Mohenjo-daro · 2500 BC
What you're walking through
Around 2500 BC, Mohenjo-daro was one of the great cities of the Indus civilization, in what is now Sindh, Pakistan. Its neighbourhoods were laid out with main streets and smaller lanes. Houses had courtyards, and many had wells or bathing areas connected to drains.
On the raised western mound stood the Great Bath: a brick-lined tank about twelve metres long, seven metres wide and 2.4 metres deep, reached by stairways at opposite ends. Closely fitted bricks and waterproofing kept its water in. Its purpose is uncertain, as are the functions of several other large buildings. The Indus script has not been securely deciphered.
Who lives here
Indus townsman
A stylized cloth wrap · the city's houses had courtyards, wells and drains
Craftspeople, traders and households filled Mohenjo-daro's brick neighbourhoods. Its inhabitants' language and many details of their clothing remain uncertain; these figures are illustrative.
Indus townswoman
An illustrative draped dress · archaeologists know the city's buildings better than its people's identities
The excavated neighbourhoods contain living spaces, bathing platforms and workshops. This scene imagines the people using them, without assigning a language or religion to the city.
Ox
A draught animal · cattle appear on Indus seals and in terracotta models
Cattle were part of the agricultural world around Indus cities. The animal here reuses a stylized cattle model, rather than reconstructing a particular ancient breed.
This scene combines excavated features into a compact, imagined neighbourhood around 2500 BC; the surviving remains belong to several building phases. Roofs, upper storeys, colours and inhabitants are reconstructed freely. The Great Bath's purpose and the city's political and religious organization are left open. The much later Buddhist stupa is omitted. The river's ancient course is not reconstructed.
How to walk
Press Start walking above. WA SD or the arrow keys move you, the mouse looks around, hold Shift with a movement key to run at 3× walking speed, and Space jumps. Look at someone to see who they are. Esc pauses, and M turns the sound on or off. You're invisible: nobody here can see you.
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