822, in Moscow, a translation was published in Russian from the French book by G. Propiak “Sights in the World, or Description of Rare Works of Nature and Art Existing on Earth” (part 1). In it you can read a small but very interesting section "The Glazed Fortress in Gayland, in Scotland."

Surprisingly, Davenport's hypothesis was already forgotten in the 80s of the last century. Despite the fact that she explains many of the mysteries of Mohenjo-Daro, there has been no continuation of research in this direction.

Version five. Mohenjo-Daro and alien weapons

In the ancient Indian chronicles "The Book of Dzaen" a legend is written about unearthly creatures who flew to the peaceful natives on, in modern terms, a metal ship. The book says that once, these creatures quarreled with the locals. They moved to a neighboring city and there they were elected rulers. It was then that the new leader released a large luminous spear onto the city of his enemies, which destroyed all the buildings and burned the inhabitants. And even those who entered the city later eventually fell ill and died. And the new leader, having gathered all his warriors, their children and wives, flew off in an unknown direction on a mysterious ship. Some researchers believe that Mohenjo-Daro is that burnt city, but there is no evidence for this.

There are many interesting facts in other sources. The "Great Wars in Heaven" are described in the ancient Indian Puranas and in the ancient Greek author of the "Wars of the Titans" Hesiod. The Bible describes the war in Heaven of Michael's army against the "Dragon - Jupiter" and "Lucifer - Venus". E.P. Blavatsky in her "Secret Doctrine" also writes, referring to the Puranas, about the war between the two races, which provoked the Deluge. And here is what E. Tseren wrote in the book “Bible Hills” about the famous Tower of Babel - that is, the Etemenanki ziggurat: “It is impossible to find an explanation of where such heat came from, which not only heated, but also melted hundreds of burnt bricks, singed the entire skeleton of the tower , which from the heat sintered into a dense mass, like molten glass. At one time, Mark Twain, who traveled in 1867 in the Middle East, also mentioned this: melted by the lightning of an angry god."

A.A. Gorbovsky also draws attention to such facts in his book “Mysteries of Ancient History”. For example, on the walls of the Irish fortresses Dundall and Ecoss, traces of very high temperatures have been preserved - even granite blocks have been melted, and the melting temperature of granite exceeds 1000 degrees Celsius! Other traces of the possible use of unknown weapons were found in Asia Minor during excavations of the capital of the ancient Hittites Hattusas, as well as in Central America.

One way or another, in many legends of the peoples of the world there are stories about how the gods fought in the heavens, using some kind of aircraft equipped with weapons. They are especially numerous in ancient Indian texts.

Introduction

Origin theories

Distribution area

Chronology

City and its features

Population occupations

Political organization and social structure

Trade and foreign relations

Language and writing

Decline of Indian cities

Bibliography

Introduction

The civilization of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro is one of the three most ancient civilizations of mankind, along with the ancient Egyptian and Sumerian. Of all three, it occupied the largest area. Developed in the valley of the river Indv XXIII-XIX centuries BC. e. before the arrival of the Aryans, in the II millennium BC. e. The most significant centers are Harappa, Lothali, Mohenjo-Daro. The population during the heyday was about 5 million people.

From the 7th millennium BC e. in the valley of Indai Saraswatira, a producing economy is developing. A special early agricultural culture is distinguished, which is called Mergar. In this era, a person found an effective way to obtain food, the optimal development of agriculture, hunting and nascent cattle breeding for this region. This created all the necessary conditions for the transition to a qualitatively new stage - the formation of a new cultural and historical complex.

The culture of the Indus Valley was not unique in its region. So, Amria was preceded by a local original culture, which for some time coexisted with the Harappan.

The Indian Dravidians developed monumental construction, bronze metallurgy, and small sculpture. Private property relations were in their infancy, and agriculture was based on irrigation farming. Almost the first public toilets known to archaeologists, as well as the city sewerage system, were discovered in Mohenjo-Daro.

