PAKISTAN: Mohenjodaro
The celebrated Indus Valley
site of Mohenjodaro in what is now Pakistan was not merely an agrarian settlement,
but a well planned city which had reached an advanced stage of learning long
before the birth of Christ. The key to its past lies in deciphering
the complex `Indus script`but it seems likely its inhabitants spoke
Dravidian - the language of southern India ( Mohenjodaro means` Mound of the Dravidians`). The city was meticulously planned on a
grid system with 3-4 storey houses lining its long straight streets, a
sophisticated drainage system and wells and granaries constructed of bricks.
While few clues exist as to its rulers, the presence of a vast bath sunk in
a spacious courtyard once lined with decorative columns points to a
purification ritual, probably observed by a priestly sect. Among artefacts found are terra-cotta figurines of
buxom women believed to have been a Mother Goddess. The discovery of lingam
stones also suggests worship of the male phallus still widely
observed in Hindu India. Terracotta chess sets and animal
images - bulls, bears and dogs - show the citizens were skilled
at making kiln-fired pottery. Sindi villagers continue to use a foot-driven
wheel and drawn by a pair of animals, ox-carts still rumble along
local roadsno different to those in Mohenjodaro 2500 years
ago. The site was inscribed on the UN World Heritage List in 1980.