Ancient Indus Valley

When & Where

• Located in present day Pakistan and Northwest India
• Considered a Bronze Age Civilization
• From 2600 BC to 1700 BC
• The Indus Valley covers 776,714 sq. miles
• Very Dry Climate, between 5 and 20 inches of rain/year

Map of Indus Valley

Culture

• They believed the religion was Hinduism.
• They had a Federal type government, divided people into classes.
• 9/10 Indus people were farmers and traders.
• Graves of the dead were filled with the dead's belongings.
• The valley's water was the civilazation's most prized possesion. 

Ancient grave of the Indus people.

Religion

• Historical Vedic Religion
• A type of Hinduism
• Worship of the elements like fire and rivers and worship of Gods.
•  Made sacrifices to the heroic Gods.

Trade & Travel

• Farmers brought food into the cities.
• City workers made beads, pots, and cotton cloth.
• Trade goods were: pots, beads, gold and silver, metals, and stone tools.
• They received goods from Iran, Afghanistan, India, and China.
• They traveled by boat and walked along the river bank as a path.

A rock seal of a ancient Indus boat.

Army and Protection

• Indus cities had walls surrounding them.
• They lived in peace, did not have wars. 
• The only reason for soldiers were to guard the entrances to the city.

Art & Writing

• They made small figures of people and animals using metal and clay.
• They made decorative terracotta pots on pottery wheels.
• They made necklaces, beads, earrings, bangles, and brooches.
• Archaelogists find that they wore extensive amounts of jewelry.  
• Writing was done using a sharp tool to scratch or write in soft clay.

Ancient rock seals of animals from the Indus area.

Food & Farming

• They kept cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats for both meat and milk.
• Ate many vegetables and fruits grown on their farms. (dates, melons, wheat)
• They hunted birds, rhinocerous, elephants, and deer for food.
• Farmers cultivated large fields using wooden ploughes pulled by oxen.
• They used river water to flood fields and irrigate.

Drawing of an ancient oxen pulled plough.

The End of The Indus

• Between 1900 BC. and 1700 BC. the civilazation started to fall apart.
• Could have been due to loss of trade with Mesopotamia.
• Other Theories- floods, famine, or disease.
•  By 1500 BC. the civilazation was gone and over time the city washed away.

The End