What do we know about the history of our civilization? In fact, not so much: the last 2000 years are described in relatively detail, but not always reliably. One gets the impression that historical facts were adjusted to a certain scenario, but this was not always done carefully, so that here and there contradictions were discovered. For example, the origin and death of the cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa raises many questions. There are several versions of the answers, but they all require convincing evidence. Let's discuss this.

The first archaeological surveys

The earth is not too willing to part with its secrets, but sometimes it presents surprises to archaeologists. This happened with excavations in the area of ​​Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, where researchers first visited in 1911.

Excavations on a regular basis began in these places in 1922, when the Indian archaeologist R. Banarji was lucky: the remains of an ancient city were found, which later received the name “City of the Dead.” Work in the Indus River Valley continued until 1931.

John Marshall, who led the research of British archaeologists, analyzed the artifacts found in areas 400 km apart from each other and concluded that they were identical. Thus, both cities, located in the Indus Valley and separated by an impressive distance even by today’s standards, had a common culture.

It should be noted that the concepts of “Indus civilization”, “Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa” in archeology are similar. The name “Harrapa” coincided with the city of the same name, near which the first excavations began in 1920. Then they moved along the Indus, where the city of Mahenjo-Daro was discovered. The entire area of ​​research was united under the name “Indus Civilization”.

Ancient civilization

Today, the ancient city, whose age varies from 4000 to 4500 years, belongs to the Sindh province, which is the territory of Pakistan. By the standards of 2600 BC. e., Mohenjo-Daro is not just big, but one of largest cities Indus civilization and, apparently, its former capital. He is the same age Ancient Egypt, and the level of its development is evidenced by a carefully thought-out development plan and communications network.

For some reason, the city was suddenly abandoned by its inhabitants almost 1000 years after its founding.

Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa have significant differences compared to earlier cultures, as well as those that formed later. Archaeologists classify these cities as belonging to the mature Harappan era, the uniqueness of which requires a special research approach. The worst thing would be to “squeeze” the civilizations of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa into the framework of the official historical path of development, of which Darwin’s theory is an integral part.

Urban structure

So, let's return to the events of 1922, when the walls and then the streets of Mohenjo-Daro were revealed to the eyes of researchers. D. R. Sahin and R. D. Banerjee were amazed at how thoughtful and geometrically verified the parameters were architectural structures and residential areas. Almost all the buildings of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were made of red burnt brick and were located on both sides of the streets, the width of which in some places reached 10 m. In addition, the directions of the blocks were distributed strictly according to the cardinal directions: north-south or east-west.

The buildings in the cities were made in the shape of similar cake packaging. The following arrangement of the interior of the house is especially characteristic of Mohenjo-Daro: the central part was a courtyard, around which there were living quarters, a kitchen and a bathroom. Some buildings had flights of stairs, indicating the presence of two floors, which have not survived. They were probably made of wood.

Territory of ancient civilization

The territory of the Harappan civilization or Mohenjo-Daro is from Delhi to the Arabian Sea. The era of its origin dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e., and the time of sunset and disappearance - to the second. That is, over a period of a thousand years, this civilization reached an incredible prosperity, incomparable to the level that existed before and after it.

Signs high degree development are, first of all, the system of urban development, as well as the existing writing and numerous beautifully executed creations of ancient masters.

In addition, discovered seals with inscriptions in the Harappan language indicate a developed system government system. However, the speech of more than five million people who made up the population of the Harappan civilization has not yet been deciphered.

The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are the most famous ones found in the valley of the Indus River and its tributaries. As of 2008, a total of 1,022 cities were discovered. Most of them are located in the territory of modern India - 616, and another 406 are located in Pakistan.

City infrastructure

As mentioned above, the architecture of residential buildings was standard, and its difference was only in the number of floors. The walls of the houses were plastered, which, given the hot climate, was very prudent. The number of inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro reached approximately 40,000 people. There are no palaces or other buildings in the city indicating a vertical hierarchy of government. Most likely, there was a system of elections, reminiscent of the structure of city-states.

Public buildings are represented by an impressive size swimming pool (83 sq. m), which, according to some researchers, had a ritual purpose; a granary was also found, which probably contained a public supply of cereals for planting. In the area of ​​the central quarter there are remains of a citadel, which was used as a barrier against floods, as evidenced by a layer of red brick that strengthened the foundation of the structure.

