0:00:05 > 0:00:09I'm Amna, these are all my friends, and we live in Pakistan.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41The whole of Pakistan and parts of India,
0:00:41 > 0:00:45are home to one of the oldest civilisations in the world.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05The Indus Civilisation is over 4,500 years old.
0:01:09 > 0:01:10So, that means...
0:01:10 > 0:01:12If I'm standing in the present day,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15then he must be standing in the time of the Tudors.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21And she is standing where Roman Britain was.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29He is standing where our prophet Muhammad was born.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Further back was the birth of Jesus Christ.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Even further back is the Indus Civilisation.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53The Indus Civilisation was huge.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57It spread over 1,000,000 square kilometres.
0:01:57 > 0:02:014,500 years ago, there weren't the same borders.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05If you look at a map today,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08the Indus Civilisation stretches from Afghanistan,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11across the foothills of the Himalayas,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15and then down past the deserts of northern India.
0:02:21 > 0:02:27'I live in Larkana, a big town near the Indus river.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39'In 2500 BC, the major city of this area was Mohenjo-daro...
0:02:41 > 0:02:45'..a bit further away from Larkana, on the Indus river.'
0:02:55 > 0:03:00The local people had named it "Mound Of The Dead."
0:03:08 > 0:03:13Archaeologists estimated that in 2500 BC,
0:03:13 > 0:03:18Mohenjo-daro was a city full of 35,000 people.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24It was a planned city.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28With an Upper...
0:03:30 > 0:03:33..and a Lower Town.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35A huge Great Bath...
0:03:36 > 0:03:40..and with an advanced drainage system.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13The river Indus gives the region its name,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15and it's also the life-blood of the area.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17It's a large river,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21a great natural resource from which people can find food,
0:04:21 > 0:04:22and earn a living.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25As people also did 4,500 years ago.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Five separate rivers have their source
0:04:32 > 0:04:34in the Himalayan mountain range.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Travelling towards the valley floor,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39these five rivers then become the Indus river.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43The whole region is an alluvial plane.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53The river brings nutrient-rich sediment down from the mountains,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56which helps to fertilise the land.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59It's possible that the Indus people stored the water,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03in order to irrigate the fields during the dry season.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07GENERATOR RUMBLES
0:05:21 > 0:05:24In modern times, a large barrage has been built.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29This regulates the flow of water, channelling it down canals,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31so that it can be used for irrigation.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36The river water is now controlled.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45The area is known as the bread basket for the whole of Pakistan.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51Wheat is grown here, as it was in 2500 BC.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53People have settled here
0:05:53 > 0:05:58for the same reasons as they did 4,500 years ago - for food.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01It's a fertile land with good access to water.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06Let's take a closer look at what it was like in 2500 BC.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Mohenjo-daro has a really big main street,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14that seems to go all the way through the city.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24The street is large enough for lots of traffic to go -
0:06:24 > 0:06:28bullocks and carts, people and traders.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33With many small streets running off the main street.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50All the side streets are exactly the same width.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04The main street is 10m wide.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Is this evidence to show that someone sat down
0:07:08 > 0:07:11and thought about planning this city?
0:07:12 > 0:07:15It looks as though the streets and the drainage systems
0:07:15 > 0:07:16were laid out first.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Then blocks of houses and buildings were built around them.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23It works like any modern, planned city -
0:07:23 > 0:07:25like Milton Keynes, or New York.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34This is my favourite bit of the city.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36It's the Great Bath.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43The Great Bath is in the city's Upper Town.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48The archaeologists think that people used this great, deep pool
0:07:48 > 0:07:50for important religious ceremonies.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56It had a water supply coming in.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59There is a slope to drainage area,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02which makes it easy to release the water.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13It could be possible that the city rulers came here to worship,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17as cleanliness is considered very important to many religions.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24The Indus people were very civilised.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28In 2500 BC, they had toilets.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33This is a 4,500 year old loo.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41They also had drainage systems
0:08:41 > 0:08:44to carry away all the waste.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Keeping clean was very important to the Indus people.
