Ancient Indus Civilization Blog

The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro and a postcard of a Dancing Girl by Gobindram Oodeyram of Jaipur from around 1905. In his new engaging and speculative book Ahimsa 100 Reflections on the Harappan Civilization, Devdutt Pattanaik writes of the famous so-called dancing girl figurine found at Mohenjo-daro. >

On a recent visit to Oxford, I used my iPhone 15 to take a closer look at a diverse set of ancient Indus objects, some of them acquired after colonial times, in one of the world's great university museums. >

A new 37 (to start) slide section takes the viewer through the ancient Indus pieces at the National Museum of Pakistan in Karachi. Pakistan's ancient Indus holdings are actually scattered across provincial, national and site museum collections. >

We turned 28 this year - founded in 1995! - and wish the thousands of people who come to the site every day from all over the world to learn about the ancient Indus civilization a very Happy New Year. >

A recent VOX Unexplainable podcast featuring Prof. Rajesh Rao (University of Washington, Seattle) offers a broad overview of ancient Indus script research and where we are today. >

Omar Khan and Nikhil Gulati in conversation about The People of the Indus, the best-selling graphic novel about the ancient Indus civilisation shortly after its release. >

A look at some of the other artifacts we have from this extraordinary female ruler of the Mesopotamian city-state of Ur around 2500 BCE. >

"Jar painted with birds. 2600-1900 BC, Terracotta with red slip and black painted decoration," is what the unvarnished description at the Museum of Fine Arts (MoFA), Boston reads; in truth this is one of the largest and most richly painted ancient Indus pots ever found. >

We are delighted to publish a new set of over 50 photographs from Daya Ram Sahni's second season at Harappa in 1923-24, before he or anyone knew about the ancient Indus civilization. Unearthing the Mysteries of Harappa is unique contribution to Indus archaeology curated by Dr. Nadine Zubair with contemporary commentary by Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer. >

Can potential place-names in Indus inscriptions be isolated? Dr. Asko Parpola, in by far best single book on the subject, Decipering the Indus Script, after discussing how place names survive in people's names in Dravidian-speaking South India today, where "the name of the ancestral village often forms the first element of a person's proper name," continues by saying that "a similar survival of Harappan place-names in the Greater Indus Valley is not at all unlikely (§ 9.4). >

The Museum of Fine Arts (MoFA) in Boston, USA has the largest collection of Indus artifacts outside India and Pakistan. MoFA collaborated with the American School of Indic and Iranian Studies in 1935-36 to excavate Chanhu-daro in Sindh, Pakistan, then British India. This mysterious, small and sophisticated craft manufacturing town about 80 miles south of Mohenjo-daro was discovered by N. G. Majumdar in 1931. He and the leader of the Chanhu-daro excavations Ernest J.H. Mackay had both worked at Mohenjo-daro earlier in the decade, so one can only imagine how thrilled they were to find another p… >

It is ironic that what is possibly one of the most spectacular examples of Indus craftsmanship and artistry was found not at Mohenjo-daro or Harappa, or even in the subcontinent, but in ancient Mesopotamia. >

As we come to the end - or is it the beginning? have we been here before? - of COVID, we look forward to another full year at Harappa.com. This includes the complete photographs from the 2nd season at Harappa 1923-24. >