The deep Indus allowed farmers to harvest crops twice a year with the help of irrigation structures. Hunters and fishermen also did not sit idle: there was plenty of game and fish in the sea.

Particular attention of archaeologists was attracted by the elaborate sewerage and water supply systems, as well as the presence of public toilets, indicating the level of culture of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Literally every house had a pipe through which water flowed and sewage was discharged outside the city.

Trade routes

The crafts in the cities of the Indus civilization were varied and developed thanks to trade with such rich countries as Persia and Afghanistan, from where caravans with tin and precious stones arrived. Maritime connections also expanded, which was facilitated by the harbor built in Lothal. It was here that merchant ships from different countries, and from here Harappan merchants departed for the Sumerian kingdom. Traded all kinds of spices ivory, expensive types of wood and many goods that are in demand far beyond the Indus River Valley.

Crafts and art of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro

During excavations, jewelry worn by women was found. Moreover, they live everywhere, from the center of the ancient Indian civilization of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa to Delhi.

These are jewelry made of gold, silver and bronze with precious and semi-precious stones such as carnelian, red quartz or mother-of-pearl shells.

Ceramic crafts distinguished by their originality and local color were also discovered, for example, red dishes decorated with black ornaments, as well as animal figurines.

Thanks to the mineral steatite (“soap stone”), widespread in this territory, which is distinguished by its soft, malleable nature, the craftsmen of the Harappan civilization made many carved items, including seals. Each merchant had his own mark.

The art objects found from Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro cannot be called numerous, but they give an idea of ​​the level of development of the ancient civilization.

New Delhi is home to the National Museum of India, which displays all sorts of artifacts found in this area. Today you can see in it the bronze “Dancing Girl” from Mohenjo-Daro, as well as the figurine of the “Priest King”, which amazes with the fineness of the carving.

The sense of humor inherent in the craftsmen of the Indus Valley is evidenced by figurines representing the inhabitants of ancient cities in caricature.

Catastrophe or slow decline?

So, judging by the artifacts found, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are the most ancient cities, the growth and influence of which on the Indus civilization was undeniable. That is why the fact of disappearance from historical arena and from the face of the earth of this culture, which was far ahead of its era in its development. What happened? Let's try to figure it out and get acquainted with several versions that currently exist.

The conclusions drawn by scientists after studying the remains of Mohenjo-Daro were as follows:

• life in the city stopped almost instantly;
• residents did not have time to prepare for a sudden catastrophe;
• the disaster that befell the city was associated with high temperatures;
• it could not have been a fire, because the heat reached 1500 degrees;
• in the city, many melted objects and ceramics turned into glass were discovered;
• Judging by the finds, the epicenter of the heat was in the central part of the city.

In addition, there is anecdotal and undocumented evidence of high levels of radiation found in the preserved remains.

Version No. 1: the disaster is related to water

Despite obvious signs of impact high temperature on the city, some researchers, in particular Ernest Mackay (in 1926) and Dales (in the mid-20th century), considered it possible reason disappearance of the Mohenjo-Daro flood. Their line of reasoning was as follows:

• the Indus River could pose a threat to the city during seasonal floods;
• the level of the Arabian Sea has risen, as a result of which flooding could become a reality;
• the city grew, and the needs of its population for food and development grew;
• active development of fertile lands in the Indus River valley was carried out, in particular, for agricultural needs and for grazing livestock;
• an ill-conceived management system has led to soil depletion and the disappearance of forests;
• the landscape of the area was changed, which led to a massive migration of urban populations to the southeast (the current location of Bombay);
• the so-called lower city, inhabited by artisans and peasants, was covered with water over time, and after 4500 years the level of the Indus rose by 7 meters, so today it is impossible to study this part of Mohenjo-Daro.

Conclusion: aridization as a result of uncontrolled development natural resources led to an environmental disaster, which resulted in large-scale epidemics, which led to the decline of the Indus civilization and a mass exodus of the population to more attractive regions.

