Harappa

Schematic map of the area occupied by the civilization of the Indo valley (between 2500 and 1700 BC, showing the location of the city of Harappa.

Map of the area occupied by the subsequent culture of Cemetery H (between 1900 and 1300 BC) and the Swat river culture (between 1600 and 500 BC) at the time of composition of the Rig-veda (the oldest text of India, from the middle of the second millennium to C.). The citadel of Harappa (which appears in the center of the lower part of the image) had already been abandoned and forgotten.

Boat bridge over the Ravi River, a few kilometres from the ancient Harappa; photograph of approximately 1895.

Harappa is a very important Neolithic site in Punjaba (northeast province of Pakistan) that belonged to the Indus Valley culture. It is located 8 kilometers south of the Indus River (although possibly three thousand years ago the river passed a few meters from the city), 35 km southwest of Sahiwal, 185 km southwest of Lahore, and about 1,000 km northeast of Karachi. (on the coast of the Arabian Sea).

The present-day small city of Harappa is built about 7 km southeast of the ruins of the old fortified city.

On January 30, 2004, the "Archaeological Site of Harappa" was inscribed on Pakistan's Tentative List —a step prior to being declared a World Heritage Site—, in the category of cultural asset (ref no. 1878).

The ancient city

Harappa is a very important archaeological site in Punjab (northeast province of Pakistan) that belonged to the Indus Valley culture. It is located 8 kilometers south of the Indus River (although possibly three thousand years ago the river passed a few meters from the city), 35 km southwest of Sahiwal, 185 km southwest of Lahore, and about 1,000 km northeast of Karachi. (on the coast of the Arabian Sea).

The present-day small city of Harappa is built about 7 km southeast of the ruins of the old fortified city.

On January 30, 2004, the "Archaeological Site of Harappa" was inscribed on Pakistan's Tentative List —a step prior to being declared a World Heritage Site—, in the category of cultural asset (ref no. 1878). 1

In the middle of the 19th century the ruins were looted, disappearing the visible remains of the old city. Between 1872 and 1873, the citadel was excavated by Sir Alexander Cunningham's team of archaeologists.

In 1920, Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni's team began a more extensive excavation. His work and that of his contemporaries, both in Harappa and in the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro (also in Pakistan), allowed the world to learn about this forgotten civilization.

In the 1930s and 1940s, other archaeologists continued the excavation, until in 1946 Sir Mortimer Wheeler found the remains of the city wall.

Archaeologists estimate that the ancient city of Harappa was an urban settlement that dominated the northern Indus River region.