Mohenjo Daro Stations

Area A: Stone Weights These are weights of various sizes and a scale. These weights were discovered near a large building located on the citadel. This building, which is made of mud bricks and measures 150 feet long and 75 feet wide, is referred to as the Granary. Archeologists have also found bits of grain, such as wheat and barley, in the building ruins. This had led them to believe that the building was used to store grain and also to house workers who crushed the grain into flour for trade. Because farmers outside the walls of Mohenjo-Daro usually had their own granaries, some archeologists think that grain stored within the citadel granary may have been collected as taxes. In addition, because of the presence of the weights, archeologists have speculated that merchants weighted their grain and used it like money to buy and sell goods. Granary: building used to store grain Area B: The Great Bath This is the ruins of the Great Bath in Mohenjo-Daro. Located on the citadel, this ruin contains at its center an 8-foot-deep rectangular bathing pool built from waterproofed brick. The pool is surrounded by a series of small dressing rooms, one of which contains a well that supplied water to the bath. Used water was removed from the pool via a 6-foot-high drain that ran along the west side of the Great Bath. The people of Mohenjo-Daro used the bath for hygienic purposes, and some archeologists believe that the Great Bath might have also been used in religious rituals. To support this theory, archeologists point to the baths of later Hindu temples and the bathing rituals that remain an important part of modern Hinduism. Hygienic: practices of good health Hindu: form of religion Area C: The Statue of Male Figure and Necklace This is a male statuette and a necklace made of beads. Little is known about the appearance of men and women in Mohenjo-Daro. However, this 7-inchhigh stone sculpture discovered in the lower city shows how men in MohenjoDaro might have looked and dressed. The figure's beard is short and neat, his upper lip is shaved clean, and his hair is tied with a band that hangs down his back to his shoulder. A patterned robe covers his left shoulder, while his right shoulder is bare. Because of the elaborate design of his robe, archeologists think that this was a statue of a priest-king. Many beautiful beads of stones of all colors have been found throughout Mohenjo-Daro and were likely worn by the population's women. Holes drilled into the beads show that they were worn as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, finger rings, and other body decorations. Archeologists have found beads in such locations as the Great Bath, where bathers probably lost them, and in the lower city, where bead-makers may have dropped them in their shops as they were making them. Archeologists believe that clothes and jewelry were very important and may have indicated a person’s social status. Area D: Four Seals These are four seals engraved with various animals and writing. Seals, found in large numbers all over the Mohenjo-Daro site, were generally carved from soft stone. The seals are carved with pictographs (pictures or symbols used to represent an object, sound, or idea). Over 400 different pictographs have been identified, but very few have been deciphered. Most seals show animals, such as buffalo, humped bull, tiger, elephant, rhinoceros, fish, and crocodile. There are seals that depict a cross-legged figure, which some scholars believe is an early version of a .Hindu God Many of the seals have a boss, or small loop, on the back, which leads archeologists to think that the people of Mohenjo-Daro may have worn them on a cord around their necks as amulets. Archeologists have also speculated that the seals were pressed into wax to make a sort of tag, perhaps showing which merchants owned what goods. Decipher: to translate or make out the meaning of Amulet: charm worn to protect the wearer from harm or evil Area E: The Sewer System This is the ruins of the sewer system showing some clay pipes and a well. Mohenjo-Daro's "chief glory" was a complex system of drains that ran throughout the city. According to one scholar, "only the Romans, more than two thousand years later, had a comparable drainage system." Clay pipes carried dirty, used water from buildings on the citadel and homes in the lower city to the main sewer system that ran along the city streets. The water and other sewage were emptied into the Indus River. Archeologists have evidence that this sewer system made it possible for both the rich and the poor to have bathrooms in their homes. Also located throughout the city are deep wells, in which the people of MohenjoDaro stored their water. Archeologists believe that cleanliness was part of the religious beliefs of these people. It is from this that we get the saying, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Area F: Brick Homes This is the ruins of several homes alongside a narrow alley. Most of Mohenjo-Daro's peoples lived in the lower city. Rows and rows of flat-roofed, two-story, mud-brick houses lined the streets. The houses' windows were typically located on the second floor, were narrow, and were covered with screens made of a translucent mineral called alabaster. The houses' outside walls faced narrow alleys and their inside walls faced an open courtyard. Many of the houses had indoor bathrooms that drained into the main sewer system that ran throughout the city streets. Many of the houses also have long chutes leading to the streets. Archeologists believe that these served as a trash disposal system with the chutes carrying garbage from the homes to the streets. Archeologists have excavated houses containing one room and houses containing more than a dozen rooms. They believe that the one-room houses belonged to the poorer citizens of Mohenjo-Daro and the multiroom houses to the wealthier. Area G: Games This picture shows dice, carved pawns, balls carved of stone, and clay tracks. Archeologists have unearthed various artifacts at Mohenjo-Daro that they think were used to play games. Their findings include dice; solid stone boards; and small, carved "pawns" that they think might have been used to play an ancient form of chess. As evidence for this, archeologists point to an ancient Indian work written in the sixth century B.C.E. The book describes a war game played with dice and pawns. Game historians believe is the predecessor to modern-day chess. Archeologists have also found toys consisting of grooved tracks made of baked clay and balls carved out of stone. Area H: Clay Figurine This is an assembly of clay figures that includes a pottery-filled cart pulled by two bulls. This model is made of terra-cotta clay. Archeologists believe the model shows how farm goods might have been transported from the fields outside of MohenjoDaro to the city market. These goods probably included wheat, barley, cotton, rice, melons, peas, sesame seeds, and dates. Children may have played with toy-like terra-cotta models such as this one, along with other small clay figures of humans and animals that have been found at the MohenjoDaro site.