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Harappa (Punjabi pronunciation: [ɦəɽəppaː]; Urdu: ہڑپّہا‎) is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 km (15 mi) west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River. The current village of Harappa is 6 km (3.7 mi) from the ancient site.

Harappa was the centre of one of the core regions of the Indus Valley Civilization. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged circa 2600 BCE along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh. Mohenjo-Daros is in a better state, but both cities were religious centres, - and this is pure speculation – dedicated to Shiva and Shakti. 

From the artefacts, it looks as though Harappa was dedicated to Shiva and Mohenjo-Daro to Shakti. 

 

The bull seal found is an emblem of Shiva – who rides on a bull, and the presence of so many High Priestesses [goddesses of Shakti] and the Great Bath – the site tank or well – symbol of the feminine subconscious, tend to support this.

Symbolically Shiva would have been the ‘Sun’ and Shakti the ‘Moon’.

The civilization, with a possible writing system, urban centres, and diversified social and economic system, was rediscovered in the 1920s after excavations at Mohenjo-daro in Sindh near Larkana, and Harappa, in west Punjab south of Lahore.

The site of the ancient city contains the ruins of a Bronze Age walled city, which is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents and occupied about 150 hectares (370 acres) its greatest extent during the Mature Harappan phase (2600–1900 BC), ‘ considered large for its time’.

The buildings are made of brick.  Although the archaeological site at Harappa was damaged in 1857 when engineers constructing the Lahore-Multan railroad (as part of the Sind and Punjab Railway), used brick from the Harappa ruins for track ballast, an abundance of artefacts has nevertheless been found. The bricks discovered were made of red sand, clay, stones and were baked at very high temperature.

The people used copper and bronze, iron was not yet employed. "Cotton was woven and dyed for clothing; wheat, rice, and a variety of vegetables and fruits were cultivated; and a number of animals, including the humped bull, were domesticated."  They had wheel-made pottery.  And they traded – over great distances by sea and land. Harappans had many trade routes along the Indus River that went as far as the Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Some of the most valuable things traded were carnelian and lapis lazuli.