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Lothal

The great basin at Lothal

The large brick basin at Lothal has been interpreted as a dock, although its function is debated.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of The great tank of Lothal, Lothal, Gujarat, India, ca. 2400–1600 BCE — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Lothal combines a great brick enclosure, production areas and evidence of contact with the Gujarat coast. Its famous basin has been linked to a quay, an interpretation that made the site an icon of ancient maritime trade.

The stop presents the hypothesis alongside its caution. The structure is real; defining it securely as a maritime dock depends on hydraulic models and archaeological debate.

The rectangular brick structure is spatially related to workshops and Gujarat routes. Its reading as a dock turned Lothal into an emblem of Harappan navigation.

River course changes, ancient levels and alternatives such as reservoir or tank condition the debate. The museum shows a hydraulic model with several hypotheses.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: Lothal preserves a great brick structure and evidence of craft activity and exchange. Interpretation and caution: Its unequivocal identification as a dock is debated; other possible functions must be presented. Expanded documentation: Lothal preserves a great brick basin and evidence of coastal production and exchange. Expanded interpretation and caution: The port function is not unequivocal and must not be presented as “the world’s first port”.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: ca. 2400–1600 BCE
Location: Lothal, Gujarat, India
Material: Fired brick, stone and shell
Context: Riverside settlement and workshops
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Context: Floodplain near the Gulf of Khambhat
Associations: Proposed bead, shell and storage workshops
Documentary coverage: 2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

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ca. 2400–1600 BCE

Lothal

Indus civilisation

Settlement and workshops; not an individually dated piece.

Current record

Architecture8 dated objects

1 / 8In the centre: Before Pre-Inca Cultures

Also connected, without a comparable date (12)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A White Wall on the DanubeCeltic worlds · 6th century BCE
CemeteryIndus civilisation · ca. 2600–1900 BCE
Dia’s strataMande Worlds · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE
Four gardens and waterAchaemenid Persia · 6th century BCE
Jenne-jeno contextsMande Worlds · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE
Kumbi SalehMande Worlds · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries
Livestock and moundsNubia, Kerma and Kush · c. 2050–1500 BCE
Rice on stiltsYayoi Japan · Especially 1st–3rd centuries CE
Rome learns in terracottaEtruscans and Rome · End of the sixth century BCE
The altar cordVedic and later Indian worlds · Approximate composition and transmission c. 800–500 BCE, with revisions
The quarry remained visibleGojoseon and early Korea · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE
Tichitt wallsMande Worlds · II–I millennia BCE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Ceramics

Current object, without a comparable date: Lothal.

Dolní Věstonice I · ≈29,000–27,000 years · Prehistory
Before Sumer · mid-6th–5th millennium BCE · Sumer
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or · Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE · Prehistory
Before Egypt · ca. 4400–3800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Nubia · V–IV millennium BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Before Gojoseon · Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Bevel-rimmed bowl · ca. 3500–3000 BCE · Sumer
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Vasiliki · ca. 2500–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before the Greeks · c. 2400–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Cemetery R-37 · ca. 2550–2030 BCE · Indus civilisation
Before Ancient China · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Longshan · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Burial at K IV · circa 1750–1550 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Before Vedic India · c. 1900–1300 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Osmankayası and Ilıca · ca. 1700/1650–1200 BCE · Hittites
Grey bowl from Hastinapura · c. 1100–800 BCE in the classical sequence of Hastinapura · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Before Etruscans and Rome · ca. 850–800 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The urn under the helmet · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Ceramic stand 1010 · 8th–7th centuries BCE · orientalizing · Iberians
Ishtar Gate · 7th–6th centuries BCE · work of Nebuchadnezzar II · Sumer
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Orpheus among the Thracians · circa 440 BCE; attributed to the London Painter E 497. · Thracians
The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Thoth in the form of a baboon · 664–30 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
Northern mound · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Yayoi Japan
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Urewe vessel · regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Two rows of coffins · Mainly Middle Yayoi, 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Kabusanza, ca. 400 · ca. 400 CE · Batwa / Twa histories
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
A tradition that invents · collected in 1993 or 1995 · Batwa / Twa histories
A vase travels; the rite changes · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Akrotiri · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Early pottery · before ca. 9400 cal BCE · Mande Worlds
Jenne-jeno contexts · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE · Mande Worlds
Liédena Flask · Roman period · individual chronology not published in the entry · Etruscans and Rome
Made in Garama · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE · Garamantes
Nile towards Nubia · ca. 3300–2800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
The unfinished gesture · 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
Three hundred lives in the sand · Mainly 4th century BCE–3rd century CE · Yayoi Japan
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes
Trumpet from Numantia · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Urns from Adichanallur · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Vessels without a language · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds

Water management

Current object, without a comparable date: Lothal.

Torreáguila fountain spout · 101–125 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Water in a shell · 1816–1826 · San histories

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Exchange and trade

Current object, without a comparable date: Lothal.

Weights · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Motagua jade · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Gallery of the Conch Shells · Main use c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Mazarrón 1 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Moulds for gold · 9th–11th centuries CE · Mande Worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
Akrotiri · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
Clicks and contact · precolonial contacts with varying chronologies and subsequent continuity · Bantu-speaking worlds
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
Jenne-jeno contexts · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE · Mande Worlds
Kumbi Saleh · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries · Mande Worlds
Meluhha · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Nile towards Nubia · ca. 3300–2800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
The Banquet of Seuthes II · Towards 400 BCE. Anabasis episode · Thracians
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Sealings and storage alongside the great tank

The Lothal record describes, near the basin, a platform interpreted as a warehouse, with traces of sealings and partially burnt walls. The imprints relate to the management of grouped goods prepared for circulation. This spatial association enlarges the water debate: a possible mooring point makes sense when compared with storage, package control and workshops. The identification of the basin as a dock remains an interpretation, but the setting allows discussion through documented activities around the structure.

Heritage · UNESCO · Indicative dossier of LothalAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

LOCATED SITE

Lothal · IndiaArchaeological site marker.

Sources and references

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Lothal

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Lothal

Before Pre-Inca Cultures

Ishtar Gate

Heads on the wall

The god on the roof

Glazed brick guards

Twenty-three delegations

Torreáguila fountain spout

Zimbabwe birds

A closer look

Sealings and storage alongside the great tank

Location and territory

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?