The writing of the Indus Valley cannot be deciphered by scientists, therefore information about the political development of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and the names of the rulers are currently unknown. An important role was assigned to foreign trade: the Harappan civilization had communication with Mesopotamia, Central Asia, direct trade contacts reached Sumer and Arabia.

The decline of the Indian civilization falls on the XVIII-XVII centuries BC. e. At this time, the bulk of the Dravidian population shifted to the southeast (only the ancestors of the Braui people remained in Pakistan) and lost their former level of development. This was probably due to the deterioration of natural conditions. The last blow to the carriers of civilization was inflicted by the invasion of the Aryans.

Origin theories

One of the most difficult questions in the study of the Harappan civilization is the question of its origin. Various points of view were expressed - about the Sumerian basis of the Harappan culture, about its creation by the Indo-Aryan tribes, in connection with which the Harappan civilization was considered as Vedic. The well-known archaeologist R. Heine-Geldern even wrote that civilization on the Indus arose suddenly, since no traces of previous development were allegedly found. In recent years, important new materials have been collected on the local origin of this culture. Unfortunately, groundwater has so far prevented archaeologists from following the lowest slopes at Mohenjo-Daro.

Archaeological excavations in Balochistan and Sind showed that here in the IV - III millennium BC. e. there were agricultural cultures that have much in common with the early Harappan culture and with which the Harappan settlements maintained contact for a long time. In Sind, agricultural cultures appear later, which suggests the penetration of some tribes here from the regions of Balochistan and southern Afghanistan.

In the Indus Valley, Harappan settlements appear, obviously, not immediately and not simultaneously. Probably, from some one center, where urban culture first developed, there was a gradual resettlement of its creators. In this regard, of particular interest are the studies of the French archaeologist J. M. Casal of the Amri settlement, who established stratigraphy from the pre-Harappan period to the late Harappan period. Here one can trace the local development of cultures: from the time when most pottery was made by hand, without the potter's wheel, when buildings were just appearing, and the use of metals was just beginning, to more advanced phases, marked by painted pottery and more durable, mud-brick buildings. The lower layers of the pre-Harappan period have analogies with the early agricultural cultures of Balochistan, in the later layers, ceramics of the early Harappan settlements of the Indus Valley appear. Finally, excavations have shown that the traditions typical of the Amri culture coexist with those of the Harappans.

In Harappa itself, under the city fortifications, ceramics of the Amri culture were found, and in the lower layers of Mohsnjo-Daro - ceramics of the Balochistan cultures, which obviously indicates not only close contacts of the Indian settlements with the agricultural cultures of Balochistan and Sindh, but also that the Harappan civilization has local roots. It arose on the basis of the tradition of agricultural cultures.

Excavations by Pakistani archaeologists in Kot Diji (not far from modern Khaipur) showed that in the pre-Harappan period there already existed a highly developed culture: scientists discovered the citadel and the actual residential quarters that arose, according to radiocarbon analysis, in the XXVII-XXVI centuries. to i. e. Pottery from Kot-Didji of the early period has analogies with the ceramics of the agricultural settlements of Sindh and Balochistan, and later - with Harappa. This made it possible to trace the evolution of local traditions to the Harappan ones proper, dating back to the 21st-20th centuries. BC e. The explicit pre-Harappan period was discovered by Indian archaeologists during excavations in Kalibangan (Rajasthan), where on one hill there were settlements of the predecessors of the Harappans, and on the next - the buildings of the creators of the Harappan culture. The pottery of the pre-Harappan settlement has many features in common with the pottery of Amri and Kot-Didji. Thus, scientists were able to trace the development of the Harappan culture on the basis of more ancient local traditions.

At the same time, the Harappan civilization was a new stage, a qualitative leap in the development of the ancient cultures of Hindustan, which marked the emergence of an urban-type civilization.

