Lapis lazuli, or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilisations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread. Its sites spanned an area from northeast Afghanistan and much of Pakistan to western and northwestern India. The civilisation flourished both in the alluvial plain of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along a system of perennial monsoon-fed rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra, a seasonal river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan.
Meluḫḫa or Melukhkha is the Sumerian name of a prominent trading partner of Sumer during the Middle Bronze Age. Its identification remains an open question, but most scholars associate it with the Indus Valley civilisation.
Sutkagan Dor is the westernmost known archaeological site of the Indus Valley civilization. It is located about 480 km west of Karachi on the Makran coast near Gwadar, close to the Iranian border, in Pakistan's Baluchistan Province. The site is near the western bank of the Dasht River and its confluence with a smaller stream, known as the Gajo Kaur. It was a smaller settlement with substantial stone walls and gateways.
Amri–Nal culture is attributed to Amri archaeological sites in Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. It flourished in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. The dual typesites are Amri and Nal.
Ratha is also known as the Indo-Iranian term for a spoked-wheel chariot or a cart of antiquity.
Banawali is an archaeological site belonging to Indus Valley civilization period in Hisar district, Haryana, India and is located about 120 km northeast of Kalibangan and 16 km from Fatehabad. Banawali, which is earlier called Vanavali, is on the left banks of dried up Sarasvati River. Comparing to Kalibangan, which was a town established in lower middle valley of dried up Sarasvathi River, Banawali was built over upper middle valley of Sarasvathi River.
Bhirrana, also Bhirdana and Birhana, is an archaeological site, located in a small village in Fatehabad District, in the Indian state of Haryana. Bhirrana's earliest archaeological layers predates Indus Valley civilisation times, dating to the 8th-7th millennium BCE. The site is one of the many sites seen along the channels of the seasonal Ghaggar river, thought by some to be the Rigvedic Saraswati river.
Kuntasi is an archaeological site which is identified as a port belonging to the Indus Valley civilization. This site is located on the right bank of Phulki River, about 3 km south-east of Kuntasi village and 30 km from Morbi in Maliya taluka of Morbi District in Gujarat state of India. It is five km inlandward from present shore line. It was first reported by P. P Pandya and later thoroughly explored by Y. M. Chitalwala. The excavations revealed two periods of occupation. Period I is assigned to the Mature Harappan phase and the Period II is assigned to the Late Harappan phase. This site was identified as a jetty and a manufacturing centre.
Imports to Ur reflect the cultural and trade connections of the Sumerian city of Ur. During the period of the Early Dynastic III royal cemetery, Ur was importing elite goods from geographically distant places. These objects literacu include precious metals such as gold and silver, and semi-precious stones, namely lapis lazuli and carnelian. These objects are all the more impressive considering the distance from which they traveled to reach Mesopotamia and Ur specifically.
Alamgirpur is an archaeological site of the Indus Valley civilization that thrived along Yamuna River from the Harappan-Bara period, located in Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the easternmost site of the civilization.
Mundigak is an archaeological site in Kandahar province in Afghanistan. During the Bronze Age, it was a center of the Helmand culture. It is situated approximately 55 km (34 mi) northwest of Kandahar near Shāh Maqsūd, on the upper drainage of the Kushk-i Nakhud River.
Bargaon is an archaeological site of the Indus Valley civilisation. It is in Saharanpur District, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Kunal is a pre-Harappan Indus Valley civilisation settlement located in Fatehabad district of Haryana state in India. Compared to other IVC sites, such as cities like Rakhigarhi and towns like Kalibangan, Kunal site was a village. Excavation at Kunal show 3 successive phases of Pre-Harappan indigenous culture on the Saraswati river who also traded with Kalibanga and Lothal. Kunal, along with its other contemporary sites Bhirrana and Rakhigarhi on Sarasvati-Ghaggar river system, is recognised as the oldest Pre-Harappan settlement, with Kunal being an older cultural ancestor to Rehman Dheri in Pakistan< which is on the Tentative List for future World Heritage Sites.
Karanpura is an archeological site near Bhadra city of Hanumangarh district in Rajasthan, India. It belongs with ancient Indus Valley civilization. Harappan pottery has been found after excavation.
Sohr Damb, c. 3800–2300 BC, is an archaeological site, located near Nal, in central Balochistan, Pakistan that begins before the Indus Valley civilization featuring Togau, Kili Ghul Mohammad, and Kechi Beg pottery styles. It has also been known as 'Nal', and gave its name to the prehistoric Amri-Nal culture, which is attributed to the dual typesites of Amri and Nal.
Etched carnelian beads, or sometimes bleached carnelian beads, are a type of ancient decorative beads made from carnelian with an etched design in white, which were probably manufactured by the Indus Valley civilization during the 3rd millennium BCE. They were made according to a technique of alkaline-etching developed by the Harappans, and vast quantities of these beads were found in the archaeological sites of the Indus Valley civilization. They are considered as an important marker of ancient trade between the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia and even Ancient Egypt, as these precious and unique manufactured items circulated in great numbers between these geographical areas during the 3rd millennium BCE, and have been found in numerous tomb deposits.
The ancient Sumerian economy refers to the systems of trade in ancient Mesopotamia. Sumerian city-states relied on trade due to a lack of certain materials, which had to be brought in from other regions. Their trade networks extended to places such as Oman, Arabia, Anatolia, the Indus River Valley, and the Iranian Plateau. Sumerians also bought and sold property, but land tied to the temples could not be traded. There were three types of land -- Nigenna, Kurra, and Urulal -- and only Urulal land could be traded; Nigenna land belonged to the temple, while Kurra land belonged to the people working in the temple. Within Sumer, the Sumerians could use silver, barley, or cattle as currency.
