Ancient site · City
Mohenjo-daro
The largest and best-preserved Indus city, beside the Indus in Sindh, Pakistan, and South Asia's first World Heritage Site (1980). At least 40,000 people may have lived in its baked-brick houses, laid out on a grid with covered drains, wells and bathrooms.
A raised 'citadel' mound holds the Great Bath and a large hall. Famous finds include the bronze 'Dancing Girl', the 'Priest-King' statue and many stamp seals. It declined after about 1900 BCE and was abandoned.
- Dates
- c. 2500–1700 BCE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 27.33° N, 68.14° E
How we know
The Indus script cannot be read and the city's real name is unknown; it is known from excavations since the 1920s.
Nearby sites
- Kot Diji c. 3300–2100 BCE
- Mehrgarh c. 7000 BCE (excavators) or c. 5200 BCE (2025 re-dating) to c. 2600 BCE
- Dholavira c. 3000–1500 BCE (phases debated)
- Submerged structures off Dwarka disputed: c. 1500 BCE (S. R. Rao) or historical to medieval times
- Harappa c. 3300–1300 BCE; city at its height c. 2600–1900 BCE
- Kalibangan c. 3500–1750 BCE