The Discovery of the Ancient Indus Civilization
On September 20th, 1924 Sir John Marshall published his story A FORGOTTEN AGE REVEALED in The Illustrated London News that announced the discovery of the ancient Indus civilization to the world for the first time. But he did not know how old the new discoveries and writing discovered in Harappa and Mohenjo-daro was. He asked readers for help. One of them, an Oxford professor, wrote a Letter to the Editor that told the astounding truth and pushed back our understanding of Indian history by 2,000 years. Sir John Marshall was the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, and had been overseeing excavations by two Indian archaeologists at two mysterious sites, one in Punjab, the other in Sindh over the past three years before concluding with his colleagues that they had made a major discovery worthy of announcing to the world. We are in the process of describing the first excavations at Harappa, season by season, in the words of Daya Ram Sahni and M.S. Vats who led work there during the 1920s and 1930s which has contributed so much to our knowledge of this enormous Bronze Age civilization.
This slide set shows all black and white and sepia images in that original story and the Letter to the Editor the following week that offered the first dates for the Indus civilization. The Illustrated London News was a leading pictorial weekly at the time and Marshall's strategy, while criticized later for using a London paper to first announce discoveries in India instead of a local newspaper, worked.
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1. A Staircase outside a Shrine UNEARTHED DEEP DOWN BELOW THE BUDDHIST MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CENTURY AT MOHENJO-DARO: MUCH EARLIER REMAINS–A STAIRCASE OUTSIDE A SHRINE, WITH A CONDUIT COVERED BY MARBLE SLABS (IN THE FOREGROUND)… |
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2. Prehistoric Buildings Excavated at Mohenjo-daro [Note: All captions are presented as they are in the original The Illustrated London News issue of Sept. 20, 1924. This includes the all caps title below each image, and on the first page, the text… |
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3. A Prehistoric Shrine at Mohenjo-daro FLOORING AND CONDUIT OF GLAZED BRICK; A PREHISTORIC SHRINE AT MOHENJO-DARO |
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4. A 3 ft. Long Brick Grave TO HOLD A HUNCHED BODY: A 3 FT. LONG BRICK GRAVE BUILT IN THE WALL OF A ROOM AT MOHENJO-DARO. |
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5. The Buddhist Stupa at Mohenjo-daro BUILT MORE THAN 2000 YEARS AGO, BUT COVERING TWO STRATA OF EARLIER CENTURY BUDDHIST STUPA AT MOHENJO-DARO, ON AN ISLAND IN THE DRY RIVER-BED. |
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6. Massive Brick Walls at Mohenjo-daro SHOWING A POT (IN FOREGROUND) THAT CONTAINED EARLY INDIAN OBLONG “PUNCH-MARKED" COINS (KARSHAPANAS): MASSIVE BRICK WALLS OF THE SECOND AND THIRD PERIOD AT MOHENJO-DARO |
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7. Excavations at Harappa ON THE OTHER NEWLY DISCOVERED PREHISTORIC SITE IN INDIA, CCCUPIED FOR MANY HUNDREDS OF YEARS BEFORE THE THIRD CENTURY B.C: EXCAVATIONS AT HARAPPA, IN THE PANJAB |
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8. Figurines from Harappa [This and the next full page in the Sept. 20, 1924 issue were printed in sepia, preserved here in the images. This complete text across both full pages is given below.] WITH HEADDRESSES RECALLING… |
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9. Mysterious Ringstones BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN CONNECTED WITH “SHRINES OF ETERNAL FIRE” MYSTERIOUS RING-STONES (FREQUENT ON BOTH THE NEW PREHISTORIC SITES). |
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10. Chert Flakes and Knives IMPLEMENTS USED BY A PREHISTORIC INDIAN PEOPLE IN THE REMAINS OF WHOSE BUILDINGS THERE IS NO TRACE OF IRON: FLAKES AND KNIVES OF CHERT FOUND DURING THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE EARLIER BUILDINGS AT MOHENJO… |
