The Indus Valley: cities on the river
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What you will learn
By the end, you can say where the Indus Valley was, how its cities were planned, and why it declined.
Over four thousand years ago, while the pharaohs ruled Egypt, another civilisation was building brick cities by the Indus River. Its streets were straight, its drains were covered, and its people traded far and wide. Today we still cannot read their writing.
Read the explanation
The Indus Valley civilisation grew beside the Indus River around 2600 BCE. Its two great cities were Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. They were planned on a grid of straight streets, with brick houses, wells and covered drains — cleaner than many cities for thousands of years after. The people farmed, made pottery and seals, and traded with places like Mesopotamia. Around 1900 BCE the cities declined and were slowly abandoned.
- It grew along the Indus River around 2600 BCE.
- Cities had straight streets, wells and covered drains.
- They traded with Mesopotamia.
- The writing has still not been read.