| Sites | Features |
| Harappa (on Ravi River)
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| Mohenjo-Daro (Indus river) (mounds of Dead)
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Bronze mirror, needle, saw, and the Bronze statue of the bull
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| Lothal (Bhogava River, Gujarat) (also means ‘mounds of dead’ like Mohenjo-Daro)
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Sacrificial Altar (at Lothal and Kalibagan)- Shows medical and surgical skills
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| Dholavira (Khadir bet island in the Kutch Desert Wildlife
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| Rakhigarhi (on Ghaggar –Hakra river, Haryana)
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Government (2021-22 budget) will fund on-site museums (also at Hastinapur (UP), Shivsagar (Assam), Dholavira (Gujarat), and Adichanallur (TN) |
| Chanhudaro (on Indus river) |
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| Kalibangan (on Ghaggar river, RJ) (means ‘Black Bangles’) |
Fire altars (shows cult of sacrifice) |
| Bhirrana (Haryana) | Now considered to be Oldest discovered IVC site dating back to 7500 BCE (earlier Mehargarh (Pak) was considered to be Oldest ) |
Differences between IVC and that of Egyptian and Mesopotamian Civilization:
| Features | HARAPPAN | EGYPTIAN/MESOPOTAMIAN |
| Urban Planning | Planned towns with a grid-like pattern | Towns show haphazard growth |
| Script | Invented their own typical pictographic script | Mesopotamia has a cuneiform script and the Egyptian script is known as hieroglyphics. Both scripts have been deciphered |
| Writing Material | The majority of the Script has been found on the seals | The majority of the Mesopotamian script has been found on the clay tablets while Egyptians wrote on papyrus sheets made of reeds. |
| Extent of Civilization | Spread was 20 times that of Mesopotamian and Egyptian Civilization | Less area as compared to IVC |
| Building Material | Burnt Bricks | Egyptians used Dried Bricks, whereas Mesopotamians used Baked Bricks |
| Religion | No temples or religious structures have been found | Had elaborate religious practices, magic spells, and dominance of priest |
| Weapons | No clear evidence of war or weapons | Clear evidence of wars and expedition in other two civilizations |
| Decline of Civilization | Declined after 1900 BCE | Both the civilization continued to exist even after 1900 BCE. |
Similarities in IVC and Egyptian / Mesopotamian Civilization:
- Along river valleys: IVC was along Indus river basin, Sumerian developed between Tigris and Euphrates river basin while Egyptian civilization developed along Nile river basin.
- Agricultural society: They all developed as an agrarian society with a large agricultural class that was responsible for growing food for large centralized urban populations of the city.
- Egalitarian society: Women were relatively empowered in these civilizations with IVC showing evidence of mother goddess worship.
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- IVC had a large number of shrines of female deities showing women had a certain degree of independence.
- Women in Mesopotamia and Egypt could make their own business and trade contracts and own property and could even become a ruler (e.g. female pharaoh Hatshepsut)
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- Developed trade, manufacturing, and Commerce: Being free from the burden of growing food, these civilizations had a large merchant and artisans’ base
- Highly urbanized: They had sophisticated transport and economic networks. This enabled them to spread to larger areas and support advanced crafts, artistic production, sophisticated religions, technology, and government bureaucracies.
- Nature worship: Although not much is known about IVC religion, however, other two civilizations had polytheistic religions, consisting of nature worship.
- Writing and Script: All of them had well-established art of writing and script
- Burial practices: All three civilizations buried their dead with items needed in the afterlife
