With reference to the external trade contacts and economic organization of the Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilization, consider the following statements:
1. Mesopotamian cuneiform texts from the Akkadian period make frequent references to commercial relations with 'Meluhha', generally identified by historians as the Indus region.
2. Characteristic Harappan rectangular steatite seals and etched carnelian beads have been excavated at Mesopotamian urban centers such as Kish and Ur.
3. The Harappan coastal settlement of Lothal served exclusively as a transit storage port and lacked domestic bead-making or metalworking craft industries.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 and 2 onlyCevap
- B2 and 3 only
- C1 and 3 only
- D1, 2 and 3
Cevap
The correct option is the one stating that statements 1 and 2 only are correct.
Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets from the reign of Sargon of Akkad explicitly list imports of ivory, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and timber from 'Meluhha', which modern scholarship firmly identifies with the Indus Valley region. Furthermore, physical evidence such as characteristic Harappan steatite seals and distinctive long barrel carnelian beads have been excavated at Mesopotamian sites like Ur, Kish, and Nippur. Conversely, statement 3 is false because archaeological evidence at Lothal demonstrates that it was not merely a passive transit dockyard; it housed major domestic craft industries, including a well-defined bead-manufacturing factory with kilns and copper-smelting workshops.
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Anahtar Kavram
Harappan External Trade and Industrial Craft Specialization