Vulnerability of the theory

The weak point of the flood theory remains the moment of time: civilization cannot perish in such a short period. Moreover, soil depletion and river floods do not occur instantly: this is a long-term process that can pause for several years, then resume again - and so on many times. And such circumstances could not force the inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro to abruptly leave their homes: nature provided them with the opportunity to think, and sometimes gave them hope for a return to better times.

In addition, this theory did not find room to explain the traces of massive fires. There was talk of epidemics, but in a city where a contagious disease is rampant, people have no time for walks or routine activities. And the found remains of residents indicate precisely that the residents were taken by surprise during everyday activities or recreation.

Thus, the theory does not stand up to criticism.

Version No. 2: conquering

The option of a sudden invasion of the conquerors was put forward.

This could have been true, but among the surviving skeletons there is not a single one on which traces of damage from any kind of bladed weapon were diagnosed. In addition, the remains of horses, destruction of buildings characteristic of military operations, as well as fragments of weapons should remain. But none of the above was found.

The only thing that can be said with certainty is the suddenness of the cataclysm and its short duration.

Version No. 3: nuclear disaster

Two researchers - the Englishman D. Davenport and the Italian scientist E. Vincenti - offered their version of the causes of the disaster. Having studied the vitrified green layers and melted pieces of ceramics found on the site of the ancient city, they saw a striking resemblance of this rock to that which remains in abundance after nuclear weapons tests in the Nevada desert. The truth is that modern explosions occur with the release of extremely high temperatures - over 1500 degrees.

It should be noted that there is some similarity between the proposed theory and fragments of the Rig Veda, which describes the clash of the Aryans, supported by Indra, with opponents who were destroyed by incredible fire.

Scientists brought samples from Mohenjo-Daro to the University of Rome. Specialists from the Italian National Research Council confirmed the hypothesis of D. Davenport and E. Vincenti: the rock was exposed to temperatures of about 1500 degrees. Given the historical context in natural conditions it is impossible to achieve it, although it is quite possible in a metallurgical furnace.

The theory of a directed nuclear explosion, no matter how incredible it may sound, is confirmed by an inspection of the city from above. From above, a possible epicenter is clearly visible, within the boundaries of which all structures were demolished by an unknown force, but the closer to the outskirts, the lower the level of destruction. All this is very similar to the consequences of the atomic explosions in August 1945 in Japan. By the way, Japanese archaeologists also noted their identity...

Instead of an afterword

Official history does not allow us to accept the version confirmed laboratory research, about the use of nuclear weapons that took place more than 4,500 years ago.

However, the creator atomic bomb Robert Oppenheimer did not rule out this possibility. It should be noted that he was very keen on studying the Indian treatise “Mahabharata”, which describes the catastrophic consequences of an explosion, identical to those that can be observed after a nuclear one. Both D. Davenport and E. Vincenti also consider these events to be real.

So, we can offer the following as a conclusion.

Existed in the territories of modern Pakistan and India ancient civilizations– Mohenjo-Daro (or Harappa), which were quite developed. As a result of some kind of confrontation, these cities were exposed to weapons very reminiscent of modern nuclear weapons. This hypothesis is confirmed by laboratory studies, as well as materials from the ancient epic “Mahabharata”, which indirectly testify in favor of the put forward theory.

And one more thing: since 1980, archaeological research of the ruins of Mahenjo-Daro has been impossible, because this city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Therefore, the question of the presence or absence of nuclear or other similar weapons on our planet in those distant times remains open.

Civilization of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

The area of ​​Proto-Indian civilization was more extensive than the areas of the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt combined. It stretched 1,600 kilometers from south to north and 800 kilometers from east to west. From the beginning of the 20s of the XX century until today, about 2,500 monuments of this ancient culture, including its capital cities, seaports, border fortresses, etc. We cannot say whether it was a single civilization or several city-states.

During the era of prosperity of Mohenjo-Daro, fertile lands stretched around it, and deep rivers served as transport channels. The population was engaged in agriculture and grew wheat, barley, sesame, dates and cotton. Rich harvests and convenient communications allowed city residents to exchange their products for raw materials, metals, precious stones and spices from Central Asia, Afghanistan, Persia and South India. Among the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro, many male and female terracotta figures and miniature images of various animals, as well as clay signets with pictographic inscriptions were found.