Of great importance, obviously, was the Indus river system, which created favorable conditions for the development of material culture and the economy and for the creation of urban settlements, handicrafts and trade. It is no coincidence that most of all Harappan settlements were located along the banks of the Indus and its tributaries. Later, Harappan settlements appeared in the upper reaches of the Ganges and Yamuna (modern Jamna).

Much of the origin of the Harappan culture is still not entirely clear and needs to be further developed, but theories linking the creation of this civilization with aliens - the Aryans or the Sumerians, are currently only of historiographical interest.

Distribution area

In the 1920s, when the scientific study of the Harappan civilization began, there was an opinion about the relatively narrow boundaries of this culture. Indeed, in the beginning, Harappan settlements were found only in the Indus Valley. Now, as a result of modern archaeological research, it became clear that the Harappan civilization was spread over a vast territory: more than 1100 km from north to south and more than 1600 km from west to east.

Excavations on the Kathiaar peninsula showed that the population gradually moved south, colonizing new territories. At present, the Harappan settlement at the mouth of the Narbad River is considered the southernmost, but it can be assumed that the Harappans penetrated even further south. They rushed to the east, subjugating more and more new areas. Archaeologists have discovered a Harappan settlement near modern-day Allahabad. This is how various variants of the Harappan culture were created, although in general it was a single culture with established traditions.

It can be assumed that some diversity within this huge civilization reflected a different ethnic basis and an unequal level of development of those areas where the creators of this civilization appeared.

Chronology

Scientists now define the chronology of the Harappan civilization in various ways. First of all, this is a comparison of Indian and Mesopotamian things (for example, Indian seals found in the cities of Mesopotamia), a spectral analysis of faience products, a carbon analysis of things, which began to be used in recent years, as well as data from Akkadian sources on trade relations with the East. At first, scientists made the age of the cities of the Harappan culture very ancient, proceeding only from general considerations about the similarity of the process of development of civilization in Sumer and India. The English archaeologist and one of the founders of "Indian archeology", J. Marshall, in the early 30s dated the Indus culture from 3250 to 2750 BC. e. When the seals of the Indus type, found during excavations of the cities of ancient Mesopotamia, were published, it turned out that most of them are associated with the reign of Sargon I (2369-2314 BC), as well as with the periods of Isina (2024-1799 BC). BC) and Larsa (2024-1762 BC). On this basis, scientists came to the conclusion that the strongest ties between Mesopotamia and India could be conditionally attributed to the 23rd-18th centuries. BC.

It is significant that in the Akkadian texts, the largest number of references to trade with the eastern regions, including Dilmun and Melukha, which are identified by scientists with the Indus or neighboring regions, falls on the period of the III dynasty of Ur (2118-2007 BC. e. .) and the period of the Larsa dynasty. Of great interest was the discovery on one of the cuneiform tablets dated to the 10th year of the reign of King Larsa Gungunum (1923 BC) of an impression of an Indian-type seal. All these data allowed us to assume that the heyday of the Indian cities - the end of the III - the beginning of the II millennium BC. e. During excavations of Mesopotamian cities, seals were also found in the layers of the Kassite period, which indicates the continuation of contacts in this era. Faience beads were found in the upper layers of Harappa, the spectral analysis of which established their identity with the beads from Knossos on the island of Crete (XVI century BC). Based on this, the last period in the history of Harappa can also be dated to the 16th century. BC e.

Mohenjo-Daro ("hill of the dead") is a city of the Indus Valley Civilization, which arose around 2600 BC. e. It is located in Pakistan, in the province of Sindh. It is the largest ancient city of the Indus Valley and one of the first cities in the history of South Asia, a contemporary of the civilization of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. It was discovered in 1920 along with the city of Harappu in Pakistan. The cities are obviously erected according to the Vedic tradition.

