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: Mohenjodaro means` Mound of the
Dravidians.` The city was meticulously planned, on a grid system, with three
and four storey houses lining its long straight streets, a sophisticated
drainage system, with wells and granaries all constructed of brick. 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, possibly observed by a priestly sect. Among artefacts
found are terra-cotta figurines of buxom women which are believed to have
been a Mother Goddess. The discovery of lingam stones also suggests worship
of the phallus, which is still widely observed by Hindus in India.
Terracotta chess sets and animal images including bulls, bears and dogs,
show the Indus Valley citizens were skilled at making kiln-fired pottery.
Villagers continue to use a foot-driven wheel and drawn by a pair of
animals, ox-carts no different to those in Mohenjodaro of 2500 years ago,
still rumble along local roads. The site was inscribed on the World Heritage
List in 1980.