World History/Indus River Valley

Indus Valley (3000–1500 BC), one of the world's first civilizations (commonly known as "river civilizations" due to the fact that they all started out near a big river because it made living and supporting a whole city easier), was started on the banks of the Indus River in India.

Geography

The Indus River Valley civilization was located in a small area of land in what is now Pakistan and India. Aside from being on the banks of the large Indus river, the Indus Valley civilization was surrounded by forests, desert, and ocean, making it a very fertile land.

Cities

The Indus Valley civilization is well known for its two largest cities called Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. These two cities were the largest of the 1000+ cities that have been found. Both Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were centers of trade, and both had a very advanced city organization, including carefully organized houses, a sewer system, and major and minor streets, as well as warehouses used for storing food and merchandise and large city walls.

Sciences

The people who belonged to the Indus Valley civilization had very advanced systems for telling time, measuring length, and weighing things. They also made beautiful art, including jewelry, statues and animals carved out of stone and gold, and musical instruments, toys, and games.

Culture

The Indus Valley civilization also had a writing system. Although many people have tried to translate their writing into a language that we know today, nobody has been successful. They also had a religion as archaeologists have been able to find out from the carvings of some figure who is clearly a god and looks a bit like a Hindu god (Hinduism was worshipped in India much at a later period in history), but nobody knows for sure what their religion was or who their gods were.