Published in ARASI 1924-25, Plate XXIV (b). Title: Harappa: Mound F, A burial structure resembling a modern samadhi unearthed in Trench A (E)

Describing the finds of this burial structure Daya Ram Sahni noted: "My excavations at Harappa have yielded overwhelming evidence of the fact that the ancient inhabitants, with whom we are here connected, invariably cremated the dead and no traces of the several kinds of burial practiced by the ancient Mesopotamians have yet been found anywhere on this site. What the ancient inhabitants of Harappa did was first to burn the dead body on a funeral pyre and then to deposit a part of the cremated bones in earthen vessels or brick structures (Plate XXIV, a and b and Plate XXV, d) resembling the samadhis of modern times."

- Daya Ram Sahni, ARASI 1924-25, p. 74.

Of excavations in area Ae Mound F, Sahni reported "In mound F which rises about 25’ above the plain level, a large area (Ae) has been dug along the western edge of the site. The structural remans exposed range themselves in four distinct strata." (ibid: 75)

The photograph is of finds from the strata immediately below the uppermost strata, from where a "structure … with an entrance doorway 2’5” in width" was found. This find was made to the north of the above structure, and described as a "funeral structure (Plate XXIV, b), in which a few cremated bones were found. The exact nature of the structural remains in this area cannot be determined with certainty. The existence of the two samadhis and remains of cremations at several other spots on this mound … appear to show that the whole of this area was at one time the crematorium of the ancient city which flourished on this site. This view receives some corroboration from the close proximity of the old bed of the river." (ibid: 75)

Sahni’s comments about the funerary practices appear below the paragraph where he mentioned Marshall’s attention ‘to several points of affinity between the antiquities of the Indo-Sumerian period of the Indus Valley and the contemporary antiquities of Mesopotamia." (Ibid: 74)

Sahni’s excavations of Trench A (e), Mound F is described in Vats 1940, pp. 48-49.