Mohenjo-Daro stands out among other centers of the Indus civilization with an almost ideal layout, the use of baked bricks as the main building material, as well as the presence of complex irrigation and religious buildings. Among other buildings, attention is drawn to the granary, the "large pool" for ritual ablutions with an area of ​​83 square meters. m. and an elevated "citadel" (apparently intended to protect against floods).
The width of the streets in the city reached 10 m. In Mohenjo-Daro, almost the first public toilets known to archaeologists, as well as the city sewerage system, were discovered. Part of the territory of the lower city, where commoners settled, was eventually flooded by the Indus and therefore remains unexplored.
The discovery of 5000 years ago proved that a highly developed civilization existed in these places. And a well-established culture. Judge for yourself if a city of high civilization is 5000 years old, then civilization itself could not arise in one day, and this civilization has no less long prehistory. Which means that the civilization and mind that built these cities is even older. A simple logical conclusion follows from this. That you can safely add 2000 years to the age of the cities found
The total age of the civilization itself was at least 7000 years.
The most interesting thing is that the city of Mahenjadara was destroyed by a nuclear explosion. In the bones of the skeletons found at the excavation site of Mohenjo-Daro (Mahenjadara), the level of radiation exceeded several times. The river that flowed nearby evaporated in an instant.

For many decades, archaeologists have been concerned about the mystery of the death of the city of Mohenjo-Daro in India. In 1922, the Indian archaeologist R. Banarji discovered ancient ruins on one of the islands of the Indus River. They were called Mohenjo-Daro, which means "Hill of the Dead". Even then, questions arose: how was this big city destroyed, where did its inhabitants go? The excavations did not give an answer to any of them ...

For many decades, archaeologists have been concerned about the mystery of the death of the city of Mohenjo-Daro in India 3,500 years ago. In 1922, the Indian archaeologist R. Banarji discovered ancient ruins on one of the islands of the Indus River. They were called Mohenjo-Daro, which means "Hill of the Dead". Even then, questions arose: how was this big city destroyed, where did its inhabitants go? The excavations did not give an answer to any of them ...

In the ruins of buildings there were no numerous corpses of people and animals, as well as fragments of weapons and traces of devastation. Only one fact was obvious - the catastrophe happened suddenly and did not last long.

The decline of culture is a slow process, no traces of the flood have been found. Moreover, there is indisputable evidence that speaks of massive fires. The epidemic does not strike people calmly walking the streets or doing business, all of a sudden and at the same time. And that is exactly what happened - this is confirmed by the location of the skeletons. Paleontological studies also reject the epidemic hypothesis. With good reason, one can also reject the version of a sudden attack by the conquerors, none of the discovered skeletons has any traces left by melee weapons.

A very unusual version was expressed by the Englishman D. Davenport and the Italian E. Vincenti. They claim that Mohenjo-Daro survived the fate of Hiroshima. The authors give the following arguments in favor of their hypothesis. Among the ruins, there are scattered pieces of baked clay and green glass (whole layers!). In all likelihood, sand and clay, under the influence of high temperature, first melted, and then instantly hardened. The same layers of green glass appear in the desert of Nevada (USA) every time after a nuclear explosion. An analysis of the samples, carried out at the University of Rome and in the laboratory of the Italian National Research Council, showed that the melting occurred at a temperature of 1400-1500 degrees. Such a temperature in those days could be obtained in the hearth of a metallurgical workshop, but not in a vast open area.

If you carefully examine the destroyed buildings, it seems that a clear area has been outlined - the epicenter, in which all the buildings are swept away by some kind of squall. From the center to the periphery, the destruction gradually decreases. The most preserved outlying buildings In a word, the picture resembles the consequences of atomic explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Aerial photography of the city
Is it conceivable to assume that the mysterious conquerors of the Indus River Valley owned atomic energy "This assumption seems incredible and categorically contradicts the ideas of modern historical science. However, the Indian epic Mahabharata speaks of some kind of "explosion" that caused "blinding light, fire without smoke" , while "the water began to boil, and the fish were charred" That this is just a metaphor," D. Davenport believes that it is based on it. some real events.

