[Si]
Early city on the west bank of the River Indus in the Sind region of Pakistan. During the later 3rd and early 2nd millennia bc it was one of the twin capitals of the Indus Valley civilization. Excavated by John Marshall in the 1920s, Ernest Mackay in the 1930s, and more recently by Mortimer Wheeler in 1950, George Dales in 1964, and since 1979 a team of architects and archaeologists led by Michael Jansen, the city was set out on a formal grid pattern. Broad streets separated the blocks, each of which was provided with drains and densely built over with structures made of mud brick. Most of the buildings excavated appear to be dwelling houses mainly in the form of ranges of rooms opening from a central courtyard. A block in the middle of the west side stood higher than the rest and seems to have formed a citadel. The citadel is fortified with mud-brick walls and contains within it a ceremonial structure known as the Great Bath, the Granary, the Assembly Hall, and the College. The exact purpose of these structures is not, however, known. The site was abandoned around 1950 bc, seemingly after a massacre of the population, as many skeletons were found lying in houses and in the streets.
[Rep.: M. Jansen and G. Urban (eds.), 1985, Mohenjo Daro: report of the Aachen University mission, 1979–1985. Leiden: Brill]
