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Lecture Notes

To make certain that you can situate Harappan civilization in relation to other river valley civilizations, here is a map of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent and the eastern Asian continent. Right smack in the middle of it, within the box, is the area in which Harappan civilization developed. As you can tell, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were both built along the edges of the river, in the Northern part of India, not quite yet in the sub-continent itself. In the far left of the map are the Nile River and the outline of the territory of the Egyptian civilization. To Egypt's right, highlighted in purple, are the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers and the surrounding territory in which Mesopotamian civilization developed. Notice that, although we don't have specific dates for when these civilizations rose, the three developed more or less at the same time. Equally important, all three had contact with each other, particularly through trade. Commerce between Egypt, Mesopotamia and India basically depended on either an overland route or a water route. I want you to pay close attention to the over land route, because this overland route remained the same for centuries, later becoming the Silk Road, about which you will learn in greater detail in future interactions.