Influence Of Water On The Indus Civilization

The Significances of Water and Its impact on the Indus Civilization The Indus Valley civilization draws many scholars to study and understand their culture. So, little is known about this group of people that settled in the western part of India. Topics such as the Indus Valley seals are still brought into question about what there meaning is. Very little is known about a possible religion because of the limited resources that are given to scholars. One thing that can be analyzed however are the towns that their culture had left behind. Mohenjo-daro, the biggest existing city of the Indus Valley, has been an essential archeological site in discovering new information about the Indus people. Very interesting features such as the structures

Situated in the central courtyard of Mohenjo-daro is this massive tank that resembles a large swimming pool. Since so little is known about the Indus Civilization, scholars can only guess as to what its purpose was. One argument places the emphasis of it on sanitation. Like the other bathing facilities that are found throughout Mohenjo-daro, it is often believed that “The Great Bath,” is in fact, a bathing facility(Jansen,182). The support around this idea relies on the belief of the importance of sanitation in Mohenjo-daro. Because of the obvious importance of water and the drainage systems, it suggests that the Indus Valley was a very clean and healthy group of people and “The Great Bath” places an even bigger emphasis on this theory. Another possible use of “The Great Bath” is for religious purposes. It is often believed by scholars that water played a role in the Indus Valley’s religious practices. Reasoning for this is a result of the location of “The Great Bath”. The great bath is locked in the upper city of Mohenjo-daro. The evaluated positioning of “The Great Bath” signifies an importance. Combine that with the clear importance of water and bathing suggest that “the Great Bath” is a possible place of ritual for the Indus People(Possehl,148). Because of the limited knowledge of the Indus Civilization, none of these theories can be confirmed. More

The Indus and their knowledge of engineering an architecture, were innovated in their construction of their wells and drainage systems. Their system of vertical wells were some of the most interesting features considering no other civilization at the time had vertical wells. Their use of a drainage system presents the idea that sanitation was a very important aspect to them. “The Great Bath” also suggests that sanitation was an important aspect of life for the Indus Civilization. Their use of water expanded to their argriculture. The Indus Civilization required a sufficient water supply for their crops during the winter months. The possible use of water division channels or a flood water reservoir are suggested as being used by the Indus Civilization to water their crops. Various other methods are suggested, however cannot be confirmed due to lack of physical evidence. “The Great Bath’ continues to draw many questions toward its importance. The best educated assumptions point to its function to religious purposes. Due to the importance of water in the Indus Valley, many scholars assume that this was the function of “The Great Bath”. Unforturnately, so little is actually known about the Indus Civilization. Perhaps the biggest contributing factor to this problem is a lack of a written script. Until this is discovered we may never actually know and understand the Indus Valley