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At Moen-jo-daro (Mound of the Dead) on the West Bank of River Indus in Sind. have been found the remains of one of the earliest and most developed urban civilization of the ancient world. Discovered in 1922, Moen-jo-daro was once a metropolis of great importance, forming part of the Indus Valley Civilization complete together with Harappa (discovered in 1921) in Sahiwal District of the Punjab about 1287.48 Kms (800 miles away from Moen-jo-daro.
This pre-historic civilization flourished from the third till the middle of the second millenium B C. when it mysteriously disappeared.
The archaeological excavations place Moen-jo-daro among the most spectacular ancient cities of the world. It had mud-brick and baked-brick buildings. An elaborate covered drainage system with soakpits for disposal bins, a large State granary. a spacious pillared hall, a college of priests, a large and imposing building (probably a palace) and a citadel mound which incorporates in its margin a system of solid burnt brick towers.
A master architect or architects skillfully planned this highly developed and organized urban settlement. Beneath the citadel, parallel streets. Some 30 feet wide stretch away and are crossed by other straight streets, which divide the town into great oblong blocks, each 400 yards in length and 200 or 300 yards in width.
The most imposing remains are those of a Great Hall which consisted of an open quadrangle with verandahs on four sides. galleries and rooms at the back, a group of halls on the north and a large bathing pool. It was probably used for religious or ceremonial bathing.
Nearby are the remains of the Great Granary, possibly a public treasury where taxes were paid in kind. Testifying to the highly developed and artistic sensibility of the Moen-jo-daro people is the discovery of necklaces. pendants of beads, earrings and anklets of ivory and mother-of-pearl. vessels of silver, copper and bronze and polished stone weights and measures which suggest the existence of stringent civic regulations.
The significance of this. and the multitudes of other seals to follow' was felt when it was realized that the engraved characters and pictures are not only in indigenous to the Indus Civilization but a thorough understanding of engravings can give a comprehensive account of the true nature of the Indus Civilization. These seemingly simplistic engravings have been puzzling the minds of epigraphists and linguists for well over a century.
First it was thought that the pictographs and the ideograms were related to the Brahmi characters or were perhaps the forerunner of Brahmi. It was also suggested that the script was ideophonographic and resembled the Hieroglyphic script.
On the other hand work was being carried on to prove that Dravidian had inherited many Indus signs thus proving the Dravidic affinity of the Indus script. Its distraction was by the hands of invading Aryan hordes, as some historians believe, or was triggered by an earthquake, or flood remains yet to be established.
The ruins of this Indus Valley Civilization face imminent danger from the rising water table and salinity The Government of Pakistan in cooperation with UNESCO is making all possible efforts to avert this danger and save Moen-jo-daro,
The Moen-jo-daro Museum. close to the site of the excavations. houses price-less relics found there, including engraved seals, ornaments, utensils, pottery, weapons and toys. Some of the precious things have been recently shifted from the site museums to the local government treasury.
Interestingly. the bullock carts boats. drinking jars and toys used even today in the adjoining areas. bear a strong resemblance to those used by the ancient citizens of Moen-jo-daro as a visit to the Museum makes plain,
From coins and potteries discovered, archaeologists believe trade and cultural links existed between Moen-jo-daro and the contemporary civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Various objets d'art found at Moen-jo-daro include burnt clay male and female figurines and models of bird, a steatite bust of a nobleman or a priestking wearing a loose robe on which the trefoil pattern is engraved and small dancing girls in bronze with slim figures and flat Negroid features. The figural are best illustrated by steatite seals bearing lifelike representations of animals and mythological creatures such as the unicorn. They bear short inscriptions in a remarkable pictographic script which has yet to be deciphered
The various layers of the excavated site show that upon the debris of the ancient civilization, rose the buildings and edifices of a much later settlement dating back to the Kushan period (Between the first and the third centuries AD). The remains of a Buddhist stupa and monastery rising to a height of 10.66 meters (35 feet) above the surrounding area are of this later period
How this remarkable ancient civilization came to an end after 1800 BC remains a mystery. Human skeletons show signs of violent end whether this came as a result of massacre is not certain
According to Father Heras the vertical fish sign meant a star. Because in most of the Dravidian languages both the star and the fish are referred to as mint. There are many other examples of a similar nature quoted in his works. Al1 this inspired many scholars including. Soviet. Scandinavian and Pakistanis, to start looking into the matter more seriously.