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11. Earthern Stone Jar from Harappa TAPERING AT THE BASE: A PREHISTORIC EARTHERN STORE JAR FROM HARAPPA (WITH A TWO-FOOT RULE BESIDE IT). |
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12. A Horizontal Jar A MODERN REFINEMENT OF LUXURY USED BY PREHISTORIC PEOPLE IN INDIA: A HORIZONTAL JAR (ABOUT 6 1/2 IN. HIGH) DESCRIBED AS A WINE OR WATER COOLER |
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13. Painted Pottery from Baluchistan [This and the previous full page in The Illustrated London News of Sept. 20, 1924 were printed in sepia, preserved here in the images. This complete text across both full pages is given on Slide 7.] … |
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14. Bangles POSSIBLY WORN ON THE WRISTS OF PREHISTORIC INDIAN BEAUTIES SOME THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO: BANGLES (ABOUT 3 1/2 IN. ACROSS) OF BLUE GLASS PASTE, FOUND AT HARAPPA |
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15. Miscellaneous Carnelian, Shell and Other Beads TRINKETS WORN BY PREHISTORIC INDIAN PEOPLE: MISCELLANEOUS BEADS OF CORNELIAN [CARNELIAN], SHELL AND SO ON, FROM MOHENJO-DARO. |
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16. Miniature Funeral Pottery USED IN PREHISTORIC URN-BURIAL TO HOLD FOOD OR RAIMENT AND PLACED WITH THE URN INSIDE A LARGER JAR: MINIATURE FUNERAL POTTERY (1 TO 1.5 1N. HIGH) FROM MOHENJO-DARO. |
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17. Polychrome Pottery INDICATING A HIGH DEGREE OF DECORATIVE ART IN THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD AT MOHENJO-DARO: THREE FRAGMENTS OF POLYCHROME POTTERY WITH DESIGNS OF VARIOUS PATTERNS. |
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18. A Painted Vase BEAUTIFULLY SHAPED AND PROPORTIONED: A COMPLETE PAINTED VASE (ABOUT 6 IN. HIGH) OF THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD FOUND DURING THE EXCAVATIONS AT HARAPPA. |
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19. Polychrome Pottery from Baluchistan and Mohenjo-daro INDICATING AN ANALOGY BETWEEN THE PREHISTORIC ART OF THE INDUS VALLEY AND THAT OF BALUCHISTAN: POLYCHROME POTTERY FROM THE LATTER COUNTRY (LOWER ROW) COMPARED WITH EXAMPLES FROM MOHENJO-DARO (TOP ROW… |
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20. Prehistoric Seals from Mohenjo-daro and Harappa ENGRAVED WITH A PICTOGRAPHIC SCRIPT UNLIKE ANY PREVIOUSLY KNOWN INDIAN ALPHABET, BUT SOMEWHAT RESEMBLING MYCENAEAN PICTOGRAPHS: PRE-HISTORIC SEALS FROM MOHENJO-DARO AND HARAPPA [From Sir John… |
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21. Seals from Harappa and Mohen-jodaro with an Unknown Form of Picture Writing BEARING FIGURES OF BULLS AND MYSTERIOUS PICTOGRAPHIC SYMBOLS, SOME RESEMBLING ROMAN NUMERALS: PREHISTORIC INDIAN SEALS FROM HARAPPA AND MOHENJO-DARO WITH AN UNKNOWN FORM OF PICTURE WRITING |
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22. Animals, Birds and Toys from Mohenjo-daro MADE PERHAPS TO AMUSE LITTLE PREHISTORIC PEOPLE IN THE INDUS VALLEY TWO OR THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO: TERRA-COTTA ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND OTHER TOYS FROM MOHENJO-DARO. |
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23. Pestle USED WITH A PREHISTORIC MORTAR: A PESTLE OF BLACK HAEMATITE |
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24. Funeral Urn PREHISTORIC CREMATION: A FUNERAL URN OF RED GLAZED WARE. |
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25. Conch Shell Ornaments PREHISTORIC INDIAN DECORATIVE ART: MISCELLANEOUS ORNAMENTS OF CONCH SHELL FOR INLAYING, FOUND AT MOHENJO-DARO (WITH A MEASURE INDICATING THE HEIGHT OF THE BIGGEST ONE – 2 INCHES). |
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26. Prof. A.H. Sayce on the Remarkable Discoveries in India [The text of the original letter that appeared in The Illustrated London News of Sept. 27, 1924 in response to Sir John Marshall's having publicized the ancient Indus discoveries in the issue seven… |