Great Bath

The Great Bath is one of t he best -known st ruct ures among t he ruins of t he Harappan
Civilizat ion, excavat ed at Mohenjo-daro in present -day Sindh province of Pakist an.[1][2][3]
Archaeological evidence indicat es t hat t he Great Bat h was built in t he t hird millennium BCE,
soon aft er t he raising of t he "cit adel" mound on which it is locat ed.[4]

The Great Bath was found in 1926 during

archaeological excavations

Features
The Great Bat h of Mohenjo-Daro is called t he "earliest public wat er t ank of t he ancient
world".[5] It measures approximat ely 12 met res (40 ft ) by 7 met res (23 ft ), wit h a maximum
dept h of 2.4 met res (8 ft ).[6] Two wide st aircases, one from t he nort h and one from t he sout h,
served as t he ent ry t o t he st ruct ure.[7] A ledge 1.4 met res (4 ft 7 in) high ext ending t he ent ire
widt h of t he bat h is at t he lower ends of t hese st airs. The sloping floor leads t o a small out let
at t he sout hwest ern corner of t he t ank, connect ing corbelled arch drain, which led t he used
wat er out of t he bat h.[8]
The floor of t he t ank was wat ert ight due t o finely fit t ed bricks laid on edge wit h a gypsum
plast er, and t he side walls were const ruct ed in a similar manner. To make t he t ank even more
wat ert ight , a t hick layer of bit umen (wat erproof t ar) was laid along t he sides of t he pool and
presumably also on t he floor. Brick colonnades were discovered on t he east ern, nort hern and
sout hern edges. The preserved columns had st epped edges t hat may have held wooden
screens or window frames. Two large doors lead int o t he complex from t he sout h and ot her
access was from t he nort h and east . A series of rooms were locat ed along t he east ern edge
of t he building and in one room was a well t hat may have supplied some of t he wat er needed
t o fill t he t ank. Rainwat er also may have been collect ed for t he purpose, but no inlet drains
have been found. It may have had a long bat hing pool built wit h wat erproof bricks.[9]

"Most scholars agree that this tank would have been used for
special religious functions where water was used to purify and
renew the well being of the bathers. This indicates the importance
attached to ceremonial bathing in sacred tanks, pools and rivers
since time immemorial." J. M. Kenoyer[9]

College of Priests
Across t he st reet of The Great Bat h, t here was a large building wit h several rooms and t hree
verandas, and t wo st aircases leading t o t he roof and upper floor. Considering t he size and
proximit y t o t he Great Bat h, t his building is t ent at ively t ermed as t he House of Priest s and
labelled as "College of Priest s".[4]
Gallery

During 1922-1927 archaeological

excavations

Explanatory sign
 General view

View of tank with both staircases

 Staircase

Masonry detail
References

1. "SD Area" (http://www.ancientindia.co.uk/i

ndus/explore/sd_intro_b1.html) . Ancient
India. British Museum. Archived (https://w
eb.archive.org/web/20180703133435/htt
p://www.ancientindia.co.uk/indus/explor
e/sd_intro_b1.html) from the original on
3 July 2018.

2. "Great Bath (http://www.britannica.com/E

Bchecked/topic/242946/Great-Bath) ."
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved
9 June 2010.

3. Tikkanen, Amy (26 January 2018). "Great

Bath" (https://www.britannica.com/place/
Great-Bath-Mohenjo-daro) . Encyclopædia
Britannica. Archived (https://web.archive.
org/web/20180703164742/https://www.
 britannica.com/place/Great-Bath-Mohenjo
-daro) from the original on 3 July 2018.

4. Singh, Upinder (2008). "The Harappan

Civilization, c. 2600–1900 BCE" (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkE
C&pg=PA149) . A History of Ancient and
Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age
to the 1100s. New Delhi: Pearson
Education. pp. 149–150. ISBN 978-81-
317-1120-0.

5. Kenoyer, slide 8 of 90 (https://www.harap

pa.com/slide/great-bath-mohenjo-daro-
0) .

6. Kenoyer, slide 24 of 103 (https://www.har

appa.com/indus6/greatbathatdawn24.ht
ml) .

7. Kenoyer, slide 25 of 103 (http://www.moh

enjodaro.net/greatbath25.html) .
 8. Kenoyer, slides 29 (https://www.harappa.c
om/indus6/greatbathside29.html) -32 of
103 (https://www.harappa.com/indus6/gr
eatbathdrain32.html) , outlet and
corbelled drain.

9. Kenoyer, slide 8 of 90 (http://www.harapp

a.com/indus/8.html) .

Bibliography

Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark. Two sets of

indexed images: Mohenjo-daro! (https://ww
w.harappa.com/slideshows/mohenjo-daro) ,
103 slides. See "Great Bath, SD Area", slides
23 (https://www.harappa.com/indus6/great
bathgranary23.html) -32 (https://www.hara
ppa.com/indus6/greatbathdrain32.html) ;
and Around the Indus in 90 Slides (https://w
ww.harappa.com/slideshows/around-indus-
 90-slides) , introduction (https://www.harap
pa.com/indus/indus1.html) and slides 8 (ht
tps://www.harappa.com/slide/great-bath-m
ohenjo-daro-0) -9 (https://www.harappa.co
m/slide/great-bath-mohenjo-daro) & 12 (htt
ps://www.harappa.com/slide/bath-area-mo
henjo-daro) . 1995–2022. Accessed 2 July
2012, re-accessed 11 July 2022.

External links

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