06/09/2024
Harappa Museum is an archaeology museum based in Harappa, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located about 7 kilometers from Harappa railway station, and is 17 km (11 mi) west of Sahiwal.
The Indus Valley civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which lasted from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE in regions now watered by the Indus River and its tributaries Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas. More than four hundred of its sites have been discovered so far, with Harappa and Mohenjo-daro being its major urban centres. It is also known as the Harappan civilisation, after its type site Harappa.
The ancient mounds of Harappa were first visited by Charles Masson in 1826 who went on to describe them in his book Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan and The Punjab. Alexander Burns in then visited the site in 1831.
After the Partition of India, Dr. Mohammad Rafique Mughal conducted excavations at Harappa in 1966, further augmenting the information available about it. On 26 March 1967, the museum was shifted to its current building inaugurated by the Minister for Education, Health, Labour, and Social Welfare, Kazi Anwarul Haque. From 1986 to 2001, the American archaeological mission carried out the Harappa Archeological Research Project at the site in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan, with George F. Dales serving as one of the co-directors.
