1st+hour+2011-2012+Indus+Valley

=INDUS VALLEY =

[[image:gizzisgoodies/house_image.jpg]]Introduction-Allison M.;
The Indus Valley was located in South Asia off of India. It was very carefully planned out and everyone there was happy for a while. It was ruled from 3000-1500 BC, and was ruled by a Priest-King who kept the people fed and happy. It was two major cities and a couple smaller ones surrounding it. They were modern for their times with a complex language and religion that was founded by Buddha. Also these people had many skills in metals and were fascinated with dancing for entertainment. (Ellis and Esier 1997)

This is where the Indus Valley is located in Asia.

Cities-Allison Morris;
The Indus Valley has two main cities that served as capitols where the king-priest ruled from Mohenjo-Daro. They were about 350 miles away from each other. They were called Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and were the center of everything. Both of them were very large almost three miles long and had smaller sub-cities surrounding them. They were planned very carefully and were huge, which surprised the people that studied them. They were laid out on a rectangular grid plan. The houses were built and re-built with the same design and modern plumbing which was rather amazing. Also they're present some of the largest groups of humans in the ancient world.(Ellis and Esler 1997)

This is the city Harappa!

The Aryans divided the city into 3 basic groups, Brahmins which are priests, Kshatriyans which are warriors and Vaisyas which are herders, farmers, artist and merchants. Even though the Kshatriyans enjoyed the highest amount of respect, instead the priests ended up getting the most respect. The Aryans didn’t have any use for city dwellers so they made a fourth group of Non- Aryans. During the Vedic age, the class division came to look on social and economic roles. (Ellis and Esler, 1997)
 * Social Class Amy S; **



National Geographic, 2009 This is a picture of one of the 3 social classes the Indus Valley had.

By 500 B.C., the new India civilization had emerged that had consisted of many rival kingdoms. People also shared common culture. By this time the Indian people had developed a written language called Sanskrit. Sanskrit has influenced most of the modern languages. Sanskrit also is a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific and Hindu religious texts. The language continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of hymns and mantras. Sanskrit is still used in a few traditions in India and there have been many attempts to bring the language back. (Ellis and Esler 1997, Wikipedia 2011)
 * Written Language Amy S ; **



Fonts and Technical Manuals for Itranslator, 2003 This is what the Sanskrit language looks like.

Public Works- Allison M.;
There were many churches in the Indus Valley; one of them was so big it took up a lot of the town. The public buildings of these cities also suggest a high degree of social organization. The great granary at Mohenjo-Daro was designed with bays to receive carts delivering crops from the countryside with air vents to keep them cool. The granary at Harappa has a series of working platforms close to cabin-like places, suggesting that workers live there. Also there were many well developed streets that people used to ride camels, oxen and elephants to travel over land. The homes were all built the same, and usually surrounded a courtyard and were about two stories high. They also had huge public bath houses the entire cities used.( [|**Gascoigne**], 2001) (Martin, 1998)



These are the streets of Harappa!

= **Hinduism- Ryan Miller** = Being the only religion without major founder, Hinduism believes in numerous gods: such as Brahman the Creator, the powerful Shatki and the wife of Shira. The Hindu religion believes in having an essential self (atman). They want to achieve moksha (union with Brahman). They wish to free themselves from selfish desire. Many of the Hindus believe in reincarnation (rebirth of the soul in another body). Karma is the belief that the acts of a person’s life that affects their fate in another life. Those who do good will have good fortune and those with bad, bad fortune. Hinduism stresses the use of ‘dharma’ religious and moral duties of an individual. Their sacred texts are kept in Vedas and Upanishads. Nonviolence, also known as ‘ahimsa’ is important to Hindus. (Ellis and Esler, 1997)


 * [[image:http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/dws/images/dws-t-is-one-Hinduism.jpg width="220" height="221" caption="dws-t-is-one-Hinduism.jpg"]] ||
 * dws-t-is-one-Hinduism.jpg ||

This is the Hinduism symbol. [|http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/dws/dws_r5_truth-major-religions.html]

= **Buddhism- Ryan Miller** = Buddhism was founded by a rich prince named Siddhartha Gautama who discovered pain and suffering and left his rich life behind to find a place where no pain and suffering belonged. They believe in 4 noble truths: 1. All life is full of suffering, pain and sorrow. 2. The cause of suffering is the desire for things that are really illusions. 3. Only cure for suffering is to overcome desire. 4. Way to overcome desire is to follow the Eightfold Path “right views, aspirations, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and contemplation.” For a Buddhist, the final goal in life is ‘nirvana’, union from the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth. Similar to Hinduism except for several important things: Buddha rejected formal rituals, the priests and the existence of many gods in the Hinduism religion. (Ellis and Esler, 1997). This is a statue of Siddhartha Gautama. []

