1. Indus Valley River Civilization
Or the Civilization of Harappa

3. Location

4. Geography A subcontinent Himalayas, highest mountains in the world
Indus and Ganges Rivers
Rivers bring rich soil
Deccan Plateau blocks weather

5. Monsoons seasonal winds that bring wet and dry season
winter monsoons are dry
summer monsoons are wet

6. Challenges floods unpredictable rivers change course
too much or too little from monsoons

7. Emerging Civilization
Arrival
earliest arrivals are unknown
7000 BC farming and domestication
3200 BC people live in the Indus Valley
Amazingly, the Indus Valley civilization appears to have been a peaceful one.
Very few weapons have been found and no evidence of an army has been discovered.
Excavated human bones reveal no signs of violence. All evidence points to a preference for peace and success in achieving it.

8. System of Writing
The first artifact uncovered in Harappa was a unique stone seal carved with a unicorn and an inscription. Similar seals with different animal symbols and writings have since been found throughout the region.

9. . Planned Cities Built levees to keep water out
-Sophisticated city planning
-Grid system
-Standard sized bricks
-plumbing and sewage systems
The findings clearly show that these societies were well organized and very sanitary.

10. Hygiene
The brick houses of all city dwellers were equipped with bathing areas supplied with water from neighborhood wells. Sophisticated drainage systems throughout the city carried dirty water and sewage outside of living spaces. Even the smallest houses on the edges of the towns were connected to the systems — cleanliness was obviously of utmost importance.

11. Harappan Planning -thick wall surrounding city -grid system with roads
-built on mud-brick platform to protect from flooding
-thick wall surrounding city
-grid system with roads
-multi-story houses
-indoor plumbing

12. Culture
Animals were important and even sacred

13. Role of Religion No temple found Government- theocracy
early Hindu gods
pray for harvest

14. Caste System or the Structure of Society
Society was divided by what was a person’s occupation. With people doing “unclean” work at the bottom of that society. They were called “untouchables.”

15. Trade thriving trade stones, jewels used rivers for transportation
access to sea and ocean increases trade

17. End of the Civilization
Possibly:
Shift in tectonic plates brings earth quakes and changes river flow
trade diminished
crop failure
Aryan Invasion