Indus Valley Civilization
Learn about the Indus Valley Civilization — the mysterious Bronze Age society with advanced urban planning, standardized weights, and an undeciphered script.
The Indus Valley Civilization, flourishing from roughly 2600 to 1900 BCE, was the largest of the ancient world's Bronze Age civilizations by area — larger than Egypt and Mesopotamia combined. Its major cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, housed tens of thousands of people in some of the most carefully planned urban environments the world has ever seen.
What makes the Indus civilization so fascinating — and so frustrating — is how much remains unknown. Unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, the Indus script has never been deciphered. Without written records we can read, the political structure, religious beliefs, and even the name these people called themselves remain matters of scholarly debate. What the archaeology reveals, however, is remarkable: standardized brick sizes across hundreds of miles, sophisticated drainage systems, uniform weights and measures, and an apparent absence of monumental temples or palaces.
The civilization's decline around 1900 BCE remains one of history's enduring mysteries. Climate change, shifting river courses, and possible tectonic activity likely played roles, but the full story has yet to be told.