Archaeologists attribute the earliest civilisation to the ‘Fertile Crescent’, an area of land that stretched from Egypt in the west to Pakistan and northern India in the east. At the eastern edge of this crescent was one of the earliest advanced civilisations in human history, the Indus Valley civilization. Together with Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley built the first cities, and created the first complex hierarchical societies. Centred on the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, the Indus Valley had created an urban civilisation with complex city-planning, elaborate drainage and water supply systems, decorated houses of baked mudbricks, and elaborate public buildings. At their height, these cities could have housed up to 60,000 people – the largest cities in the world for their time period. The civilisation lasted for around 2,000 years, during which we see a flourishing of the creative arts expressed through painted pottery and developed sculpture. However, it was not to last, and eventually the aridification of the region prompted the demise of the great Indus cities, and with it the end of their distinctive culture.

This large decorated vase is a truly remarkable survival from the period. From a narrow foot, it rises elegantly through an ovoid body to a slender neck with a round, overturned rim. But while the beauty of its shape and its state of preservation are exceptional, it is the decoration which truly sets this piece apart. Unlike many Indus Valley vases, the decoration is almost intact, and the depth of the pigment remains as vibrant as ever. The decorative scheme consists of four registers separated by decorated bands – in two instances with a sawtooth pattern of upright and inverted triangles, and in the third with concentric lines which circle the belly of the vase. The lower register consists of four wavy lines, which must represent the River Indus around which the civilisation was built. The river was their lifeblood; its fertile banks enabled them to engage in irrigation agriculture, which supported their vast cities.

The main register depicts two bulls or zebu, standing among the gently rolling hills of the valley, and separated by stylized vegetal motifs. Cattle were central to many ancient civilisations, as a food-source, a pack animal, a source of fertiliser for the fields, and even as currency. Our earliest written texts indicate that cattle were the primary offerings in sacrificial religions (we do not know whether the Indus people followed this practice), and were a symbol of status and power. The Egyptian Pharaoh, for example, wore the tail of a bull to indicate his own physical prowess. The other registers deal with wild animals – birds, ibex, some kind of feline (probably the Balochistan leopard, Panthera pardus saxicolor), and snakes – which existed at the fringes of the Indus Valley. These animals were, in some cases, a considerable threat to the livestock on which the Indus people relied, and indeed to the people themselves. Wild animals were often considered as messengers between this world and the next, since they existed in the transitional place at the border of human society, and could travel freely, even in the dead of night. Of particular interest are a number of symbols on the vase, consisting of brush-like banks of multiple vertical lines, resting on a horizontal base. It is possible that these symbols are in fact glyphs or numerals of the as-yet undeciphered Indus Valley text. These symbols are not otherwise known to archaeologists, and are seen for the first time on this vessel.

It is unknown what was stored in this sizeable vase, but it is clear that it was something of great importance. It would be illogical to expend the time and the effort to decorate a jar so vividly and so well if it were not for something significant. Suggestions might include wine, which was exported throughout the Fertile Crescent, or oils which would be important both for lighting and heat, but also for cleaning oneself and for cooking. This remarkable vessel is a hugely important example of vases of this type, and has recently been confirmed as of Indus Valley date through thermoluminescence analysis.