0:08:53 > 0:09:00The house I live in is just like a house of a family in Mohenjo-daro.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05My house is built around a courtyard.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07This is my parents' bedroom,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10this is the servants' living area,
0:09:10 > 0:09:12and this is my lounge.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19I like my courtyard house,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23because I can play there safely,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and we can sleep out in the summer.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51This house in Mohenjo-daro was also built like my house -
0:09:51 > 0:09:53around a courtyard.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03This home - house 8 - was built with two storeys.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Every house - big or small - had a bathroom,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25and access to a well,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28whether nearby or in their own home.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34The Indus people had the technology to make wedged-shaped fired bricks,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36to create these 15m deep round wells.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52When Mohenjo-daro was first excavated
0:10:52 > 0:10:57by Sir John Marshall and a team of Indian archaeologists in the 1920s,
0:10:57 > 0:11:02they revealed to the world a vast, buried, forgotten city.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08A major find for Mohenjo-daro was a stone statue -
0:11:08 > 0:11:10the Priest King.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Archaeologists have suggested that he could have been a ruler,
0:11:17 > 0:11:18or a religious leader,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21or even a resident foreign dignitary.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26He has a headband which looks similar to gold ones
0:11:26 > 0:11:29found elsewhere in the region.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32So, we know they had access to precious metals,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35and the skills and technology necessary to work the metals.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41There have been lots of artefacts found at Mohenjo-daro,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45which can help to build up a picture of how people lived.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47What do these artefacts tell you?
0:12:33 > 0:12:37In Pakistan today, they still use bullocks for farming,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40and they also use tractors.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Bullocks don't tend to break down,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45and don't pollute the atmosphere.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49But a tractor is much more efficient for modern-day Pakistan.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18At Mohenjo-daro, they've found carbonised - or burnt - wheat.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21It's 4,500 years old.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24This means that the Indus people farmed wheat,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26just as they do today.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31But the job is now mechanised, rather than by hand.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36So many of the things which people invented,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39and were good at, 4,500 years ago,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42still happen in modern Pakistan.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50Amna's mother is making chapattis from wheat.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57It's a staple part of people's diet in the region.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26Archaeologists have found the bones of animals and fish.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30What does that tell YOU about their diet in 2500 BC?
0:14:51 > 0:14:53Larkana, where Amna lives,
0:14:53 > 0:14:58is the nearest major town to the ancient city of Mohenjo-daro.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01It has a population of 300,000 people.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05It is a bustling market town with shops and traders,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08similar to how Mohenjo-daro must have been.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21It is considered to have been the biggest city
0:15:21 > 0:15:23within the Indus civilisation.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27So, how do we know that all these sites are linked together?
0:15:27 > 0:15:31They have found similar artefacts at different locations.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35They have found bullocks and carts in Mohenjo-daro, Harappa,
0:15:35 > 0:15:37and down in India, Dholavira.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41And most of the important sites are built out of bricks,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43which have the same proportions.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46They can be different sizes of bricks,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50but the length is always twice the width, which is twice the height.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Other artefacts which link the sites are seals.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17These have been found all over the civilisation.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21This evidence helps us to conclude that they are all linked together.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31These images were carefully carved onto these small, stone seals,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35sometimes used to stamp on clay to seal a parcel or pot.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Some of the seals show real animals,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42and some might be mythological creatures like unicorns.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45On each is writing in the Indus script.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50This is still a mystery, as no-one has worked out how to read it.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53What do you think it all means?
0:16:56 > 0:16:59The signs might represent whole words,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02or part of a word like a syllable.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Some might represent sounds,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08or be a picture symbol of an object or an idea.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24The Indus people were very accurate when they traded with others.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27They had scales and stone weights and measures.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32These weights and measures have been found all over the Indus region,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34and every weight is exactly the same.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37So, it was a very fair system.
0:17:37 > 0:17:43The scales are as accurate today as they were in 2500 BC.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04In Pakistan, we are so proud of the ancient city of Mohenjo-daro,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08that we even have it on our 10 Rupee notes.
0:18:15 > 0:18:21The archaeologists have only excavated a small part of Mohenjo-daro.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24There is still so much to find.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Mohenjo-daro is an ancient city,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33but some cities in the world aren't as advanced today,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37as Mohenjo-daro was 4,500 years ago.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk