Looking for Dilmun
"I have a feeling that people do not 'discover lost civilizations'; but rather that, when the time is ripe, lost civilizations reveal themselves, using for the purpose whatever resources and people are to hand."
Posts on recent and historic ancient Indus excavations.
Chanhu-daro Excavations (1935)
Workers digging a deep pit during the 1935-36 excavations in Chanhu-daro, Sindh. Chanhu-daro was the only American run pre-partition Indus excavations, by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and led by Ernest J.H. Mackay. They revealed a highly-advanced ancient Indus manufacturing site. An illustrated 1937 article by Dorothy Mackay describing it in Finds at Chanhu-daro.
New Indus Finds in Salut, Oman
Exciting new discoveries through 2015 at Salut tower in Oman show how extensive Indus trade and relationships with this area were during the Bronze Age (2500-2000 BCE).
Bronze Age trading post found off Abu Dhabi coast with Indus Pottery
Just as we turn to more of the publications about discoveries about ancient Dilmun, another find on an island near Bahrain, with Indus pottery fragments, and a Gulf-type seal that reiterates how important trade relationships by sea were with this area.
Harappan Drainage System
![This view along Drain [8] into the mound shows details of the brick construction, the robbed out area at the east end of the drain (background), sloping strata above indicating the existence of an open street drain along the same line as the earlier baked brick drain, and the later Period 3C architecture built after the open drain was filled in and the area leveled. The bricks from the eastern part of the drain were robbed by tunneling into the sediment along the line of the drain from the East.](https://www.harappa.com/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumbnail/public/10603722_10152727995099846_3192098744717677416_n.jpg)
A portion of a large brick drain excavated at Harappa that survived the brick robbers. Dating to about 2400-2200 BCE, it was later filled in and the area leveled. The 5 images here show it in context, as well as some of the banded beads found in situ around it.
1. This view along Drain [8] into the mound shows details of the brick construction, the robbed out area at the east end of the drain (background), sloping strata above indicating the existence of an open street drain along the same line as the earlier baked brick drain, and the later Period 3C architecture built after the open drain
Can Rakigarhi Be Saved?
A revealing story about Rakigarhi highlights how, like in the case of Mohenjo-daro, the challenges of preserving ancient Indus cities even after they are discovered, remain enormous.
Rajasthan Excavations at 4MSR 2017
An excellent article in Frontline just out on Rajasthan excavations 2017, lots of exciting stuff, 27 images, 6 pages, including a copper tablet with a long inscription.
Topography of Ancient Harappa
Topography of the ancient site of Harappa, including smaller mound in the top right still settled today, by Bill Belcher. See also Mark Kenoyer's comprehensive article The Ancient City of Harappa.
Amri - A Pre-Harappan Site in Sindh
The film Mohenjo Daro opens in the remote village of Amri, where Sarman (Hrithik Roshan) and his friends wrestle a large crocodile in a riverine gorge. Amri is shown as a remote farming village from where the villagers travel to Mohenjodaro as it offers a bigger market for their wares. In this post we shine a light on the archaeological evidence from the ancient site of Amri, which lies on the western bank of the Indus, about 160 km south of Mohenjodaro.
The archaeological importance of Amri was demonstrated in 1929 by the excavations of N.G.Majumdar, who discovered there, for the first time,
Knobbed Terracotta Vessel MSR4
"This terracotta vessel with a pronounced knob at the centre has engaged the attention of archaeologists as a "unique find" and was probably used in rituals or ceremonies. Similar vessels have been depicted on Harappan seals and copper plates" according to the ASI description of this object found at Bijnor (MSR 4) in 2017.