= **Other Religious Beliefs - Ryan Miller** = Some of the people in the Indus Valley were polytheistic and worshipped sacred animals. (Ellis and Esler, 1997) [|http://www.indianetzone.com/10/indus_valley_sculpture.htm]

= **Job Specialization - Ryan Miller**  = When farming was available, fewer farmers were needed and more jobs were available. Due to the amount of clay seals that were found, there were many potters and artists available. The people of Indus Valley planted cotton and other plants that were following the flood cycles of the Indus River. Many people were valued at jewelry making, these jewelry were made from bone, shell and clay. People who were in farming though grew crops and domesticated animals including oxen, buffalo, chicken and a variety of others. Other occupations available were weaving for clothing and fabrics, metal cutting for weapons, trading and so much more! The Indus River Valley cities were trading centers and traded with places such as Iran and Afghanistan. (Yeror0, 2009)



This is a carpet weaved from the Indus Valley. [] (Unknown, 2008)

[]


 * Government- Erica **

The government was well organized and had powerful leaders. The leaders were possibly priest kings who made sure that the city always had a steady supply of grain from the outer villages. There is no names of kings or queens, no tax records and no literature referring to the government. There were ridged patterns of buildings and uniform brick sizes suggesting government planners at work ( Ellis&Esler, 1997). The leaders of the government carried seals with them and the type of animal or symbol on the seal would tell how high in power they were (Allabouthistory, 2002-2011).

This was the governments quarters (Sindhnationalfront/2009-2010)


 * Architecture, Art- Erica **

The cities in Indus valley were carefully planned. Houses were built with uniform oven fired bricks and there were water chutes under the streets leading to the sewer. Houses had modern plumbing systems such as baths and drains (Ellis&Esler, 1997). The people of the cities made statuettes made of limestone and steatite (infoplease, 2005). There were pottery, gold jewelry and terracotta figurines in the shape of dancers and animals. Necklaces and bangles were made with agate and glazed steatite bead making (Wikipedia Sept 18, 2011-Sept 21, 2011).

= = = = = = = = (Exoticindiaart/2006) (Indianetzone/2008) = = A statue of a worshiped goddess. Homes in the main cities. = = = = = = = **Conclusion- Ryan Miller** = Around the time of 1750 B.C., the life quality in Indus Valley was beginning to slowly decline. Things such as crude pottery was made instead of the old finer pottery that once was made. The Indus Valley disappearance remains unknown. Theories such as too many trees were cut down to fuel ovens used by brick-makers. Lots of river mud found in Mohenjo- Daro suggests that a volcanic eruption occurred, blocking up the Indus, flooding the city. Also, there could have been a severe earthquake. But scholars think that the Aryans overran the cities and towns of the Indus with their weapons and horse drawn chariots. Indus Valley has been left abandoned, the mystery of what happened unsolved. (Ellis and Esler, 1997) This is where the Indus Valley used to be. This is what it looks like today. [|http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-civilizations-that-mysteriously-disappeared.php]

SITES AND BOOKS USED: [|http://india.mrdonn.org/indus.html] [|http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Harappa+streets&qs=n&sk=&form=QBIR] (2003, unknown) Monday Today Bing.com [|http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Harappa&view=detail&id=81CCB7EA553882ADF17AB3B7DE70C696C2E45354&first=0&adlt=strict] [|http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab73] Unknown. (2011) Sanskrit, Wikipedia [] World History: Connects to Today Unknown. (2003) Fonts and Technical Manuals for Itranslator, Sanskritwed [] Unknown. (2011). textiles and customs in early india exotic india [] Unknown. (2009.) Horse Herders, National Geographic [] Unknown (2008). Indian schools of scultpure Jupiter infomedia Pvt. Ltd. []

Unknown. (2010). About sindh Sindh national front [] sindh.html

Unknown. (2007) Indus Valley Civilization, Columbia University Press []

Unknown. (2011) Indus Valley Civilization, Wikipedia []

Unknown, Unknown, www.himalayanacademy.com [|http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/dws/dws_r5_truth-major-religions.html] 9/22/11 Unknown, Unknown,  www.worldfaiths.com [|http://www.world-faiths.com/Buddhism/buddhism.htm] 9/22/11 Unknown, 2009, Indus Valley Sculpture  www.indianetzone.com [|http://www.indianetzone.com/10/indus_valley_sculpture.htm] 9/22/11 Unknown, 2008,  www.rajasthancraft.com [|http://www.rajasthancraft.com/india-carpet/wool-carpet.html] 9/22/11 Yerer0, 2009, The Indus River Valley Civilization, socyberty.com, [|http://socyberty.com/history/the-indus-river-valley-civilization/] 9/22/11 Perry, 2011, Top Ten Civilations That Mysteriously Dissapeared, toptenz.com, [|http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-civilizations-that-mysteriously-disappeared.php] (2008, Wiltsie) Mongolian Herders Googleimages.com http://www.google.com/imgres?q=herders&hl  9/22/11