Given the hierarchy of needs, how did Mohenjo-Daro build up their civilization?
Currently, when I think of civilization, I think of the seven definition features of one: technology, culture, writing, government, religion, food, and social structure. But, when comparing those elements to the hierarchy of needs for civilization, I found that all of them, except for one (stable food supply) are all in higher categories than the first. In order for civilization to flourish culturally, sophisticatedly, and fundamentally, it must start with the physiological needs (first level), and build up upon that structure. Without physiological aspects in life, one can not establish safety. Without safety, one can not develop senses of love and belonging. Without love and senses of belonging, one can not grow esteem. Without esteem, one can not expect self=actualization. In other words, a society can not develop a system of trade before it implements ways by which it will obtain its food and water, because without that (the essentials for survival), there would be no life; without life, there would be no need or existence of a trade system. The Mohenjo-Daro utilized their surrounding environment and natural resources in order to fulfill the fundamental level of sustainability (physiological) which allowed them to expand their society to higher and more advanced elements of civilization, such as economics, social structure, and technology.
The Mohenjo-Daro society was located in strategically appealing position, considering it easily provided the establishment with one of the essential needs for survival that is a core foundation in the first level of the hierarchy of needs: water. Situated directly next to the Indus River, the Mohenjo-Daro population can fulfill their basic need for water conveniently and naturally. Since the river provided the population with one of its fundamental necessities, the civilization could begin building up to bigger and more primitive functions. Being right on the river, the Mohenjo-Daro has easy access and transportation, the civilization was able to control and greatly influence trade via waterways. Connected to a central river network, the civilization would be able to access and dominate trade routes leading to and from the location of the society. This is an example of a civilization that ideally utilized their natural resources and strengthened their relationship with the environment by putting what it provided to efficient use. They applied their lifestyle to the environment, and allowed it to fulfill both their physiological needs, and with that, addressed more advanced and sophisticated elements of civilization. The River provided water as well as a basis for trade and a developing economic system throughout the region.
A third physiological need which must be met in order for a society to be able to build up and address other elements of civilization is food. The population of Mohenjo-Daro lived in an environment which provided incredibly poor conditions to bring up livestock or animals. Therefore, the Mohenjo-Daro primarily focused on wild plant resources for food. With fertile and growing plants comes usable, moist, and healthy soil, a main construction resource which made the Mohenjo-Daro such a distinctive and advanced civilization. Using the soil and mud, made usable by the vast plant and raw material sources, the population was able to form massive mud brick platforms and structures, an advanced building technology which came to define some of what the society became. With the mud bricks, the society was able to grow to vast proportions, with massive mounds, barriers, and structures. In addition to mud bricks, fried bricks were also a newly developed technology which the Mohenjo-Daro used in big quantities. “The Citadel” was designed especially with fried bricks, comprising of structures such as a water tank (Great Bath) and many distinguishable doorways, courtyards, and buildings. Such building technology also allowed the population to construct methods by which if the River were to flood, the civilization itself would receive minimal damage. The citizens prioritized, and obtained food sources in order to survive, and based off of their resources available, only after, began to develop a system of technology. Using the environment to grow plants to provide food for the population not only allowed the Mohenjo-Daro to establish an advanced and concrete construction technique, but also kept the ecosystem fertilized, healthy, and pure.
The building technology also helped establish a social structure in the Mohenjo-Daro society. With a stable and reliable food and water source, the Mohenjo-Daro were able to climb further up into the hierarchy of needs to institute another aspect of civilization in their society, but one that is not essential but has grown to become a pressing need in society. With evidence of different building strategies and materials, archaeologists were able to discover the establishment of different social classes. The city was divided into functional branches: the western mounds and the lower mounds. The two were built in different places, which described who lived there and what they did. The western mounds were at ground level or higher, evidently being the administrative centers. The lower mounds were built beneath them or lower than the administrative, representing residencies and industrial areas. This allowed excavators to develop a sense that there were shifting centers of power within the society. But, when observing the construction of artifacts and crafts, archaeologists were able to discover that the ones found made of precious metals, high fired stoneware, and rare materials indicated signs of wealth (via trade) and power. The technologies influenced the unmistakable social structure which set the rulers and wealthy class from the common people and lower class. This reflects the many social and economic levels present in the civilization, proving how progressed and developed the Mohenjo-Daro civilization was.
Essentially, because the population had already supplied itself with the physiological needs, they were able to climb up the hierarchy of needs and address each level with different aspects of civilization. Using their provided environment, the population initiated ways by which satisfy the first level of the hierarchy, allowing it to focus on the next level. Perhaps the Mohenjo-Daro can be looked at as a civilization which fulfilled the hierarchy of needs, and began to look towards other ways which civilization could prosper. This is a foreshadowing of many of the civilizations to come after the Mohenjo-Daro, as humanity takes too big of a step forward without accounting for the basic necessities which survival calls for, leading the unavoidable destruction and corruption of civilization.
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