Harappan Civilization | Teen Ink

Harappan Civilization

May 23, 2010
By l.puff SILVER, Seattle, Washington
l.puff SILVER, Seattle, Washington
5 articles 0 photos 0 comments

If one were to pick an ancient culture to live in and could not pick gender nor status a good choice would be the Harappan civilization. The Harappan civilization is an obvious choice particularly when compared to the Spartan, Viking and Babylonian civilizations. The Spartans had helots for slaves. One day every year any Spartan citizen could kill any helot. The Spartan women were trained for the last resort in battle if needed and mainly were used to make more warriors. Viking slaves were treated like animals and their wives would mainly stay home and live with their families since they were gone so often. In Babylon women would be married and have some rights but the men could choose to divorce if they would not give them children. In Babylon slavery was not brutal but parents could sell their children into slave trade and you could be put in slavery for going against the laws. These cultures are much different than Harappans because in the Harappan culture they were prosperous which helped them to live better lives.


The basis of Spartan civilization was battles. The women were used for the last line in battle and for having children. Since the focus was war, the women went through a lot of the same training as men which was quite challenging. Helots were the Spartan slaves and knew only working the land. Though the Helots supported the Spartans agriculturally they were still mistreated. One day each year the Spartans could kill any Helot they wanted. Spartan women were used like objects and the slaves were treated very inhumanely which makes this culture a bad choice.


Men traveled a lot so the women held down the fort at home in Viking culture. This meant that their lives revolved around keeping the land up because the men were gone a lot of the time. Also she would have to watch over the family and make food while tending to the animals and crops. The slaves of Vikings were owned like property and could be treated as the owner saw fit. Even if a slave was pregnant their baby was given to the slave owner. The Vikings lived hard lives as a whole but being a woman or slave was even more difficult.


Harappans were a very prosperous civilization. They had very advanced technologies that included a sewage system. Also they were situated on the Indus River which meant that everyone could get water easily. The water system helped women to stay safe from getting attacked because the water system for many civilizations was far away. There is also no proof of slavery being used which would make sense with their advanced technology. This shows that the Harappan culture would be a good choice because they could live good and sanitary lives.


Overall the Harappans are the obvious choice for a culture to live in if you could determine neither your gender nor status. They were able to live good lives especially compared to the Spartans Vikings and Babylonians. Even though there is not much info on the Harappans all that has been found is positive. Harappan culture would be a good culture to live in and showed great knowledge for their time.


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This article has 1 comment.


colegifisit said...
on May. 24 2011 at 7:24 pm
wow... your totaly a student of ms.shadow. oh well. still have very good ideas and thesis. thnx