Indus Valley Mythology

In the middle of the third millennium BCE an urban culture developed in the Indus Valley of western India. This culture was related in terms of myth and religion to the Elamite culture of southwestern Iran and to village cultures of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Baluchistan. The center of the Indus Valley culture were the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, until a gradual decline beginning early in the second millennium BCE led to a movement of the culture to the Ganges–Yamuna Valley in the north and Gujarat and the Deccan plateau in the south. After the Aryan (see Aryans) invasions in the middle of the second millennium, there was an amalgamation of Indus Valley and Aryan traditions leading to the complexities of Vedic (see Vedic entries) religion and myth and to the Dravidian (see Dravidians) village culture of south India.

Archeological evidence from related cultures suggests that Indus Valley mythology was centered in the idea of female power and Goddess (see Devi) cults. There is direct evidence of Goddess dominance on Indus seals, which, like the seals of ancient Sumer, bring together goddesses, sacred snakes, and such symbols of male power and virility as horned bulls and rams and mythical animals such as unicorns. There is also ample indication on the seals of rituals involving sacrifice to what appears to be a horned goddess. At the ruins at the ancient settlement of Mehrgarh, dating back to as early as 6000 BCE, goddess figurines have been discovered that would seem to confirm the importance of the female power during the 600–2500 BCE period (see Hinduism, Hindu Mythology).