Grade 6 · Social Studies · Lesson 4

The Indus Valley civilization

At the same time as the Egyptians were raising pyramids and the Sumerians were inventing cuneiform, a third great civilization was thriving far to the east. The Indus Valley civilization grew up along the Indus River in what is today Pakistan and north-western India. It flourished from roughly 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE and was, at its peak, the largest of all the ancient civilizations by area — covering more than a million square kilometers.

What this lesson teaches

1Locate the Indus Valley civilization on a map of South Asia
2Describe the planned cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
3Explain the urban planning innovations of the Indus Valley people
4Discuss what is still unknown about the Indus Valley script and decline

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