The cities of the Indus Valley were built from brick - but not from the raw brick that the Sumerians used, but from burnt brick. This fact, as well as the remains of huge dams that protected cities from floods, and a dense network of sewers clearly indicated that five thousand years ago heavy rains in the Indus Valley were very frequent, so much so that the abundance of water posed a threat to urban buildings. The Sumerians could build their cities from mud bricks because rain was rare in southern Mesopotamia. The inhabitants of the Indus Valley, on the contrary, clearly had an excess of water - and this is all the more surprising given that today it is one of the driest places on the planet.

The Indian civilization contains many unsolved mysteries. We don’t know what it was actually called or who built it. The names of its mysterious cities are forgotten. The language of this civilization is also unknown; the hieroglyphs on the Indus seals still remain undeciphered...

To date, several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the reasons for the “collapse” of such a vast, powerful and developed civilization. Among them: climate change associated with the movement of tectonic plates, floods, earthquakes, invasion of nomadic tribes. Civilization declined quite quickly. And the catastrophe at Mohenjo-Daro came suddenly.

Causes of the death of Mohenjo-Daro

From the research conducted, one thing was clear: Mohenjo-Daro was the victim of some kind of environmental disaster, it happened suddenly and did not last long. However, its power was such that it led to the sudden and irreversible death of an entire city. Another interesting fact is that almost simultaneously with Mohejo-Daro, other nearby large cities also died.

According to some reports, a powerful explosion occurred on the hill where the city was located, the ruins of buildings were melted, and the skeletons in the area of ​​the explosion were radioactive. Allegedly, back in 1927, archaeologists found 27 or 44 fully preserved human skeletons with increased level radiation. The authorities became worried. You can’t give people evidence that in the middle of the second millennium someone used powerful nuclear bombs. Some version was needed. To begin with, they launched a message into the media of disinformation that the epicenter of an ancient earthquake, which was the cause of the tragedy, was allegedly found one hundred and forty kilometers from Mohenjo-Daro. However, no one believed that the earthquake was capable of melting the stones. Then a certain A.P. Nevsky spoke out, declaring that it was a comet. They say that a discharge occurred upon re-entry static electricity with a force of millions of amperes, it was he who destroyed the city. However, no signs of flooding, volcanic eruptions or large meteorite impacts were found at Mohenjo-daro.

Version one. Mohenjo-Daro and black lightning

In the magazine “Around the World” No. 7 for 1987, an article by Professor M. Dmitriev “Black lightning over Mohenjo-Daro” was published. In it, the high temperature that melted the stones at the “epicenter of the explosion” was explained by the explosion of a large number of ball lightning orphysical and chemical formations (FCO) (black lightning) , which are unstable and when they decay, a significant temperature arises. These formations can exist for a very long time and emit toxic gases. It is assumed that they “strangled” the residents. Moreover, FHOs can explode like ordinary ball lightning. It is the aggression of a huge accumulation of “black lightning” that supporters of this hypothesis explain the melted stones and skeletons of people on the streets of Mohenjo-Daro...
But what caused black lightning to accumulate specifically in Mohenzhdo-Daro? The ruins of the city are located in Pakistan, near the border with India. This is right at the junction of the Indian and Eurasian lithospheric plates. In this place in earth's crust Huge tectonic stresses arise. It is believed that it was the collision of these two plates, which lasted for millions of years, that led to the emergence of the folded mountain belt now called the Himalayas. The pressure at the junction of two plates could cause enormous electrical voltage in rocks containing quartz. For the same reason, tension arises in the piezo lighter. Only the scale here is continental. At the same time, there is enormous tension between the Earth's surface and the upper atmosphere. The top layer is ionized by solar radiation and is electrically conductive. The Earth's surface and ionosphere become the plates of a planetary capacitor. The layer of atmosphere between them is an insulator. You can imagine what kind of lightning can happen if you close the surface with the ionosphere.

