The Great Bath is one of the best-known structures among the ruins of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization at Mohenjo-daro inSindh, Pakistan.[1][2] Archaeological evidence indicates that the Great Bath was built in the 3rd Millennium BCE, just sometime after raising of the "citadel" mound on which it is located.
The Great Bath of Mohenjodaro is called the "earliest public water tank of the ancient world"[4] The Great Bath measures 11.88 meters x 7.01 meters, and has a maximum depth of 2.43 meters. Two wide staircases, one from the north and one from the south, served as the entry to the structure.[5] A 1 meter wide and 40 centimeters mound is present at end of these stairs.
A hole was also found at one end of the Bath which might have been used to drain the water into it. The floor of the tank is water tight due to finely fitted bricks laid on edge with gypsum plaster and the side walls were constructed in a similar manner. To make the tank even more water tight, a thick layer of bitumen (natural tar) was laid along the sides of the tank and presumably also beneath the floor. Brick colonnades were discovered on the eastern, northern and southern edges. The preserved columns have stepped edges that may have held wooden screens or window frames. Two large doors lead into the complex from the south and other access was from the north and east. A series of rooms are located along the eastern edge of the building and in one room is a well that may have supplied some of the water needed to fill the tank. Rainwater also may have been collected for this purposes, but no inlet drains have been found.
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.
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