Page 72 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

harappan state and indus civilization 891

Indus Technologies fromCentralAsiatotheArabianGulfinanimportanttrad-
and Lifeways ing network.This interaction has deep historical roots and
The Indus peoples had a writing system, which was ren- began much earlier than the Indus civilization, but was
dered in pictographic form on a range of objects. The at its peak during the second half of the third millen-
best known of these are the Indus stamp seals with writ- nium. Sea trade with Mesopotamia through the Arabian
ing and an animal device. The Indus script remains Gulf was a part of this network and can be documented
undeciphered, in spite of many claims to the contrary. in both written documents and archaeologically.Accord-
Farming and herding were important occupations for ing to Mesopotamian cuneiform texts, the products that
the Indus peoples.The principal food grains were barley that the Indus peoples supplied to Mesopotamia were
and wheat. They also cultivated at least two forms of carnelian, lapis lazuli, pearls, various exotic woods, fresh
leguminous seed (the chickpea and the field pea), mus- dates, one kind of bird, a dog, cats, copper, and gold. Not
tard, sesame, cotton, grapes, and dates.The evidence for clearly documented are the products traded to the Indus,
the cultivation of rice during the Indus civilization is but they may have been perishables such as food prod-
ambiguous, but it is possible that rice was cultivated.The ucts, oils, cloth, and the like.
peoples of the Indus civilization were cattle keepers, and There are two themes that appear on Indus seals that
the remains of the zebu, the humped Indian breed, are have parallels in Sumerian mythology.The first is shown
consistently above 50 percent of the bones found in an on a seal from Mohenjo Daro with a half-human female,
archaeological excavation. Cattle imagery is also promi- half-bull, monster attacking a horned tiger.This is widely
nent; it is clear that cattle were the most important ani- interpreted as portraying the story of the Mesopotamian
mals in their culture and probably their principal form of
wealth. The Indus also kept water buffalo, sheep, goats,
and pigs. Fish, both marine and freshwater, were traded
N
over wide areas.
The Indus peoples were skilled craftsmen and applied VALLEY
themselves to their trades with great vigor.They were tech- HINDU KUSH GREATER INDUS
Hydaspes R.
nological innovators, inventing processes that allowed
them to etch and drill long,hard stones such as carnelian, Pakistan Harappa
to make stoneware and ceramics, and to smelt, refine, Mohenjo-
daro Indus R. Hyphasis
R.
and process a variety of metals. Their pottery was fash-
ioned using a number of forming techniques, often in
multiple parts that were welded together prior to firing.
They were skilled at bead making, with their long, barrel- India
shaped carnelian beads a specialty. Shells, especially the
maritime conch, were made into bangles, ladles, and Arabian
other objects, and were inlaid in objects for decoration. Sea Bay of
Bengal
Cultural Interaction
across Afro-Eurasia
World history has been enriched by the Indus peoples,
who participated in what has come to be called the Third 0 500 mi
MillenniumMiddleAsianInteractionSphere,aspherethat 0 500 km
linked peoples from the Indus to the Mediterranean and