The Legend of the Lost City of Mohenjo-daro: The Brick Architecture of the Indus Valley, the Water Drains, and the Mysterious Abandonment
The Mound of the Dead In the arid plains of the Sindh province in Pakistan, near the fertile banks of the Indus River, lies one of the most sophisticated urban settlements of the ancient world. Mohenjo-daro (meaning "Mound of the Dead Men" in Sindhi, its ancient name remains unknown) was one of the two major capitals of the Indus Valley Civilization (Harappan Civilization), which flourished between 2500 and 1900 before the common era, contemporary with the builders of the pyramids of Egypt and the cities of Sumeria. The ruins of Mohenjo-daro cover over 250 acres, displaying a unique, planned layout that was far advanced for its time. The city was divided into two main zones: a raised Citadel to the west, containing public buildings and baths, and a lower Residential City to the east, built on a grid iron plan of wide streets. The most remarkable feature of the city is its standardized brick architecture and its complex water and sanitation system , which provided alm...