Public bath (Great Bath)
Baño público (Gran Baño)
- Date
- c. 2500 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Mohenjo-daro, Sindh, Pakistan
- Credited to
- Indus Valley Civilisation
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A 12 x 7 m fired-brick pool waterproofed with bitumen, with steps, porticoes and adjoining rooms, in the citadel of Mohenjo-daro. It is the earliest known public water installation, probably ritual in use.
The exact function (ritual, hygienic or political) of the Great Bath remains unresolved for lack of deciphered texts.
What it led to
- Public architecture for collective, non-religious-monumental and non-palatial use
- Bitumen and brick waterproofing techniques that reappear in later hydraulics
- The South Asian tradition of ritual bathing (ghats, ablutions)
Built on
Made possible
- Greek and Roman baths
- Waterproofed cistern