This likely isn't a useful thought exercise, but I'm trying to figure out *why* a civilization this big/successful/important isn't considered like Egypt and Mesopotamia? My amateur first thought is that Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, plus the overt, visible nature of the pyramids, etc. really pushed it to the forefront of European imagination? Which makes me assume, perhaps incorrectly, that the British, Portuguese, and others didn't care or investigate the archaeology of the Indus valley to the same degree? Too busy pillaging the region, I suppose.
This likely isn't a useful thought exercise, but I'm trying to figure out *why* a civilization this big/successful/important isn't considered like Egypt and Mesopotamia? My amateur first thought is that Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, plus the overt, visible nature of the pyramids, etc. really pushed it to the forefront of European imagination? Which makes me assume, perhaps incorrectly, that the British, Portuguese, and others didn't care or investigate the archaeology of the Indus valley to the same degree? Too busy pillaging the region, I suppose.