The Indus River Civilization

“Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma ("eternal spiritual path") began about 4000 years ago in India. It was the religion of an ancient people known as the Aryans ("noble people") whose philosophy, religion, and customs are recorded in their sacred texts known as the Vedas” (United Religions). Vedas are written in the ancient language of India, called Sanskrit. Vedas means “knowledge” or “sacred lore.” The Vedas gives great intelligence about the variety of Gods from the Vedic period, 2000 to 500 BCE (Molloy,78).

From the mathematical developments made in Mesopotamia, to the pyramids in Egypt, to the intricate black pottery of China, to the highly advanced drainage system in India these ancient cultures have shaped our developments over time. Though they have all contributed to our cultures and thinking, these cultures and cities are unique and very different. Despite this, the overall development and growth of these civilizations follow similar patterns which unite the histories of people all over the world. Ancient cultures and civilization are hard to compare due to their individuality, but despite this the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Chinese Civilizations are significantly different than that of the Indian

Ancient Mesopotamia and the Indus River Valley civilization were two incredibly productive and successful empires. While Mesopotamian politics were slightly less focused on religion and more on other aspects, the two societies shared many social characteristics. They both had defined social hierarchies, as well as similar views on gender roles. These traits are helpful in explaining the similarities and differences between the two cultures.

In the following treatise, the research that will be presented will provide criteria involving similarities and differences in three attributes of life in the four primary river valley civilizations. The river valley civilizations are composed of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China. While each of these civilizations is unique in their habits and traditions, they share many similar qualities. For this work to be as comprehensive as possible, the primary focus will be on comparing and analyzing the cultures and ambiance, or environments, political organization and religious beliefs, and social structures of each society. The following categories are going to be analyzed by utilizing the frameworks of the four river valley civilizations. Without further ado, a juxtaposition of the ancient river valley civilizations.

The Indus and Shang Dynasty are one of the many civilizations/empires we study and learn about today. As time progresses, they became more advanced in terms of inscriptions, agriculture, government, science and technology, etc. The Indus and the Shang are harmonic to each other; they share similarities. But, there’s also a distinction between the two.

The civilizations of the Nile River valley, the Mesopotamia valley, and Indus Valley marked human progress toward fixed settlements and the development of a rich culture. These civilizations shared many characteristics that contributed to their success. What made these civilizations unique were the contributions that each one gave to the world. They contributed their own ideas and accomplishments in the areas of religion, science, and mathematics. These contributions defined each civilization and how they would be remembered, as well as, their importance to the world.

Throughout the history of Earth, there have been many fascinating developments, the most prominent being the first civilizations, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. They had many similarities, such as characteristics of early civilizations and social structures, but they also had their differences. The most embossed differences included the divergent geography, prior belief, trade, relations with other civilizations, and politics.

The people in the Indus Valley had an advanced civilization. They had an efficient working sewer system. It showed they were an advanced civilization because most people at that time did not have that sort of innovation. It carried waste away from houses so that the city will be clean and diseases free. They also had a grid system for their roads and pathways. It showed they have an advanced civilization because other civilizations did not have such an organized government system that could organize, construct and plan a grid system for the roads and pathways for the city. It shows that they had good architectural knowledge. Another reason why the people of the Indus Valley civilization were part of an advanced civilization is that of their

The Assyrians and the Indus are like hot and cold, two completely different early civilizations. The Indus were around about 2300 B.C and the Assyrians were around about 1200 B.C. The Assyrians had some of the first rulers to regulate laws within a household. Also, the Indus had a huge warehouse for every city they had to store items away. The Assyrians used money from trade to pay for expansive palaces as well.

The river valley civilizations had many characteristics that were similar in every valley. Two of these characteristics are rivers and natural barriers. These can either be advantages or disadvantages. These advantages and disadvantages can shape how an empire forms, survives, and how long it lasts. There are many advantages to forming civilizations in ancient river valleys.

Hinduism is the oldest religions. The most interesting thing about Hinduism is that they have no specific founder or date of origin. Based on their beliefs Hindu’s are divided in to two casts. In the current world, there is still a big conflict about whether Hinduism is a monotheistic religion or a polytheistic religion. Because according to Hindus believe it’s one God with many different faces. This concept regarding Gods is accepted by some scholars, but not all of them. Hinduism has four sacred text Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Epics. The two most common sacred texts are the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita. The authors of all sacred texts are still unknown.

Although we do not know the exact time that Hinduism began, it is believed to be over 4,000 years old. There have been overlapping civilizations in India that may have molded the religion into what it is now (Kinnard 1). Around 2,000 B.C.E., located near the great Indus River, the Indus Valley Civilization, who worshipped many goddesses, may have been the very beginning of the shaping of Hinduism. Near the end of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1,500 B.C.E., a new society surfaced in India. Believed to be brought by the central Asian Aryans, the Vedic religion began (Kinnard). The Aryans’ practices included the sacrifice of animals and other offerings to their gods into a sacred fire. The gods they worshipped were mainly gods of nature such as the fire god and the plant god (flood). This era was the time of the Vedas, which are scriptures describing rituals to please the gods (Kinnard). Later, around 1,000 B.C.E., priests called Brahmins began to reject the materialistic ways of the Vedic tradition and began to adopt practices

Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilizations have long been compared throughout history and were both some of the earliest civilizations in the world. Mesopotamia, also known as, 'the land between the rivers,' was named for the triangular area between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. This area has been extended and now covers modern day Iraq, adding ancient Assyria and Babylonia to that land. The Indus civilization is often referred to as the Harappan civilization from the first city discovered called Harappa. The Indus civilization existed in the vast river plains of what are now Pakistan and northwestern India between the Indus and Ganges rivers from about 2800 BC to 1800 BC. Though these two territories had many things in common

The Indus valley civilizations was an intriguing and sophisticated ancient culture and also a major contributor in the development of what later came to be known as “Hinduism” . The civilization was founded “accidentally” in the 19th century when the British engineers were searching for ballast for a railway line in north-western India (which is now modern day Pakistan) and found the remains of what seemed to be an ancient city which was only known only to locals until then. In the early 20th century, when other similar sites were uncovered, archaeologists realized the significance of the discovery, which turned out to be one of the most prospering civilizations of the ancient world. It is called The Indus Valley Civilization because most of its settlements are situated along the banks of the Indus River .The largest and most important of this civilization were its two prospering cities known as Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. These names are of post–Indus origin as they were given with reference to the towns built much later on the ruins of these ancient cities. During their prosperous period,, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa had a population of around 40-50 thousand, which was a lot by ancient standards. Both of these cities were highly organized and strategically planned, and displayed remarkably similar features during their excavation. Given the structure of the cities, archaeologists suggest that there may have been a central authority for code enforcement and the Harappan

Mesopotamia and Harappan societies have long been compared throughout the history of archaeology. Mesopotamia, also known as, 'the land between the rivers,' was named for the triangular area between the Tigris and the Euphrates river, (Nov. 7 lecture). In recent use, it covers a broader area referring to most of what is now Iraq. This adds ancient Assyria and Babylonia to the scope of Mesopotamia (Schultz and Lavenda 1995:310). Parts of Mesopotamia were not inhabited at all until approximately 8000 BC when plants and animals were domesticated, bringing about an agricultural revolution. This allowed nomads and cave dwellers to become farmers and herders.(Whitehouse 1977:129).)