But back to the city itself...

Reconstruction of the city of the Harappan culture, Mohenjo-Daro also belongs to it
Mohenjo-Daro occupied an area of ​​about 259 hectares and was a network of quarters (the oldest example of such a layout), separated by wide streets with a developed drainage system, which were divided into smaller ones and built up with baked brick houses. The dating of this settlement is still the subject of debate. Radiocarbon analysis and links with Mesopotamia allow us to attribute it to 2300-1750. BC.

“At the dawn of Indian history, an urban civilization existed in the Indus Valley for two thousand years. It is called the Indus or Harappan (by the name of the first open city). Now the lands of the ancient civilization of the subcontinent are located on the territory of two states - India and Pakistan.

In modern science, the question of the origin of the Harappan civilization is being discussed. Some scholars suggest that it was founded by people from Mesopotamia. Their opponents go so far as to claim the opposite: people from the Indus Valley founded Sumer. Others consider builders mohenjo-daro representatives of the first wave of Indo-European migrations to the subcontinent.

Studies in the second half of the 20th century showed that Harappan civilization was the result of the development of local agricultural cultures. Urban civilization in the Indus Valley began to develop around 3300 BC. After 2600 B.C. begins the period of Mature Harappa. After 1900 B.C. its decline begins, which lasted several centuries and ended with the disappearance of cities in the Indus Valley.

The largest city of the Harappan civilization was Mohenjo-Daro. He inherited this name from the name of the area in the XIX century - "hill of the dead." We do not know how the city was called by its inhabitants themselves.

Discovery history

The honor of opening one of the largest cities of the Harappan civilization belongs to an Indian. This man's name was Rakhal Bannerjee. He was born in West Bengal, in the small town of Baharampur. Bannerjee graduated from Presidency College Calcutta in 1907 with honors in history. Rakhal continued his education and in 1911 received a degree in history from the University of Calcutta.

A year before graduation, the young scientist began working in the archaeological section of the Indian Museum. Kolkata. A year later, he took part in the first archaeological excavations.

Until 1922, Mohenjo-Daro was known only for a poorly preserved Buddhist stupa. Bannerjee discovered a flint scraper while exploring the area and suggested that the hill might have an older history. In 1922, an Indian began excavations.

Archaeologists found there seals with inscriptions in an unknown language, copper tools and the remains of an ancient brick city. Bannerjee suggested that they discovered an ancient settlement that predates the Mauryan era.

In the archaeological season of 1925-1926, excavations at Mohenjo-Daro continued under the direction of John Marshall. Archaeologists have found large residential areas with well-built houses, straight streets, thin drains, a brick pool, which they called the "Big Bath". During the excavations, two famous figurines were found - a bust of the "king-priest" and a figurine of a dancer.

The figurine of a dancer is a bronze figurine of a naked girl. There are 25 bracelets on her left hand and four on her right hand. The figurine is made of bronze; its creation dates back to the 26th century BC. A few years later, archaeologists found another figurine of a dancing girl in Mohenjo-Daro, which dates back to about the same time of creation.

After the finds in mohenjo-daro and other cities, Indologists began to try to decipher the inscriptions on the seals. Researchers tried to find common ground in the signs from the Indus Valley and the inscriptions of the Sumerians, Minoans, Etruscans, Hittites, the Indian Brahmi syllabary, and even the Rongorongo writings of the inhabitants of Easter Island. Naturally, the attempts failed. They discussed the language of the inscriptions from Mohenjo-Daro. Marshall insisted that the language of the Harappan civilization belonged to the Dravidian family.

In 1944, the English archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler arrived in India. His mission was to educate a new generation of Indian archaeologists in modern field techniques. When Wheeler first visited Mohenjo-Daro, he discovered the city's fortified citadel. In 1947, after the secession of Pakistan from India, Sir Mortimer served for three years as the country's archeological adviser.

In 1950, he again excavated at Mohenjo-Daro. Wheeler completed the excavation of the Great Bath. Based on the excavations, the English archaeologist formulated his concept of the Indus civilization, which for a long time was popular both in science and in the public consciousness. According to Sir Mortimer, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were the two capitals of a great state, headed by priest-kings.

Since the 1980s, excavations have begun at Mohenjo-Daro by teams from the United States, Germany and Italy, in collaboration with Pakistani scientists. Their goal was to reconsider the ideas made on the basis of previous excavations.

Appearance of Mohenjo-Daro

Soon after 2600 BC, the agricultural settlements in the Indus basin began to change radically. The specialization of artisans developed, writing appeared, coastal cities began to trade with Asian countries. Cities were built in accordance with the plan: they had wide streets, houses made of burnt bricks, defensive walls made of clay and bricks.

The high level of groundwater at the location of Mohenjo-Daro does not allow archaeologists to excavate the most ancient layers of the settlement. Most of the excavated buildings belong to the Mature Harappan period.

Probably Mohenjo-Daro was the largest city in that era. He occupied an advantageous position between the rivers Indus and East Nara. To the north of the city was Harappa - the second largest city of the Indus civilization, to the south - Dholavira. From Mohenjo-Daro there were roads to the highlands of Southern Balochistan and the valley of the Saraswati River. The city was ideally suited to control the communications of the entire Indus Valley, and perhaps that is what it was founded for.

The citadel of the city housed the "Big Bath", a reservoir surrounded by a complex of premises. Now this complex is considered religious, the cult of which was associated with water.

The look of the city

The Indian city was the social, administrative and religious center of the surrounding lands. It is assumed that the main part of the townspeople had a high standard of living. The central position, size and some unique features lead some scholars to suggest that it was not just a city, but the capital of the state. But there is no other evidence for this.

Mohenjo-Daro consisted of a citadel in the west and a lower city in the east. They were separated by a deep depression. A huge platform of sand and silt was prepared for the citadel, fortified with a mud brick retaining wall. The area of ​​the citadel was 200 by 400 meters. Its separate structures, such as the Great Bath, had their own platforms. The citadel, according to archaeologists, was built as a single complex from the very beginning.

The location of the citadel away from the lower city suggests that it was built to be a separate part of the settlement. Most likely, access there was controlled by the guards. On the southeast corner of the citadel was the entrance to the temple of the upper city.

The northeastern part of the citadel of the city is under a Buddhist stupa and therefore has not yet been excavated. Excavations around it show that large buildings stood on the site of the stupa. The southern part of the citadel was occupied by a large complex, which included a hall with columns and, possibly, a temple. The buildings of this part of the citadel were intended both for everyday life and for social events.

The hall with columns was supposedly used for public meetings. Researchers have found similarities between it and the assembly halls in the Mauryan Pataliputra and the monastic halls in Buddhist monasteries. This hall was part of a larger complex, perhaps a palace in the style of the residences of the rulers of the Middle East.

The most famous building of the citadel mohenjo-daro- Big Bath. It has been called the oldest public water reservoir in the ancient world. Its area was 11 by 7 meters, and the depth was almost two and a half. To get into the pool, two ladders operated, and at one end of the tank there was a hole for draining the water. The bottom and walls of the tank were strong thanks to clay, bricks and gypsum. The walls were also reinforced with a thick layer of bitumen.

It is assumed that Big bath was used for religious ceremonies, during which the participants were washed. To the north of the Great Bath stood a block of eight rooms with water tanks arranged in two rows. Each room had a staircase leading to the top floor. It is assumed that in these rooms there were people serving the Big Bath.

Behind the block, separated from it by a street, was the so-called College of Priests(College of Priests). It was a building that consisted of many small rooms, several courtyards, and one large courtyard. The College had seven entrances, so it is assumed that it was connected with the management of the city.

