Thursday Travels

It's been about a month since I started this blog and I haven't ever discussed any of the books I've read.

However, today I came across an article about an ancient civilization that was introduced to me in Amy Raby's Fire Seer. It was an interesting read, and if you like historical fictions that lean more toward the fiction, you should check it out. I believe the age group is Adult (for the people who want to know). (Edit: She notes that the evidence of the Harapans was a jumping off point for her book and not to regard it as historical. Still interesting though.)

I love learning about ancient civilizations, the older the better, so I was thrilled when I read the Fire Seer and learned of the Harapan. Now, I want to note here that I am in no way considered an expert on history or the Harapan, or any civilizations in the Indus Valley (or anywhere really), so some of what I'm about to say may be a little off the mark since I'm piecing together the little I've read about them (two articles and Raby's notes). I'm also not sure on the spelling since I've seen "Harapan", "Harrapan", and "Harappa", so I'm just going to pick one and stick with it.

The Harapan were contemporaries of the Ancient Egyptians, but less is known of them. The civilizations in the Indus Valley served as a trade route and gateway between the east and the west. They probably thrived from their resources of stones and metals, and from trade. Often civilizations that host traders tend to thrive becoming the most advanced and diverse of civilizations as they have the opportunity to be exposed to cultures and items from across the land.

At the end of the Fire Seer, Raby writes about the Harapan and what she knows of them. She notes that "The Harapans had the world's first flush toilets!", showing how advanced the civilization was in the second/third century B.C.

Because of the harsh climate of the desert, it's difficult for people to do excavations, but it sounds like progress is made every month or so. In addition, Raby notes that we haven't been able to translate the language the Harapan's used, so we are missing out on a lot about them. It's also unknown as to why many of the civilizations in the Indus Valley fell and were left uninhabited for almost 1,500 years.

Here's an Archaeology article about the Indus Valley Civilizations if you want to read more.

And here's a blog post about the fall of another ancienct civilization: Thursday Travels 3/19/15.