Indus Valley civilization · About 2600-1900 BC

Harappa and Mohenjo-daro: the Indus cities

Planned streets, covered drains and standard bricks: the Indus cities were among the best organized in the ancient world, yet we cannot read their writing. Students explore Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Lothal, and ask why the cities emptied.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 2500 BC to 2300 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Planned streets, covered drains and standard bricks: the Indus cities were among the best organized in the ancient world, yet we cannot read their writing. Students explore Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Lothal, and ask why the cities emptied.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Indus river and the main Indus cities on the map.
  • Describe the planning and daily life of an Indus city.
  • Explain why the Indus script is still undeciphered and weigh explanations for the cities' decline.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

2500 BC

A river civilization

Open the map in 2500 BC and find the Indus river and its tributaries in the northwest of South Asia. Find the area labeled Indus valley civilization. Is it bigger or smaller than Egypt on the map?

Open this view on the map
b

2500 BC

Mohenjo-daro

Turn on Cities and zoom in on Mohenjo-daro beside the Indus. It had straight streets, brick houses and covered drains. Why would a city plan its drains?

Open this view on the map
c

2300 BC

Trade by sea

Zoom out and follow the coast west to the Persian Gulf. Mesopotamian texts mention ships from a land called Meluhha, probably the Indus region. What might they have carried?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Indus cities had drains and standard bricks, but no palace has been found. What could that tell us about who ran them?
  2. Their script is still undeciphered. What would scholars need in order to read it?
  3. Weights in the Indus cities were the same from city to city. Why would traders want that?
  4. The cities slowly emptied after about 1900 BC. Shifting rivers and drier weather are two explanations. Which seems most likely, and why?
  5. Why do you think the Indus civilization is less famous than Egypt, even though it covered a larger area?
4

Game round

10 min

No Indus ruler is known by name, so play one round of Rule History as Hatshepsut, who lived a few centuries after the great Indus cities. Discuss: Egypt left the names of its kings everywhere, while the Indus cities left none. What might that tell us?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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