Ancient Indus Valley Civilization Books

120 new and classic books on the ancient Indus civilization, from exhibition catalogues to excavation reports, from the scientific to the creative fiction for adults and kids.

The Marshall Albums: Photography and Archaeology

Sudeshna Guha

This volume explores multiple perceptions of Indian history and scholarship produced through archaeological fieldwork and related photography during the colonial period. The focus is on John Marshall, the man who really made the Archaeological Survey of India the formidable player it became in the reconstruction and preservation of Indian history. He announced and fostered the discovery of the ancient Indus civilization, even as the hard work on the ground was done by a handful of Indian archaeologists.

The Indus: Lost Civilizations

Andrew Robinson

There are almost no concise, up-to-date accounts of the ancient Indus civilization, locating the latest facts and opinions within a larger intellectual context. Has the Indus script been deciphered? What can we say about the relationship of ancient Indus traditions and modern Hinduism? How did Indus society compare to contemporary Bronze Age Egypt and Mesopotamia? Why do so many questions remain open and so contentious?

A Day in the Life of Maya of Mohenjo-daro

Mulk Raj Anand

Published in 1968, A Day in the Life of Maya of Mohenjo-Daro by Mulk Raj Anand was the first ever children’s story, and the second work of Indus Valley fiction after Murdon ka Teela written by Rangeya

A Study of Animal Utilization Strategies from Early to Late Harappa Periods in Haryana

Sharada Channarayapatna

The author writes of his important 284 page thesis, entirely available online: "Through this work, readers will be introduced to both specific and broad overviews of the human-animal based interactions in the Eatern domain of the Indus Valley civilization from its earlier to later phases of existence."

Journey of a Civilization Indus to Vaigai

R. Balakrishnan

This is an exceptional book, from its high production value to well marshaled arguments and the broad perspective of its author, R. Balakrishnan. He has been researching the materials for decades in a careful and constructive manner. It is also a tribute to the late Iravatham Mahadevan, one of my favorite people in ancient Indus studies and India's most accomplished Indus script scholar.

Lost and Found Prehistoric Pottery Treasures from Baluchistan

Ute Franke

"The collection was seized on June 11th, 2005 in the customs building of the Karachi sea port.

Art of Human Figures from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indus

Annie F Caubet

An amazing catalogue of female figurines from Neolithic times across the world, in places connected and witness to constantly shifting populations. Beautifully illustrated, with focus on Mehrgarh and the Indus Valley pieces which are seen in connection to a long, sophisticated tradition.

Current Research in Indus Archaeology

Akinori Uesugi

A recent publication by the South Asia Research Group at Kansai University in Japan that includes detailed essays covering a general picture of Indus research today (by Akinori Uesugi), Indus civilization in the Ghaggar Basin (Vivek Dangi) , Indus archaeology in Gujarat (Rajesh S.V.), steatite style variations between Gujarat and the Ghaggar-Hakra Basin (Gregg Jamison) and Indus copper wares (Takekazu Nagae).

Walking with the Unicorn: Social Organization and Material Culture in Ancient South Asia: Jonathan Mark Kenoyer Felicitation Volume

Dennys Frenez

Walking with the Unicorn is an extraordinary volume and tribute to Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and his profound and extensive impact on the field of ancient Indus studies. Contributors include some 80% of the world's leading ancient Indus scholars who contributed some 45 illustrated articles.

Time Pieces: A Whistle-Stop Tour of Ancient India

Nayanjot Lahiri

A delightful romp through 10 themes in ancient India by a smart and engaging writer who knows her Indus civilization history and all that which followed. These brief essays give some sense of how engaging history can be in the hands of a good writer, not afraid to take risks and push material politically and theoretically while keeping her feet on the ground.

The Magic in the Image: Women in Clay at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa

Shereen Ratnagar

Do the many female figurines at Indus sites justify the belief that the worship of a "mother Goddess" was prevalent then? One of India's most distinguished archaeologists offers a contrary viewpoint in this deeply informed, multi-faceted analysis of these figurines.

Early Indians : The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From

Tony Joseph

There is so much going on in DNA studies – even if pre-figured by linguistic studies – that having a solid guide to stitch it all together, including papers that landed with a giant thud in 2018, would be so very, very nice. Someone who could put it together for the layman or intelligent observer who finds it hard to sort through headlines and the latest pronouncements (and simplifications).

Seals and Sealing in the Ancient World

Marta Ameri

Case Studies from the Near East, Egypt, the Aegean, and South Asia

Finally, the book we have long – decades, in fact – been waiting for, a comprehensive view of seals and sealings in the ancient world, from the Mediterranean to the Indus Valley. This has been essential because, as the authors argue from the very start, seals were social objects.

Ceramic and Terracotta Figurines from Balochistan of the Katolec Collection

Map showing distribution of Nal-style pottery

Akinori Uesugi

An exceptional, beautifully illustrated book of over 200 pieces in the Japanese Katolec Corporation collection of pottery and associated art of the pre- and contemporary to ancient Indus Nal and Kulli cultures of the 3rd millennium BCE Balochistan. The photography is excellent, the specimens extraordinary.

Harappan Archaeology: Early State Perspectives

Shereen Ratnagar

Shereen Ratnagar is one of the most important theoreticians of the Indus valley civilization and its archaeological practice. Book reviewer and author, Sudeshna Guha notes in her review of Early State Perspectives, "Through her earlier research, Ratnagar had shown that the political system of statehood possibly provided the Harappan Civilization its distinctive cultural form."

Dilmun

Yaqoob Yawar

There is a dearth of ancient Indus-based fiction in English; there are even fewer works in Hindi or Urdu. Yakoob Yawar's Dilmun is among the very few exceptions (indeed, it was the second novel ever to be set in the ancient Indus civilization, 50 years after the Hindi Murdon ka Teela by Rangeya Raghava).

Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States

James C. Scott

Once in a while a book comes along that so radically shifts your perspective and ways of thinking about a complex subject that it can only be called breathtaking. Against the Grain A Deep History of the Earliest States (2017), by Yale Agrarian Studies Professor James C. Scott is one such book.

The Social Lives of Figurines – Recontextualizing the Third–Millennium–BC Terracotta Figurines from Harappa

Sharri R. Clark

Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, vol. 86.

Of all the untapped veins to mine in ancient Indus studies, none may be as rich as the thousands of figurines excavated from all sites.

Babylonia, the Gulf Region and the Indus: Archaeological and Textual Evidence for Contact in the Third and Early Second Millennia BC (Mesopotamian Civilizations)

Steffen Laursen

This is a very important book by two scholars who have spent years studying ancient Mesopotamian cultures (Steinkeller, Harvard University) or leading explorations of more recently discovered Gulf Arab cultures (Laursen, Moesgaard Museum Denmark).

Looking for Dilmun

Geoffrey Bibby

Geoffrey Bibby was a Cambridge-educated oil executive, who got caught up, against-all-odds, with the tiny Danish Prehistoric Museum of Aarhus, with barely any resources, that nonetheless has emerged as a powerhouse in ancient Dilmun studies, thanks in part to Bibby's initial efforts.

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Ancient Indus Valley Civilization Books

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