There was even a hypothesis that Nikola Tesla learned how to cause an ionospheric breakdown and even boasted that he could burn an entire army or fleet with electricity at once.
Ancient Indian myths speak of some kind of unbearable radiance. Perhaps it was incredible ionospheric lightning.
If there really was incredible lightning, then what should be left behind is no less incredible fulgurite. This is a channel of fused soil that goes deep into the earth at the site of a lightning strike.
In this regard, we can recall the town of Sasovo in the Ryazan region. Thanks to the investigation of geologist V. Larin, the cause of the strange explosion in that place (also accompanied by piezoelectric phenomena) was found. Hydrogen rose from the depths, forming an explosive mixture that flared up with an effect similar to the operation of a vacuum bomb. Fortunately, this did not happen in the city itself, but a little further away. True, unlike Mohenjo-Daro, no melting was observed here and the outbreak was too short-lived. There were also cases when deep hydrogen was burning in one of the anomalous wells in Yakutia and the heat around the burning well simply sintered the sand into glass.
This version of black lightning is supported by researcher V. Kandyba. He recalls many ancient reports of strong air glows and all kinds of unusual phenomena in China, Ethiopia, India, Egypt, Scotland.

Or Mahenjadara (translated as “hill of the dead”) - a city of the Indus Valley Civilization, which arose around 2600 BC. e. Located in Pakistan, in the Sindh province. It is the largest ancient city of the Indus Valley and one of the first cities in the history of South Asia, a contemporary of the civilization of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Mohenjo-Daro was discovered in 1920 along with the city of Harappa in Pakistan. The cities were clearly built according to the Vedic tradition.

The city of Mohenjo-Daro - history and photos

Mohenjo-Daro stands out among other centers of the Indus civilization with its almost ideal layout, use as the main building material baked bricks, as well as the presence of complex irrigation and religious structures. Among other buildings, noteworthy are the granary and the “large pool” for ritual ablutions with an area of ​​83 square meters. m. and an elevated “citadel” (apparently intended for protection against floods).
The width of the streets in the city reached 10 m.

Almost the first public toilets known to archaeologists were discovered, as well as the city sewerage system. Part of the territory of the lower city, where commoners settled, was eventually flooded by the Indus and therefore remains unexplored.

A discovery 5000 years ago proved that a highly developed civilization existed in these places. And a culture that has been established for centuries. Judge for yourself if the city of high civilization is 5000 years old, then the civilization itself could not arise in one day, and this civilization has an equally long prehistory. Which means that the civilization and intelligence that built these cities is even older. This follows simple logical conclusion. That we can safely add 2000 years to the age of the cities found.

Mysteries of Mohenjo-Daro

In total, the age of civilization itself was no less than 7000 years.
The most interesting thing is that the city was destroyed by a nuclear explosion. In the bones of the skeletons discovered at the excavation site of the city, the level of radiation was several times higher. The river that flowed nearby evaporated in an instant.

For many decades now, archaeologists have been concerned about the mystery of the death of the city of Mohenjo-Daro in India 3,500 years ago. In 1922, Indian archaeologist R. Banarji discovered ancient ruins on one of the islands of the Indus River. They named the ruins that gave birth to these.

Even then, questions arose: how was this destroyed? big city, where did its inhabitants go? The excavations did not answer any of them...
Read about one more interesting building of the past, which remains unanswered - .

The ruins of the buildings did not contain numerous corpses of people and animals, as well as fragments of weapons and signs of destruction. The only obvious fact was that the disaster occurred suddenly and did not last long.

The decline of culture is a slow process; no traces of flooding have been found. Moreover, there is indisputable data indicating massive fires. The epidemic does not strike people calmly walking along the streets or doing business, suddenly and simultaneously. This is exactly what happened - this is confirmed by the location of the skeletons. Paleontological studies also reject the epidemic hypothesis. With good reason, one can also reject the version of a sudden attack by the conquerors; none of the discovered skeletons contain traces left by bladed weapons.

Mohenjo-daro - nuclear explosion

A very unusual version was expressed by the Englishman D. Davenport and the Italian E. Vincenti. They claim that Mohenjo-Daro survived the fate of Hiroshima. The authors provide the following arguments in favor of their hypothesis. Among the ruins there are scattered pieces of baked clay and green glass (whole layers!).