The building next to the Big Bath of the citadel is identified as a granary. But during the excavation of the building, no grains were found, which makes its identification as a granary controversial.

The lower city was also built on an artificial embankment - the remains of its retaining wall were discovered. Three main streets and several secondary ones ran from north to south in the city. The lines of the streets receded from the north-south orientation by no more than two degrees. From east to west, streets and lanes also ran, which divided mohenjo-daro for several blocks. The main street of the city was ten meters wide.

Houses in the lower town were two- and three-story. They contained several rooms. The houses had courtyards. The entrance to the dwelling was located in the lanes, only the walls of the houses looked at the wide streets. Some buildings are identified as workshops. On the outskirts of the settlement there were areas in which handicraft activities were concentrated. Small brick platforms stood near the houses, on which the inhabitants of the city sat and talked with each other in their free time. building material mohenjo-daro was fired brick. Wood was used for doors and window frames.

One of the buildings of the lower city was identified as a temple, the other as a caravanserai. There were about 700 wells in the city. This number was related to the distance mohenjo-daro from the Indus. In the neighboring Harappe there were only about 30 wells. Sewer drains ran down the center of the streets. Trees grew along the streets, which gave people shade and possibly had religious significance.

Down below the artificial hills mohenjo-daro suburbs were located. The largest were to the south and east of the city. In addition to residential buildings, there was a vast industrial zone.

Feature of most cities Indian civilization– the inability to accurately identify public buildings. It is difficult to find majestic temples and palaces here, which are known from other civilizations of the Ancient East. Some houses in the lower city in Mohenjo-Daro had internal platforms that were supposed to give them an imposing appearance. Other houses had a network of courtyards.

One of the buildings of Mohenjo-Daro consisted of two rows of rooms. Each of them included two rooms separated by a partition. There was a bathtub on the floor of one of the rooms. Presumably, the building was a hotel for merchants or officials arriving in the city.

mohenjo-daro occupied an area of ​​more than 250 hectares, and its population is estimated from 40 to 100 thousand people. A six-meter artificial hill raised the city to a height that the waters of the flooded Indus did not reach.

Seals from Mohenjo-Daro

The issue of power in the cities of the Harappan civilization is debated. The scarce data open up the possibility of the most opposite interpretations. On the one hand, there is a developed system of handicraft production, city planning, uniformity in artifacts. On the other hand, there are no such signs of firm sole power as monumental palaces. Archaeological data do not provide evidence of strong armies and police forces in the Indus cities. Other eastern civilizations have left palace archives. Perhaps the archival documents of the Indus cities were written on material that did not survive the millennium.

The main evidence for the existence of mohenjo-daro political structure - the press. Square soapstone artifacts have been found in large numbers in Mohenjo-Daro and other cities. They are found on the territory of Sumer and Elam - lands with which the cities of the Indus traded.

Seals were worn around the neck. Most often they are found along the roads or in workshops where the owners lost them. The seals were never found in the graves, probably because the seal was not a personal thing, but an attribute of a position. Leaving the post, the person parted with the seal.

An inscription and an image were placed on the seal. not yet deciphered Harappan script, the inscriptions on the seals cannot be read. Perhaps they reported the name and title of the owner who owned the goods. The most popular print design was the unicorn. About 50 seals from Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa contained the image of a bull. Even rarer you can find images of an elephant, an antelope and others.

Some researchers see generic symbols in the drawings. According to others, these are symbols of cities. The unicorn is the symbol of Mohenjo-Daro, and the prevalence of such seals demonstrates the influence of this city. Another hypothesis is that the symbol on the seal reflects the status of its owner and the area of ​​his operations. Outside the Indus Valley, seals with a bull are found. It was probably the symbol of a person engaged in foreign trade.

