The Indus River Valley
India thrusts like giant triangle into the Indian Ocean. It was here that another ancient civilization grew and flourished. Cut off from the rest of Asia by the high and rugged Himalaya Mountains. India can be entered through the narrow Khyber Pass in the northwest. Through the famous route came the fist settlers in India and successive waves of Invaders. India's fertile plains below the mountain barrier were watered by the river systems of the Indus and Ganges. T'her is uncertain whether the first colonist in India were descendant of Shem, or Ham, or a mixture of both. It was on the fertile plains of the Indus River Valley that civilization first developed in India. About 300 B.C. 500 years after Sumer developed People migrated there. They brought with them the knowledge of architecture and building they had learned in Mesopotamia. They built the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro
Life in Early Indian Civilizations
Houses
These ancient town in gridiron fashion were mapped out with streets running at right angles and parallel to each other.
The buildings were all made of sun-dried bricks. Both homes and businesses were built around courtyards with their outer walls facing the street. Those who could afford to lived in tow-story homes built around open patios much like those in distant Ur. These homes had conveniences that might surprise us to discover such ancient civilization. Such modern luxuries as swimming pools, sewers, forced air heating, and even hot showers were a part of life in those ancient Indian cities even though only the wealthy could afford them. The poor people lived in single story homes built side by side lined closely along narrow streets. They could use public baths however built of bricks and designed inlaid tile.
Art
The use of tile designs called mosaics spread across the world and even today mosaics are a favorite of decoratios an architects
People
The people in Mohenjo-daro and Harappa were not a warlike people. Feeling that their mountain barrier would protect them from invasion they built an agriculturally based culture. They also began to develop the arts, language, and literature . At a very early time they became masterful weaver and produced beautiful material from cotton alinen
Language and literature
Early Indians also developed a written language using a symbol for each phonetic unit of speech. This language was used to record the trade agreements, chronologies of kings and princes, and beautiful literature. In these ancient epics are records references to a flood that destroyed the earth. In their version the man who survived the flood was called Satyauata. He had three sons named Iyapeti, Sharm, and C'harma. Notice how closely the story of the flood parallels the Hebrew record en to the in the names of children of Noah(Shem, Ham, and Jepath). The Indian legend is similar to the Hebrew record in still another way. C'harma laughed at the father who had become drunk in the Hebrew account Ham laughed at Noah for the same reason. Descendants of the children of Noah certainly remembered these events and passed them on to their children. With the great number of stores about flood coming from many cultures this certainly was an event which had a great impact on human history.
Education
Schools were held in the temples of the cities. Students learned reading, mathematics,writing, and history. May young men hoped to become scribes when they finished school. This job was similar to and executive secretary today and scribes were in great demands. They were needed to keep trade information, personal records, and correspondence.
Trade
Merchants did much business with Mesopotamia, Egypt, And even with cities along the shores of the Mediterranean. Goods were carried in caravans by donkeys, camels,horses, cows, and even elephants.
Seals
Stone tablets called seals were used by ancient tribes and civilization for identification when conducting trade and business. Seal may have had a meaning to Indus River Indians similar to one the totem pole symbol has to the American Indians.