Jane DoeAfter drinking the last tumbler of Somras, I decided that I should retire since I had a long journey the next day. I had to go on a long voyage to Sumeria. My father was the village head of Kurka in Harappa. Our village was right next to river Saraswati. It was a huge river and was enough to sustain a village of 50 huts which had 5 members at an average. Kurka was a small but prosperous village. It maintained good trade relations with villages in the Katchh, western areas of Indus Valley, Sumeria and Egypt.
Adornments in Indus Valley
People in our village wore skirts mostly of bright colours which were fastened to the waist using girdles made of beads or bands made of woven material. The women sometimes threw a shawl across their shoulders in winters. Most women and some men are completely obsessed with jewellery and cosmetics. The jewellery ranges from bangles, necklaces to heavy headgears. Some bangles in the temple have holy words in our language inscribed on them. Ornaments are made of gold, silver, copper or stones. There is a variety of choice for the people. I liked the blue stone, turquoise. So, father gifted me a turquoise finger ring last year.
Occupation
There exists a variety of occupation choices for people in Indus Valley. They could choose whatever they wanted to do. The main occupation was agriculture so most people were farmers. Our village also had 3 goldsmiths, 17 metal workers, 2 granary keepers, 5 priests and many architects as town planning is considered important. The rest are mostly traders or merchants or travellers or musicians.
One of my childhood friends, Mara was an excellent castanet and drum player. It was a delight to listen to her perform. The recreation in Kurka for adults ranged from gambling and drinking somras to playing board games. The children had a variety of terracotta toys to choose from. The terracotta toys and figures were often sold at a throwaway price and formed an essential part of everyone’s home décor. Pottery also was an important occupation of the people. The potters made beautiful pots made of terracotta. For the aristocracy, the potters adorned the simple pots with precious stones and gold pieces to make them look exquisite.
Religion
Our village had a main temple with the statue of our main God, Ra. The statue was made of terracotta and ivory. Along with that, the temple also had seals of Pashupati, a three headed figure we worshipped for luck.
Seals of Sumerian gods and Egyptian Gods also held an important place in the temple. The gods were offered a meal of Somras and a ram or a goat daily to keep them contented and happy. There was a room in the temple which had a huge, brown chest full of gold and ivory. The room also had a secret passageway which was underground. The room wasn’t accessible to normal residents as the key was owned by the head priest and the Gods forbade him from giving anyone the key except for his son.
Traditions of Indus Valley
It is a custom in Kurka of Indus Valley to send the first born or a male member of the family on voyages either for trade purposes or travel and discover new habitable lands. Since my father had two daughters before my mother passed away and he refused to remarry as he believed that my mother, Agassi was the love of his life, he was in a dilemma now as he would be violating a tradition for which Lord Indra might not forgive him. But as I grew old enough to understand the seriousness of the issue, I took it upon me to protect the integrity of my father and decided to be the one to travel overseas. Anyway, it had always been my dream to explore new lands and meet new people.
Also Read: Love Struck in Sumeria Part 2
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