Harappa is one of the great archaeological sites of the ancient world — the type-site of the Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished roughly 3,000 to 1,500 BC and rivalled the contemporary civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt in scale and sophistication. The ruins lie in the Sahiwal district of Punjab, about 25 kilometres southwest of the town of Sahiwal.
The ancient city was substantial: the circuit of mounds covers several kilometres, with a raised citadel to the west and the remains of the lower city spreading east and southeast. The River Ravi, which once ran close to the northern edge, has shifted six miles northward since antiquity. Near the ruins, the living town of Harappa survives, and potters here still make vessels by the methods their ancestors used four thousand years ago.
Excavations began in earnest in 1920 under Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni, whose work — alongside contemporaneous digs at Mohenjo-daro — revealed the Indus civilization to the world for the first time. Much of the site remains unexcavated, and new finds continue to refine understanding of how this vast urban culture lived and traded. The archaeological site itself takes a half-day to walk; start at the Harappa Museum for context before heading out across the mounds, and look out for Cemetery R-37 on the southern edge. If you are traveling in Pakistan, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro together make a compelling picture of a civilization that has no equal in the subcontinent's early history.