Moen Jo Daro - The City of Dead

The last time I visited moen-jo-daro, I was just 13. I was so excited to see it in real. However, Before going, I didn’t realize how spread out destination was and how much walking was necessary to get around the dead city. Yes! The dead city. Because the word 'Mohenjo Daro' literally translate to 'the mound of the dead'.
The historical city's original name is not Mohenjo Daro. Nobody knows that! Visiting moen-jo-daro, takes you through all of the stunning ruins that make up rich cultural heritage.
             
 Moen-jo-daro History

Mohenjo-daro is a site of ancient ruins, that is 27 kilo meters away from larkana (City in the north-west of the sindh province of Pakistan) built approximately 4500 years ago. It was discovered in 1921 and has become an important archaeological find. Today, because of improper attempts at restoration and erosion the site is threatened. It is believed that Mohenjo-daro was built in about the 26th century BC. Mohenjo-daro was one of the Indus Valley civilization's largest settlements, or cities. Mohenjo-daro was mostly abandoned in 1900 BC when the Indus Valley civilization declined rapidly. But no body knows the real mystery yet!

My ultimate experience 

You have to stay hydrated to discover moen-jo-daro, because its mostly hot there. Walking through the streets, I realized it was well-designed city and had a layout of streets on a well-planned grid. Buildings in Mohenjo-daro were made of fired and mortared bricks, as well as some sun-dried mud bricks and some wooden structures. The interesting thing about the city  was its division into two sections including the Lower City and the Citadel. The Citadel a mud brick 39 foot high structure that housed the public baths, assembly halls, and about 5000 people. Mohenjo-daro had a marketplace in its central region. And then It had a hugeeeee well! People of Mohenjo-daro would have obtained their water from wells, and waste was channeled through the streets into covered drains. I did not know what was their religion, and probably never going to know this. Because, Mohenjo-daro did not have any temples, monuments, or palaces like many of the other ancient civilizations. It appears that there was no real central controlling government or royalty, but there may have been elected officials from each region in the city representing them in a larger government. Perhaps, Mohenjo-daro was run as a city-state. The people of Mohenjo-daro appeared to have preferred order, and cleanliness to over-the-top displays of flashy wealth or dominance in society. Mohenjo-daro did have wealth however as there are artifacts made of ivory and gold.

The amazing museum 

One of the highlights of my experience was visiting the museum. It was located about 200 meters away from the main archeological site of Moen Jo Daro. I was excited to see all the remains; the Goblets for drinking, Objects of household use, Objects made of different materials, articles made of Bronze, pots,  nail cutters, jewelry, bull carts, and ofcourse the statue of king priest and the dancing girl-sambara. They also had engraved seals. Exploring all of this was an amazing opportunity that opened my eyes up to another world.


The Downfall of moen-jo-daro

Nobody is certain what ended the Indus Valley civilization. It could have been a change in the direction of the Indus River which would have seriously affected life in Mohenjo-daro, but this doesn't explain what happened to the rest of the civilization and its other cities. Yet you get to know so many of the incredible stories about the cruel king and the curse from god for treating people bad. And there is alot more. Oh yes! There is this movie about moen-jo-daro, that can't be taken seriously. But its a fun-watch if you do.