INDUS 100 | Poster exhibition in the museum’s garden on the centenary of the international discovery of the Indus Civilisation

In parallel with the Gandhāra exhibition, a poster exhibition on the Indus Civilisation awaits visitors in the garden. This side exhibition, curated by Archaeologist-Indologist Dr. Rita Jeney, is realised with the support of the Embassy of India.

The Indus Civilisation flourished in South Asia in the third millennium BCE, at the same period as the cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. However, while the ancient writing of Egypt and Mesopotamia was deciphered in the nineteenth century, the writing of the Indus Civilisation remains undeciphered to this day. Without written sources, its history and actual age are more difficult to reconstruct. This is why the realisation in 1924 that an ancient civilisation existed in India, alongside Egypt and the Middle East, whose inhabitants lived in well-planned cities, produced sophisticated handicrafts and traded with distant lands, was extremely significant. The INDUS 100 poster exhibition in Hopp Museum’s garden commemorates the centenary of the international discovery of the Indus Civilisation. The posters show the sites and typical artefacts, accompanied by contemporary photographs, documents, and expert explanations. In addition to presenting the history of the remarkable discovery a hundred years ago, the exhibition aims to commemorate Hungarian scientists who played a role in the research of the Indus Civilisation and to present to the visitors the Indus artefacts in the Hopp Museum’s collections.

By presenting the Indus Valley, Gandhāra, and Mathura material, the exhibition will showcase some of the earliest pieces from the Hopp Museum’s India/South Asia Collection, many of which are also among the most significant pieces in the collection.