Postcard #14: Pakistan: King Priest from Moenjodaro - A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Pakistan

A beautiful postcard from Pakistan featuring the "King Priest" found from the ancient ruins of Moenjodaro in Sindh, Pakistan.

Seated male sculpture is called as "Priest King" (even though there is no evidence that either priests or kings ruled the city). This 17.5 cm tall statue is one of the most beautiful artifacts, which has become a symbol for the Indus valley civilization. Archaeologists discovered the sculpture in Lower town at Mohenjo-daro in 1927. It was found in an unusual house with ornamental brickwork and a wall niche and was lying between brick foundation walls which once held up a floor.

This bearded sculpture wears a fillet around the head, an armband, and a cloak decorated with trefoil patterns that were originally filled with red pigment.

The two ends of the fillet fall along the back and though the hair is carefully combed towards the back of the head, no bun is present. The flat back of the head may have held a separately carved bun as is traditional on the other seated figures, or it could have held a more elaborate horn and plumed headdress.

Two holes beneath the highly stylized ears suggest that a necklace or other head ornament was attached to the sculpture. The left shoulder is covered with a cloak decorated with trefoil, double circle and single circle designs that were originally filled with red pigment. Drill holes in the centre of each circle indicate they were made with a specialized drill and then touched up with a chisel. Eyes are deeply incised and may have held inlay. The upper lip is shaved and a short combed beard frames the face. The large crack in the face is the result of weathering or it may be due to original firing of this object. There was also indoor plumbing and well paved and drained streets. The city was in a grid pattern unlike Ur where many thieves and other bad people got away with crimes and no good. Mohenjo-Daro also had tall watchtowers instead of walls(again unlike Ur) to watch instead of protect the city.

Moenjodaro (Mound of the Dead), discovered in 1922, is situated on the West Bank of the river Indus. It has one of the earliest and the most developed urban civilizations of ancient world. It forms a part of the Indus River civilization of Harappa. It is located 1287.48 km away from Moenjodaro. The Indus River civilization flourished from somewhere third till the middle of second millenium B.C. before it vanquished from the world.

Moenjodaro had mud-brick and baked-brick buildings with covered drainage system.In addition to this, soakpits for disposal bins, a large state grannary, a spacious pillared hall, a collage of priests, a large and imposing building (probably a palace) and a citadel mound which incorporates in its margin a system of solid burnt brick tower were also found in the city.

Moenjodaro looks like a planned, organized and master architecture of urban settlement. Beneath the citadel, parallel streets, some 30 feet wide, stretched away and are crossed by other straight streets, which divide the town into a great oblong block, each 400 yards in length, and 200 to 300 yards in width. The most imposing remains are those of a Great Hall which consisted of an open quadrangle with verandahs on four sides, galleries and rooms on the back, a group of halls on the north and a large bathing pool. It was probably used for religious or ceremonial bathing.

How advanced were the people in ancient times......... Can you imagine now???

Can we still call ouselves ADVANCED???