Mohenjo-daro

Mohenjo-daro (literally, "mound of the dead"), like Harappa, was a city of the Indus Valley civilization. It is somewhat better preserved than Harappa, and therefore an informative source on its parent civilization. It was probably built between four and five thousand years ago, and was abandoned around 3700 years ago, probably due to a change of course of the river which supported the civilization. It was rediscovered in the 1920s by archaeologists.

Mohenjo-daro is a remarkable construction, considering its antiquity. It has a planned layout based on a grid of streets, with structures constructed of bricks of baked mud and burned wood. At its height the city probably had around 35,000-40,000 residents. It had an advanced drainage system, a variety of buildings up to three stories high, and an elaborate bath area. Being an agricultural city, it also featured a large well, granary, and central marketplace. Perhaps most unexpected, it even had a building with an underground furnace (hypocaust), possibly for heated bathing.

The city was successively destroyed and rebuilt at least seven times. Flooding by the Indus is thought to have been the cause of destruction.