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===The Indus Valley and International Connections===
[[File: Mounds_at_Harappa.jpg|300px|thumbnail|rightleft|The Ruins of Harappa]]
Geographically speaking, the Indus Valley Civilization’s greatest influence can be seen in far away Mesopotamia. The Mature Harappan phase of the Indus Valley Civilization coincided with the Akkadian and Amorite dynasties in Mesopotamia and the Middle Kingdom in Egypt. <ref> Kenoyer, p. 17</ref> Several cuneiform inscriptions in the Akkadian language describe how King Sargon of Akkad (ruled ca. 2296-2240 BC) received ships from the land of Meluhha, which modern scholarly consensus places in the Indus Valley. The interaction between the two civilizations became so common that Akkadian texts document Indus interpreters in Mesopotamia. <ref> Kuhrt, Amélie. <i> The Ancient Near East: c. 3000-330 BC.</i> (London: Routledge, 2010), p. 53</ref> A cuneiform text from the city of Lagash from the same period demonstrates that the Indus Valley people were also involved in trade with that Mesopotamian city.
Other texts from Mesopotamia also mention how red stone from the Indus Valley was sent to Mesopotamia, proving that the two civilizations had deep economic ties. Archaeological evidence from the Indus Valley, though, indicates that the connections between the regions may have been even earlier and stronger than previously thought. Excavations of the cemeteries at Harappa and examinations of the human remains indicates that the Harappan people may have been involved in an economic and cultural sphere that was centered in the Iranian Plateau. <ref> Hemphill, Brian E., John R. Lukacs, and K. A. R. Kennedy. “Biological Adaptations and Affinities of Bronze Age Harappans.” In <i>Harappa Excavations 1986-1990: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Third Millennium Urbanism.</i> Edited by Richard W. Meadow. (Madison, Wisconsin: Prehistory Press, 1991), p. 139</ref> The human remains from the Harappa cemeteries were compared with other samples from Bronze Age Near Eastern peoples and showed that the Harappans had some biological affinities to Mesopotamian peoples. This discovery seemed to confirm for some scholars the unproven theory that the Sumerians were originally from India, while other scholars believe it may show a link between the Elamites and the Dravidians, although it is not known if the Harappans actually were a Dravidian speaking people. <ref> Hemphill et. al., pgs. 173-4</ref>
Excavations at Harappa have also uncovered standardized weights, etched carnelian beads, and different pottery that suggest a connection between the Indus Valley and the people of the Bronze Age Persian Gulf. <ref> Wright, Rita P. “Patterns of Technology and the Organization of Production at Harappa.” In <i>Harappa Excavations 1986-1990: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Third Millennium Urbanism.</i> Edited by Richard W. Meadow. (Madison, Wisconsin: Prehistory Press, 1991), p. 72</ref> When all of the archaeological evidence from the Indus Valley is considered along with the archaeological and textual evidence from Mesopotamia, then it is clear that the Harappans exerted an influence that went well beyond the marches of their civilization.
===Conclusion===