https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729010730.htm
“New research suggests that Mohenjo-daro followed a very different path from
many other early cities. As the 4,000-year-old urban center became larger, more
productive, and more successful, its society appears to have grown more equal
rather than less.
Historians have often argued that inequality increased when small farming
settlements developed into cities. Under this traditional model, kings,
priests, and other powerful leaders gained control of wealth and resources,
causing the divide between rich and poor to expand.
A University of York study of Mohenjo-daro, the largest city of the Indus
civilization, points to the opposite pattern. Researchers examined differences
in house sizes across the city and found that wealth became more evenly
distributed as Mohenjo-daro matured.
The city also appears to have been more equal than comparable societies in
Mesopotamia and Greece. Instead of producing increasingly dramatic differences
between wealthy and ordinary households, Mohenjo-daro saw the size gap between
its largest and smallest homes become narrower over time.
The lead author, Dr. Adam Green from the University of York's Department of
Archaeology and Department of Environment and Geography, said: "Legacy data
from the ancient city shows that as the city matured, the gap between the
largest and smallest homes narrowed. In fact, by its later years, the wealth
gap in this massive urban center had dropped to levels typical of the first
farming villages.
"While ancient Egyptians were building pyramids for god-kings, and the Greeks
were constructing massive palaces at Knossos, the people of the Indus were
building something entirely different.
"Instead of gold-filled tombs and huge temples, Mohenjo-daro focused on
sophisticated brick-lined drains and organized street layouts. Instead of
allowing the perks of society to accumulate with a tiny elite, the city's
amenities were widely distributed amongst the everyday households."”
Via Christoph S.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