Probably the sand and clay, under the influence of high temperature, first melted and then instantly hardened. The same layers of green glass appear in the desert of Nevada (USA) every time after a nuclear explosion. Analysis of the samples carried out at the University of Rome and in the laboratory of the Italian National Research Council showed that melting occurred at a temperature of 1400-1500 degrees. Such a temperature in those days could be obtained in the forge of a metallurgical workshop, but not in a vast open area

If you carefully examine the destroyed buildings, you get the impression that a clear area is outlined - the epicenter, in which all the buildings were swept away by some kind of squall. From the center to the periphery, the destruction gradually decreases. The outlying buildings are the best preserved. In short, the picture is reminiscent of the consequences of the atomic explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Is it conceivable to assume that the mysterious conquerors of the Indus River valley owned atomic energy" Such an assumption seems incredible and categorically contradicts the ideas of modern historical science However, the Indian epic “Mahabharata” speaks of a certain “explosion” that caused “a blinding light, fire without smoke,” while “the water began to boil, and the fish were charred.” That this is just a metaphor.” D Davenport believes that at its core there is. some real events.

City of Mohenjo-daro occupied an area of ​​about 259 hectares and was a network of blocks (the oldest example of such a layout), separated by wide streets with a developed drainage system, which were divided into smaller ones and built up with houses made of baked bricks. The dating of this settlement is still a matter of debate. Radiocarbon dating and connections with Mesopotamia allow it to be dated to 2300-1750. BC

When Indian archaeologists D. R. Sahin and R. D. Banerjee were finally able to look at the results of their excavations, they saw the red-brick ruins of the oldest city in India, belonging to the proto-Indian civilization, a city quite unusual for the time of its construction - 4.5 thousand years ago.
It was planned with the greatest pedantry: the streets were laid out as if along a ruler, the houses were basically the same, with proportions reminiscent of cake boxes. But behind this “cake” shape there was sometimes hidden such a design: in the center there was a courtyard, and around it there were four to six living rooms, a kitchen and a room for ablutions (houses with this layout are found mainly in Mohenjo-Daro, the second big city) .

The preserved stairwells in some houses suggest that two-story houses were also built. The main streets were ten meters wide, the network of passages obeyed a single rule: some ran strictly from north to south, and transverse ones - from west to east.

But this monotonous city, like a chessboard, provided residents with amenities unheard of at that time. Ditches flowed through all the streets, and from them water was supplied to the houses (although wells were found near many). But more importantly, each house was connected to a sewerage system laid underground in pipes made of baked bricks and carrying all sewage outside the city limits.

This was an ingenious engineering solution that allowed large masses of people to gather in a fairly limited space: in the city of Harappa, for example, at times up to 80,000 people lived. The instinct of the city planners of that time was truly amazing! Knowing nothing about pathogenic bacteria, especially active in warm climates, but probably having accumulated observational experience, they protected settlements from the spread of dangerous diseases.

The literal translation of Mohenjo-Daro from Hindi is “hill of the dead.” This is an ancient city that existed 5,000 years ago. The name was given when the remains of the city were discovered in 1922 by archaeologist R. Banerjee. We don’t actually know what the city was called.

Mohenjo-Daro is located in what is now India. Until 1922, no one even suspected that an ancient advanced civilization once existed here. This discovery greatly puzzled archaeologists. The cause of the death of an entire civilization has not been clearly established. To this day it is unknown what happened to the city.

The strange thing is that in the ruins of the city, archaeologists did not find mass remains of either people or any animals. There were no signs of destruction, damage from bladed weapons, or any weapons at all. The conclusion is that everything happened quickly and the residents were taken by surprise.

Theories regarding Mohenjo-Daro

The city was located in the valley of the Indus River, so it is very likely that it could have been a flood, although even after 5,000 years, some traces of the elements should have remained, but they were not found.

The hypothesis of an epidemic is also not confirmed by excavations. The remains of the residents found indicate that they died almost simultaneously.

They immediately rejected the reason for the attack on the city, since no traces of weapons were found on any of the found remains. In any case, from weapons as we imagine them among ancient peoples.

There is one more version left and it has not yet been rejected - nuclear attack. So much for the ancient world!

