1. 5 Characteristics of Civilization
INDUS RIVER VALLEY
5 Characteristics of Civilization

2. ADVANCED CITIES
Very well organized cities that used a precise grid system
(just like Chicago!)
Major Cities:
Harappa
Mohenjo-Daro
Built on mud bricks in order to protect it
Thick brick wall 3.5 miles long surrounding Harappa
Relate back to what they learned about Harappa in The Story of India

3. ADVANCED CITIES What is a citadel?
A citadel is a fortified area that provides protection for major buildings, temples, and the royal family.
The cities of the Indus River Valley are all very standardized.
This shows us that they had a strong and centralized government that was well organized.
Walls divided different residential districts. Do we have something like this today?
Houses were of different sizes, up to 3 stories tall. Made of standardized bricks.
Construction of human made islands to raise cities above possible flood waters

4. SPECIALIZED WORKERS Bricklayers Scribes Merchants Bronze Workers
- childrens toys made of clay

5. COMPLEX INSTITUITIONS
Religion
Hinduism
Centralized Government
Trading with other places:
Gold & Silver
Semi-Precious Stones
Traded with the Mesopotamian people
- Seals of Indus merchants found in Sumer.
- Not a lot of weapons found and they traded with other regions – overall good relationships with their neighbors

6. RECORD KEEPING
We don’t know much about the written language of this civilization because we haven’t been able to translate it.
Why can’t we translate it?
No bilingual inscriptions have been found.
What does this mean about what we know about the civilization?
Remind students how we translated using the Rosetta stone before
Picture: seal, typical
Information we have comes mostly from archeological digs

7. ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
The Indus Valley is the first to have such organized cities with an advanced plumbing and sewage system.
Well planned, covered drains.
Had standardized bricks: same size and weight.
- Why is a standardized grid system important, whats the impact today? Imagine a city without this. What would that look like?