Culture

Mohenjodaro, the 3,500 Year Old Archaeological Site Needs Serious Attention

by rumana husain | September 16, 2008 at 12:39 am

1940 views | 24 Recommendations | 14 comments

Mohenjodara, or Mound of the Dead, is on the West Bank of the River Indus in Pakistan. It was discovered in 1922. Mohenjodara was built entirely of unbaked brick in the 3rd millennium B.C., and is located in the Indus valley, 580 km from Karachi.
With covered drainage systems, a granary, the Great Hall - the most striking of its structures, comprising an open quadrangle with verandahs of four sides’ galleries and rooms at the back, a number of halls, and a large bathing pool perhaps used for religious or ceremonial bathing, it was one of the most modern cities of its times. Engraved seals, ornaments, utensils, pottery weapons, figurines and toys were excavated from the site. Its archaeological ruins are the remains of the city of the Indus Valley Civilization, in modern Sindh, Pakistan. The city was built around 2600 BC, and was abandoned around 1700 BC. Conservation initiatives, with the help of Unesco have been taken but the recent rains and too little action by the government will not help the cause of this unique and important world heritage site.

During the heavy downpour, some walls were partially damaged and rainwater has accumulated in different parts of the historical city. Local residents of Moenjodaro town alleged that despite passage of three days, no initiatives have yet been taken by the authorities concerned for drainage of the rainwater from the ruins.

Sindh Minister for Culture and Tourism Sassui Palejo rejected the villagers’ allegation and said that though this issue did not relate to her ministry, she had directed the Larkana DCO for drainage of rainwater from the ruins.

“It is unfortunate that administratively, all the archaeological sites of Sindh are under the control of the federal government, which has allocated only Rs 0.8 million annually for preservation and renovation of all the heritage sites of the province…this amount is nothing, and we have forwarded a summary to the federal government to transfer the administrative control of historical sites to the provincial government,” said Palejo.

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Sputnic

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 02:39 on September 16th, 2008

rumana husain, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Sputnic

at 02:42 on September 16th, 2008

good stuff . history is important, we are supposed to learn from our history

rumana husain

at 03:35 on September 16th, 2008

Sputnic (not verified?) thank you for the flag and your comment.

Uwe Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:16 on September 16th, 2008

rumana husain, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Yes, it does need attention most definitely.

rumana husain

at 04:24 on September 16th, 2008

thanks for the flag paschen. you agree, the 'mound of the dead' should not die a death of negligence!

Uwe Paschen

at 04:28 on September 16th, 2008

Yes, I do agree it has to saved and made into a museum of sort, I would like to go there my self and see it for it sounds fascinating and seems to be an important part of Human History.

teala (not verified)

at 12:10 on February 18th, 2009

answer my dumb question already it is what was daily life like in mohenjodaro cause i am doing very cool so answer me at mmahn@hotmail.com thank u for your time

rumana husain

at 04:45 on September 16th, 2008

there is a museum right there near the site. i went to mohenjodaro and harappa - the other famous city belonging to the indus valley civilization - almost a decade ago with my family. unfortunately, in pakistan we have not had either the resources or the will of the various governments in power to preserve, conserve, popularise heritage sites that range from 3,500 years to let's say the colonial british era that ended in 1947.

Uwe Paschen

at 05:23 on September 16th, 2008

I think they should build a dome over it and make the site a museum. We always seem to find money for War and weapons yet not for People nor for culture and History or Education, health care and Environment.

rumana husain

at 05:34 on September 16th, 2008

so right paschen! any way, it is a pretty big site...i found a great article about it (link below). forgot to mention that the city is termed anywhere from 5,000 years to 3,500 years old.

<a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1985_July/ai_3838362">FindArticles - Moenjodaro; threatened centre of an ancient civilization</a>

<cite>UNESCO Courier, July, 1985, by Syed A. Naqvi</cite>

rumana husain

at 08:05 on September 16th, 2008

thanks zichi.

Monte (not verified)

at 09:28 on September 16th, 2008

rumana husain, Thank you for the very interesting article and background information. I agree whole heartily that site like this need to be preserved and studied for every one. Unfortunately things like preserving and maintaining historical site seems to fall WAY down on the list of government funding, especially for the poorer countries. And same is true even here in America with government funding cuts that support for historical preservation and the arts, it is falling more heavily on private sector for funding.