[The ancient city of
Mohenjo Daro was one of the world's earliest major urban settlements - but as
Razia Iqbal found on a recent visit to Pakistan, its remains are in danger of
crumbling away.]
By Razia Iqbal
As a lover of language,
I am convinced that certain combinations of letters have in them some innate
magic - like Kubla Khan, or Xanadu, or Nineveh. So allow the words Mohenjo Daro
to roll slowly off your tongue. And let me tell you about this ancient city,
rediscovered nearly 100 years ago, but which had its heyday 4,000 years ago.
It lies on the banks of
the River Indus in the province of Sind, in Pakistan. Along with another
historical site, Harappa, it represents the very earliest civilisation in the
region, rivalling those in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Mohenjo Daro was a city
which had been effectively planned and boasted exceptional amenities. Its
houses were furnished with brick-built bathrooms, many had lavatories. Waste
water from these led into well-constructed sewers that ran along the centre of
the streets, covered with bricks.
Among the many
artefacts unearthed here, and one which stays in my mind, is a tiny, 10cm-high,
bronze statuette. She's known as the dancing girl - a poised figure, with hand
on hip, and face thrusting forward. She tells us not just about the Indus
people's skills in metallurgy but also about their art, society and women as
well.
Given Mohenjo Daro's
archaeological importance - it is a Unesco World Heritage Site - I was saddened
to find it in some disarray.
Tourism and heritage
aren't high on the government's agenda here. The authorities are far more
preoccupied with security and terrorism.
It was not what I would
call a busy tourist destination, few Pakistanis visit and we were among just 20
or 30 people there. We walked around the small museum which, though full of
interesting exhibits, was badly lit and poorly arranged. Outside the dancing
girl is displayed. But it's not the original. That's now in Delhi.
We walked to the city
itself. It's a wonder in so many ways, a vast site of neat, fired-brick
structures, identifiable streets and a place where it's easy to imagine what
life was like for its 35,000 inhabitants.
Remarkably, only a
small part of it has been excavated. One of our party, Maha Khan Philips, is
writing a fantasy thriller which is set in the ancient city. She wonders if all
of it should have remained buried in order to preserve it.
So much of what you can
see is crumbling. Exposed walls are falling apart from the base up. That's
because salinity in the ground water is destroying the bricks which, before
they were unearthed, had survived for thousands of years.
But it's still an
extraordinary site. There's a large brick Buddhist stupa at
its centre. Mohenjo Daro means Mound of the Dead. A picture of it graces
Pakistan's 20 rupee banknote.
Zain Mustafa, who now
lives in Pakistan, mused that Mohenjo Daro has much to teach the country today.
A nation which appears to define itself from 1947 onwards, as a Muslim country,
he feels, could find much to celebrate in the achievements of this ancient
city.
But it's hard to
believe anyone's taking proper care of a place which has such valuable things
to teach us about urban planning and a country's history. Perhaps it should be
given over to the care of external conservationists. Certainly the news of the
recent wanton destruction of ancient sites in the Middle East has made many
wonder about the need for protection here.
There were no guides at
Mohenjo Daro the day I was there, no one running after us. There were no
postcards, no souvenirs, no leaflets about the site. There were a couple of
intelligence or security-type fellows with guns who seemed particularly
interested in the foreign passport holders in our party. I ignored them as we
listened to my companions, who said some archaeologists think, given the
current rate of crumbling, the site will not exist in two decades.
I heard the theories
about what could have destroyed this civilisation so many years ago: a violent
massacre perhaps, or flooding and disease, or even more fantastic, some kind of
explosion, a fireball or meteorite. And now it's being destroyed by something
quite banal - neglect and a lack of interest.
Next year, a Bollywood
film of some considerable scale, called, simply, Mohenjo Daro, will be
released. Quite possibly that will provoke more interest in this ancient site.
And although the movie won't actually be made here, the fact that India is
interested in celebrating it on film might just spark rivalry in Pakistan and
inspire the authorities here to do something to conserve this vital part of
their history - one which surely they should embrace or at the very least,
protect.
