4000 Year Old Craft Village Discovered Near Varanasi

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The Discovery

A 4000-year-old urban settlement has been unearthed at a site in Babhaniyav village, 15 km from
The ‘SURVEY’ was done by a team of the Benaras Hindu University in Varanasi
Experts say it is one of the craft villages mentioned in ancient texts.
BHU’s Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, which did the preliminary survey of the site said it found remnants of one of the settlements mentioned in ancient literature about the holy city.

A temple dating back to the 5th Century AD through 8th Century AD
Potteries which are 4000-year-old
Walls which are 2000-year-old
They have also found a pillar with a two-line text in Kushan- Brahmi script.
On the basis of the surface materials archaeologists can say that the structure is anywhere between 3,500 to 4,000 year old.

The BHU team also unearthed a 5-metre cultural deposit like the ones found in Sarnath.
Such crafts villages have been earlier unearthed in Sarnath, Tilmapur, Ramnagar and other areas. Babhaniyav is an addition.
BHU team has started detailed excavation at the site from February 23 onwards.
Once the excavation is complete we will get a clearer picture

The site gains significance because of its proximity to Varanasi.
Kashi is said to be 5,000 years old according to Hindu mythology texts.
Modern scholars believe it to be around 3,000 years old.
Babhaniyav could be a small sub-centre of Varanasi which grew as an urban town.

The Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) excavation of 4,000-year-old burial sites in Sanauli (Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district) has unearthed underground “sacred chambers”, decorated “legged coffins” as well as rice and dal in pots and animal bones buried with the bodies, different from Harappan culture.
It is contemporary to the last phase of the mature Harappan
Copper swords, helmets, shields and chariots