This theory, although it looks incredible, has confirmation. For example, archaeologists have discovered solid layers of sintered clay and green glass. First, the materials melted and then instantly cooled. The analyzes showed that the area was exposed to temperatures of 1500 degrees Celsius. A probable epicenter of the explosion was also discovered, where all the buildings were simply demolished.

In 1922, the Indian archaeologist Banarji discovered the ruins of an ancient city on one of the islands of the Indus River. They were named Mohenjo-Daro, which translated means “Hill of the Dead.” The results of the excavations were amazing. It was hard to believe that in these immemorial times people knew how to organize their lives and everyday life so thoroughly. Soon after Mohenjo-Daro, archaeologists found another city - Harappa, which belonged to the same civilization (in science it became known as Harappan). Harappa is older than Mohenjo-Daro - the city arose long before the third millennium BC. e.

What did the city of Mohenjo-Daro look like and what was life like?

Mohenjo-Daro was divided into two parts. One contained residential areas. Houses made of clay bricks and covered with flat roofs were lined up along perfectly straight stone-paved streets and alleys. In its layout, the city, laid out in squares, was reminiscent not of the ancient “burgs” of Europe, radiating in rings around the central fortress, but of megacities like New York or St. Petersburg, founded in historical times close to ours. Next to every dwelling in the residential “zone” of Mohenjo-Daro there was always a courtyard, a well and even a toilet, the sewage from which was washed into the sewerage system laid under the streets.

IN last period During the existence of the Indus Valley Civilization, its inhabitants learned to mine charcoal and build simple boiler houses, like the Greek and Roman hypocausts. Since then, every city resident could take a hot bath. The townspeople extracted natural phosphorus and used some plants to illuminate streets and homes.

The other part of the city was surrounded by a wall of unhewn, but very tightly adjacent stones, alternating with adobe brickwork. In this part of Mohenjo-Daro, in contrast to residential areas, much more grandiose structures were located. For example, a meeting hall, a public bath, in which ritual ablutions were probably performed, or a huge granary the size of an Olympic swimming pool.

Merchants and craftsmen

Trade and crafts flourished in the cities of the Indus Valley. Archaeologists found ancient scales in Mohenjo-Daro, as well as canes with serifs - such a simple tool played the role of rulers, and with its help merchants measured out fabric. Ancient Indian merchants widely used seals - they sealed contracts and marked property. They liked to depict animals on seals - bulls, tigers, antelopes. At all, fine arts reached in the cities of the Harappan civilization the highest level. Equally close to reality are images of the human body in Ancient Greece appeared only a thousand years later.

Look at the illustration above, with what care the figure of a bearded man dressed in an embroidered tunic is carved. Who was he? King, hero or god? Today no one knows this.

But a miniature sculpture of a two-wheeled cart drawn by bulls, even after thousands of years, has retained a living aroma for us everyday life in the Ancient East. By the way, note that the Harappans knew the wheel, and for a civilization that existed 45 centuries ago, this was a great achievement. For example, the Indians of Central America, who erected pyramids that were not much inferior to the Egyptian ones, learned about the wheel only after the conquest of the New World by Europeans. But they didn’t know how to mine iron in Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. But archaeologists have found many skillfully crafted copper and bronze things - knives, sickles, needles, swords, shields, arrowheads and spearheads. As excavations show, the busy inhabitants of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro knew how to spend their moments of rest effectively. Figures and boards for board games like chess.

“The inhabitants of these cities, apparently, did not have to worry about finding food. They did whatever they wanted, invented and tried everything new,” German archaeologist Ute Franke-Vogt once said.

An unexpected end

Around 1800 BC, the brilliant cities of the Indus Valley began to decline. A few more centuries later, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were completely deserted, and the descendants of their inhabitants probably found new home in the valley another great river Hindustan - Ganga. What happened to the Harappan civilization?

As the most probable version, scientists offer the most prosaic: population growth and its increasing demands demanded this from the peasants. ancient country grow richer and richer harvests. This continued until the lands in the fertile Indus Valley came to complete depletion. And then, having squeezed out all the juice from mother earth, man took off running, giving the desert his majestic but useless ruins. Other researchers associate the decline of the cities of the Indus Valley with the invasions of warlike, but less developed peoples, for example, the Aryans who flew in from the northwest. Whose point of view is more correct?