MOHENJO-DARO: A 4500 YEAR OLD CIVILIZATION

The greatest city, the greatest civilization of the world. Mohenjo-Daro is located in the Larkana District of Sindh, Pakistan and was the greatest Indus valley civilization and also one of the prehistoric times' earliest civilizations which was inhabited by men. It was the first South Asian Civilization to be allotted as a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE Site in the 1980s. Sadly this ancient and historical civilization is falling apart due to insufficient funds and lack of attention.

Living in Pakistan, you have a lot of opportunities to visit ancient places like Mohenjo-Daro. From North to South we're surrounded by architectures and civilizations of the prehistoric times. For example, only recently a Hindu Goddess's temple was unearthed in a newly discovered Astola Island.

Mohenjo-Daro had been lost beneath the ground for thousands of years before R.D.Banerji rediscovered it back in 1920. Some archaeologists consider it as the most groundbreaking rediscovery of mankind. Since then it has been preserved and has been a tourist spot for millions of people from all over the world and for thousands of other archaeologists as well. I consider myself lucky to be living in the same province as this archaeological site.

Recently, I had the privilege of visiting this site with my friends. Mohenjo-Daro has three different categories of entrance fees and they are as follows:

Category	Pkr	Hive
Local Tourist	30	0.2
International Tourist	600	5.3
Archaeologists	3000	26.8

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A fair demand, if you ask me. Keeping low entance fee for the local tourists increased the tourism to this rather hot and dry place and through the fee of international tourists, the local management manages to get a bit of profit in order to maintain the place.

I was able to capture a lot of historical pieces inside Mohenjo-Daro. All of them have been preserved inside the museum located within the boundaries of this abandoned civilization.

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The gate at the entrance has its own charm as the letters are written in a unique fashion depicting the scribbling of the ancient people. Before we move on with the rest of the archaeological findings of this historical civilization, let me just show you the Dancing Girl so you can fathom how beautiful she was.

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DANCING GIRL

The Dancing Girl is one of the most important personalities rediscovered in Mohenjo-Daro. She represents a 'nautch girl' who was for the recreational activities of the Priest King of Mohenjo-Daro. She is completely nude, except for the Jewelry covering her left arm; shoulder to wrist. The statute is just a mere represention of the real dancing girl who once lived in this civilization. I'm not sure, if you can observe it as well, but I can see her face drenched in sadness and misery. Oh and that's me trying to pose like a 'dancing boy' in front of the dancing girl.

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THE KINGS SEAT

Behind me, in this picture, you can see the Kings Seat, from where the King used to address his people. I have a question in mind though. You've seen this in movies as well. A high seat, lofted enough to be at a fair distance from the rest of the people. How did the King's voice reach all the people out there?

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THE GREAT BATH

original	source

Unfortunately I only have a single picture of the Great Bath so I have taken one from the internet. The Great Bath was one of those few places of this civilization which made me stand their in awe. It was so beautifully designed that even in today's ages, we see a little of such masterpieces. That makes me think that maybe with time instead of progressing, we have regressed? Anyway, the Great Bath consists of two staircases, through which the people could step inside the pool. Surrounding the pool are multiple rooms in which water was stored as well. The Great Bath was air tight so no water has ever leaked through the gaps. It is said, that this Great Bath was used by the King and also the Religious Purposes.

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HISTORICAL RESTORATIONS

As I mentioned above, there's a full fledged museum constructed within the boundaries of Mohenjo-Daro consisting of all the preserved items, so I decided to visit it. The things I found inside it were beyond fascinating.

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_{A prehistoric chessboard}

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_{small stone balls}

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_weaponry

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_{clay bowl for drinking water}

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_{broken copper pots}

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_{bagatelle and dice}

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_{pots made from clay}

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_{copper toys for children}

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_{copper tools, stone plough and chart tools}

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_{copper miniature}

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_{Monkey God}

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_Amri

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_{clay pots for decoration}

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_{Human Bones}

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_{The Priest King}

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_{Kot Diji}

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_{Female Gods}

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_{Kitchen Items}

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_{Grinding Pot}

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_{Archaeological Picture of the ancient people's skeletal frameworks}

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_{Fluorspar and Clay}

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_{The complete map of Mhenjo-Daro}

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Looking at all these artifacts makes it quite obvious that the most used item by these people was copper. This gives us an idea that they were all well equipped for defending themselves against any foreign invasion.

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CONCLUSION

It's a pity how hundreds of civilizations have ended with the passage of time. For someone living in Pakistan, I have been to many places in which lived men thousands of years back. Looking back at these civilizations I have come to a realisation that the people before us were far more progressive and architectural genius than we ever will be.

This is just the starting of my adventures in the Pinmapple community. As a travel enthusiast, I'll be regularly checking in here. Did you find this post interesting? Do let me know in the comments section.

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WHO IS HUZAIFANAVEED?

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_{huzaifanaveed hails from Pakistan, who is an aspiring dentist, studying in one of the top notch universities of Pakistan, Jinnah Sindh Medical University.}

_{he loves interacting with new people, making new friends and traveling the world, but most importantly he loves to make a change in this world through his actions and his words. He's an entrepreneur and a philanthropist who's been actively working with different Charitable Organizations in Pakistan.}

_{His goal on Hive is similar, ie, to make a difference. He's here to mark his presence and he'll do it through his words. So lets be a part of his journey and show him support through comments, upvotes and reblogs.}

All pictures used in this article are my own, unless stated otherwise.

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