Most houses made of bricks, uniformly designed streets, and an advanced sewage system equipped with flush toilets. Hearing this might evoke the image of a modern city, but in reality, it depicts the urban centers of the ancient Indus Valley civilization from thousands of years ago. This civilization was highly advanced and is believed to have coexisted alongside ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia – yet relatively little is known about it. One of its enduring mysteries stems primarily from its still undeciphered script, which continues to baffle historians.
The Indus Valley Civilization reached its peak phase between 2600 and 1900 BCE. However, its origins trace back even earlier, approximately around 4000 BCE, explains Dr. Sangaralingam Ramesh, a lecturer at the University of London and University College London. This civilization was centered around the Indus River, in present-day Pakistan and India. It encompassed not only agricultural villages but over 1,400 towns and cities, with the largest urban centers being Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. According to Dr. Ramesh, the Indus Valley civilization was larger than both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, housing around one million people across 80,000 settlements.
- Advanced Urban Planning
Dr. Ramesh points out that the Indus Valley civilization was among the first to construct homes from bricks. “The cities were constructed with straight roads set at right angles,” he describes. “They had wells, toilets within houses… and an advanced drainage system that predates the Roman civilization’s by about 2,000 years.” Excavations of this drainage system and bathing facilities reveal an emphasis on hygiene and awareness of disease control within the society. The density of urban areas facilitated effective supply chain management, which simplified trade. “They traded goods ranging from wood, copper, gold, to cotton textiles with ancient Mesopotamia,” Dr. Ramesh adds. - Collective Governance Structure
According to Dr. Ramesh, the organization of urban areas suggests more facets of their society. “There are indications of simple yet effective civic administration that managed infrastructure across towns and settlements,” he comments. “Their governance system appears to have been collective rather than highly centralized, with no evidence of royal courts or elite rulers.” These features distinguish the Indus Valley from other contemporary societies. - Relative Equality and Peaceful Existence
Evidence indicates some degree of social stratification in the Indus Valley, but it is not as pronounced as in other societies. “Social hierarchies are easily identifiable in Egypt and Mesopotamia, but in the Indus civilization, while house sizes vary slightly, the differences are not substantial,” Dr. Ramesh explains. Archaeologists have found signs of injuries on some skeletons; however, they consider this society more peaceful compared to others. “There are scant signs of warfare, fewer indications of a weapon-bearing elite class, and fewer trauma marks on skeletal remains compared to other ancient Near Eastern regions,” he notes. Nonetheless, this does not imply complete absence of violence. The lack of evidence may also shape this perception. “If there were no monuments or inscriptions about war, later researchers would find fewer traces of violent conflict,” he adds.
Many More Mysteries Remain
Much about the Indus Valley civilization remains unknown. One key reason, Dr. Ramesh suggests, is the limited archaeological excavation. “The civilization extended as far as Afghanistan, where current conditions are not conducive for excavations,” he says. Another factor could be the materials and methods they used in construction. “While Egypt and Mesopotamia utilized durable stone, the Indus people primarily used baked mud bricks and fired bricks,” he explains. “The absence of large stone temples, palaces, or royal tombs complicates reconstruction of the Indus state.” But the greatest challenge remains the inability to decipher the ancient Indus script.
Characters engraved on stones in the Indus Valley represent a script described by Dr. Nisha Yadav of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai as “the most attempted yet still undeciphered script.” “Every ten days I receive emails claiming: ‘I have deciphered the Indus script,'” she remarks. However, no interpretation has gained scientific consensus. According to Yadav, deciphering is difficult because the script is brief, containing only five to fourteen symbols per inscription. A detailed ‘Rosetta Stone’-like artifact has yet to be found.
The Rosetta Stone is a world-famous ancient artifact inscribed with the same text in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic script, and Classical Greek, which facilitated understanding of hieroglyphs. Nevertheless, Dr. Yadav’s research using computer modeling has revealed patterns in the symbols. Syntax rules and evidence of “inherent logic” within the script have been identified. “If we can read it, it would be like opening a treasure trove of knowledge,” she states. Decoding the script could illuminate the civilization’s beliefs, worldview, and clarify the role of inscriptions on trade goods and stones.
What Happened to This Civilization?
One leading theory for the decline of the Indus Valley civilization is environmental change. “Around 1900 BCE, they left these sites and relocated elsewhere, with archaeologists and climate scientists linking this to changes in rainfall and weather patterns,” Dr. Ramesh explains. Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro also reveal efforts by inhabitants to protect themselves from flooding. Dr. Ramesh emphasizes that understanding this is crucial for modern society because, “If glaciers today are melting rapidly, history could repeat itself.” He underscores that unlike then, we currently have technologies to monitor natural changes, and using this knowledge wisely can ensure sustainability of our civilization.
