Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

MOHENJO-DAROThe Indus cities boasted one of the world’s

first sophisticated systems of water supply and sewage. Throughout

Mohenjo-daro, hundreds of wells provided fresh water to homes

that featured some of the oldest recorded private bathing areas and

toilet facilities with drainage into public sewers. In the heart of the

city stood the so-called Great Bath, a complex of rooms centered on

a sunken brick pool (FIG. 6-2) 39 feet long, 23 feet wide, and 8 feet

deep. The builders made the pool watertight by sealing the joints be-

tween the bricks with bitumen, an asphaltlike material also used in

Mesopotamia. The bath probably was not a purely recreational facil-

ity but rather a place for ritual bathing of the kind still practiced in

the region today.

Excavators have discovered surprisingly little art from the long-

lived Indus Civilization, and all of the objects found are small.

158 Chapter 6 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA BEFORE 1200

MAP6-1South and Southeast Asian sites before 1200.

Harappa

Mohenjo-

daro

Delhi

Mathura

Udayagiri

Deogarh

(Bombay) Mumbai

ElephantaKarle

Sarnath

Badami

Chennai

(Madras)

Mamallapuram

Thanjavur

Punjai

Polonnaruwa

Dhauli

Yangon

(Rangoon)

Bagan

Khajuraho

Kushinagara Lauriya Nandangarh

Didarganj

Sanchi

Peshawar

Ajanta

Ellora

Patna (Pataliputra)

Bodh Gaya

Lumbini

Borobudur

Angkor

Prasat Andet

Prakhon Chai

INDIAN OCEANINDIAN OCEAN

Arabian

Sea

Arabian

Sea

Bay of

Bengal

Bay of

Bengal

Andaman

Sea

Andaman

Sea

South

China

Sea

South

China

Sea

East

China

Sea

East

China

Sea

Philippine

Sea

Philippine

Sea

Java SeaJava Sea

Celebes

Sea

Celebes

Sea

KrishnaR.

Gan

gesR.

Me

kon

gR

.

Indu

sR.

Yamuna R.

H

im

ala

yas

W

es

te

r

n

G

h

a

ts

Java

Borneo Celebes

PlateauDieng

Su

m

at

ra

AFGHANISTAN

IRAN

PAKISTAN

INDIA

CHINA

BHUTAN

BANGLADESH

MYANMAR

(BURMA)

THAILAND

SINGAPORE

BRUNEI

PHILIPPINES

LAOS

VIETNAM

CAMBODIA

MALAYSIA

INDONESIA

SRI LANKA

(CEYLON)

NE

PAL

Deccan

Plateau

Barabar

Hills

TIBET

SIKKIM

BIHAR

ORISSA

GANDHARA

PUNJAB

KALINGA

GUJARAT

0 400 800 miles

0 400 800 kilometers

South Asia

Southeast Asia

6-2Great Bath, Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan,
ca. 2600–1900 bce.

The Indus cities of the third millennium
BCEhad sophisticated water-supply and
sewage systems, which made possible
this brick complex used for ritual bathing
of a kind still practiced in South Asia
today.