(IPA: [muˑənⁱ dʑoˑ d̪əɽoˑ], Urdu: موئن جودڑو, Sindhi: موئن جو دڙو, lit. Mound
of the Dead;English pronunciation: /moʊˌhɛn.dʒoʊ ˈdɑː.roʊ/),
is an archeological
site in the province of Sindh, Pakistan.
Built around 2600 BCE, it
was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus
Valley Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urban settlements, contemporaneous with the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete.
Mohenjo-daro was abandoned in the 19th century BCE, and was not rediscovered
until 1922. Significant excavation has since been conducted at the site of the
city, which was designated a UNESCO
World Heritage Site in 1980.[1]
Mohenjo-daro, the
modern name for the site, simply means Mound of the Dead in Sindhi. The
city's original name is unknown, but analysis of a Mohenjo-daro seal suggests a
possible ancient Dravidian name, Kukkutarma ("the city [-rma] of
the cockerel [kukkuta]").[3] Cock-fightingmay
have had ritual and religious significance for the city, with domesticated
chickens bred there for sacred purposes, rather than as a food source.[4]
The ancient Indus Valley
Civilization of
Northwest South Asia, including Pakistan and parts of India, was prominent in hydraulic
engineering, and had many water supply and sanitation devices
that were the first of their kind.
Among
other things, they contain the world's earliest known system of flush toilets. These existed in many homes,
and were connected to a common sewerage pipe. Most houses also had private wells. City walls functioned
as a barrier against floods.
Mohenjo-daro has a planned layout based on a street grid of rectilinear buildings. Most were built of fired and mortared brick; some incorporated
sun-driedmud-brick and wooden superstructures. The sheer size of the city, and
its provision of public buildings and facilities, suggests a high level of
social organization. At its peak of development, Mohenjo-daro could have housed
around 35,000 residents.
Mohenjo-daro was
successively destroyed and rebuilt at least seven times. Each time, the new
cities were built directly on top of the old ones. Flooding by the Indus is thought to have been the cause of destruction.
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