First Street, Mohenjo-daro

Ernest Mackay writes (1938) "As far as we can tell at present, this street appears to be the second most important thoroughfare of the city; for although it is longer than the street that crosses it at right angles, coming presumably from the east gate of the city, the latter [First Street] is undoubtedly wider-along it, the grass-covered road to the camp now runs between the HR and VS Areas."

The fourth image shows the layers of excavation on this street, looking into the past. MackKay continues "the general impression that they make upon the eye and mind is that the masonry [stonework] is much better at the lower levels, save where a certain amount of patching was necessitated by floods and the action of salt." (Mohenjo-daro, 1938, I, p. 26).

MacKay writes of the center images "In general, First Street presented very much the same appearance in the Intermediate II Phase as in the previous sub-period, except that for a distance of 124 feet along the frontages of Block 5 and a portion of Block 6, platforms were built out into the street an average width of 4 ft. 6 ins. The outer faces of these structures were only one brick thick, the spaces between them and the houses behind them filled in with debris. There can be no doubt that on these benches the miscellaneous wares of a bazaar were set out for sale. . . . they appear to be of a considerable height, the explanation being that with the rise of the level of the street, the bazaar platforms had also to be raised, while the alignment of the street remained the same well into the Intermediate I Phase," (Mackay, Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro, I, p. 27).

See also The First Street of Mohenjo-daro: Revisited.