Lessons

In Mohenjo-Daro, clothes were made from cotton. Cotton was grown in the Indus Valley and Balochistan. The inhabitants of the city used indigo and madder root for its coloring. Fabrics dyed red with madder were discovered during the excavations of Mohenjo-Daro.

The inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro used lifting mechanisms to extract water from rivers and canals. An image of such a device has been preserved in the city - a vertical pole with a bucket on one side and a counterweight on the other.

As noted above, more than 700 wells were dug in Mohenjo-Daro. Houses were rebuilt from decade to decade, and the level of the city rose. The wells were also completed so that they were at the same level in relation to the pavement. During the excavations of the old streets of Mohenjo-Daro, brick wells cleared of centuries-old debris towered over the researchers like towers.

Some cities of the Indus Valley specialized in one craft, larger ones were centers of many crafts. The second type was mohenjo-daro. The needs of settlers and fishermen stimulated the development of water transport. A clay tablet and seal found during excavations of the city show what a river boat might have looked like. This is a punt with a cabin on the deck, reminiscent of modern Indian houseboats. She had a high stern and sides, two steering oars. Presumably, the boats were made from bundles of reeds. For the cabin, four reed poles were made, on which the fabric was thrown. Such boats could easily navigate both shallow river water and the sea. But their lifespan was limited to a few months.

At the stern of the boat depicted on the tablet from Mohenjo-Daro, two birds are sitting. It is believed that they could be released during swimming, so that the birds indicated the path to land.

Residents of Mohenjo-Daro and others Indian cities widely used copper, which went to the manufacture of everyday tools. Probably, it was mined in the Aravalli mountain range of Hindustan. Spectral analysis showed that the Mohenjo-Daro copper artifacts contained nickel and arsenic. These elements are found in the copper of Aravalli and the regions of Oman with which the ancient Indians traded. Most likely, local copper was the main, but not the only source for Mohenjo-Daro. From the mountain mines, copper was delivered to the city Cat-Digee and from there to Mohenjo-Daro.

Chicken bones found in Mohenjo-Daro. Scientists admit that chickens could have been domesticated in this region. Modern domestic chickens are thought to be descended from birds domesticated in Thailand, but in the Indus Valley this may have been done independently of Southeast Asia. Perhaps the inhabitants of the city kept domestic ducks. But they definitely continued to hunt wild ones. Game pieces from Mohenjo-Daro are decorated with images of ducks.

Indian gray mongooses were kept in Mohenjo-Daro. Perhaps the Indians used them to protect against snakes. Wild elephants were hunted for their meat and bones. Tamed elephants were used as working animals. The city made works of art from ivory. Domestic camels began to be used in these lands after the decline of Mohenjo-Daro.

The outskirts of the city were full of timber suitable for construction. In Mohenjo-Daro, dalberia sissu was used for rafters. Tamarisk was used as fuel. Rosewood, obtained from Dalberia, was used to make furniture, tools, cart wheels, and also coffins. For the construction of buildings in Mohenjo-Daro, pines and Himalayan cedars were brought from the hills.

In the matter of providing residents with food, the cities were self-sufficient. The largest of them depended on the rural district. But there was also a trade in food products, this is evidenced by the finds of date stones in Mozhenjo-Daro.

decline

The last period of the existence of Mohenjo-Daro is characterized by the decline of urban life. Houses were built poorly, the inhabitants neglected hygiene - the sewerage system fell into disrepair. The dead were abandoned in abandoned houses or left on the streets instead of performing funeral rites. The big bath stopped working. Some cult statues were deliberately destroyed. A similar picture was characteristic of other cities of the Indus Valley.

The reason for this decline of Mohenjo-Daro is seen in epidemics. The study of skeletons from the upper levels of the city shows that the inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro were dying from diseases, in particular malaria. Mohenjo-Daro and other cities, with their abundance of water in wells, reservoirs and tanks for runoff, were ideal places for the spread of malaria and cholera. The last inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro huddled in a few dilapidated dwellings.