Mohenjo Daro: The Marvel of the Ancient Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley civilization was lost even at the time of Alexander the Great. When his emissary Aristoboulos visited the area in 326 bc, he found 'an abandoned country, with more than a thousand towns and villages deserted after the Indus had changed its course'. It was not mentioned again in historical records for over 2000 years. However, Mohenjo Daro, one of the most significant archaeological sites of the ancient world, lies in the modern-day province of Sindh, Pakistan. This city, whose name translates to "Mound of the Dead" in Sindhi, is emblematic of the sophisticated urban planning and cultural richness of the Indus Valley Civilization, which thrived from around 2600 to 1900 BCE. Mohenjo Daro was first brought into the light of modern archaeology by Sir John Marshall in the 1920s, following earlier explorations by R. D. Banerji. The site, once buried under layers of alluvial soil, revealed a grid-like pattern of streets, indicating a well-structured urban pl...