Selina Rivers
Chapter 4, Section 1 - Harappan Society
1. Introduction
a) Named after Harappa, one of the two major cities.
b) River of Indus; water used for irrigation of crops
c) 3000 B.C.E, neolitic villages grew into major, self sustaining cities
d) Earliest known / accessible data goes back to 2500 B.C.E, in which Harappan society was already flourishing
e) Had a system of writing where hundreds of symbols represented word / sound, + clay seals, copper tablets, and other artifacts where the symbols were engraved into
2. Foundations of Harappan Society
A) The Indus River
a) Harappan Society - "The gift of the Indus" - Like the Nile river in that the waters is supplied by rain + melting snow. Carries silt and rich soil.
b) Indus turned nortnern India into an agricultural society.
c) Started collecting cotton sometimes before 5000 B.C.E, the dyed clothes going back to estimated 2000 B.C.E.
d) 3000 B.C.E, Dravidians flourished ; Complex society, took over the Indus River valley until they could no longer keep themselves going, around 1900 B.C.E.
B) Political Organization
a) No evidence
C) Harappa and Mohnejo-Daro (Major cities)
a) Each of the cities had city walls, a forified citadel, and a large granry, showing that their society was revolved around political and governmental values
b) Cotained marketplaces, temples, public buildings, residential districts, broad streets, placed where they run north-south and/or east-west
c) Harappan societ - 1,500 km of land
d) Weights, measures, architectural styles, brick sized; extended for different usees throughout the land
e) Powerful and wealthy cities with high influence throughout, high degree of standardization possible due to the Indus river
D) Specialized Labor and Trade
a) Strived for successful agricultural economy, along with a successful domestic + foreign trading system, where pottery, tools, and decorative items were put to use in the Indus Valley
b) 2300 -1750 B.C.E. - Harappans trades with Mesopotamians, trading Indian copper, ivory, pearls, + precious / semiprecious stones for wool, leather, + olive oil.
3. Harappan Society and Culture
A) Social Distinctions
a) Thriving economic center (Harappa),
