Harappan Civilization :-

Harappan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization, mainly in the North-Western regions of
South Asia, extending from today's North-Eastern Afghanistan to Pakistan, and North-
Western India. It was one of the oldest civilizations of the world.

Mesopotamian Civilization :-
The Mesopotamian civilization was a historical region situated within the Tigris-Euphrates
river system, in today's most of Iraq plus Kuwait, the Eastern part of Syria, South-Eastern
Turkey, and regions along the Turkish-Syrian and Iran-Iraq borders. It was also one of the
oldest civilizations of the world.

Difference Between Harappan and Mesopotamian Civilization -

1) In Harappan civilization, the houses were built to the East of citadel while in
Mesopotamian civilization, the houses were built around distinct palaces and temples &
dedicated to the patron Gods or Goddesses.

2) Most of the Harappan people lived in small villages while most of the Mesopotamians
lived in cities and towns.

3) The Harappans had walls built to protect their houses while the Mesopotamians had walls
built to protect their cities and town.

4) The Harppan people were peaceful in comparison to the Mesopotamians.

5) The Harappans traded in cotton, beads, other art and jewellery while the Mesopotamians
traded in precious stones.

6)The Hrappans grew melons, lettuce, and general fruits and vegetables that they ate while
the Mesopotamians grew flex and used it for oil, net, cloth & food.

7) As far as the technology is concerned, the Harappans established exact measurement and
weighing system while the Mesopotamians first created the wheel.

Was the trade relationship between the Harappans and the Mesopotamians a direct one?

The trade relationship during the later 3rd millennium was a direct one: ships from Meluhha
(the Indus) docked in Mesopotamian ports; some Meluhhans settled in Sumer; and there is a
seal belonging to a Mesopotamian whose job it was to act as an interpreter of the Meluhhan
language. On the other hand, there is nothing to suggest that people from Mesopotamia
reached the Indus, so it is clear that the Harappans conducted the trade between the two
civilizations. Mesopotamian ships sailed the length of the Gulf, as far as the western coast of
Magan (Oman peninsula), trading directly with Magan and with Dilmun (Bahrain); ships
from Magan and Dilmun also docked in Mesopotamian ports. Trade also took place across
the Gulf, between Elam and the city-states on the Iranian plateau in the east and
Mesopotamia, Dilmun and Magan in the north and west.
Dilmun operated as a middleman between Mesopotamia and the Indus in some of this trade,
and after the Ur III state collapsed its role in this grew: in the early 2nd millennium BC both
Harappan and Mesopotamian ships sailed only to Bahrain, which acted as an entrepot
between them. This would be the place one might expect to find a bilingual, but it hasn't
happened yet: there are local seals with Harappan inscriptions, but the local seals are
otherwise uninscribed. It seems probable that the Harappans used perishable materials for
their records, and presumably this would have applied to records of their transactions in
Dilmun too. A cuneiform tablet with a Harappan bilingual text might turn up here but I think
it unlikely.

There is archaeological evidence for maritime relations between the Harappans and Arabia
and some textual and iconographic evidence that Mesopotamians knew about the Harappan
world (Meluhha) and for at least a few Indus people in Mesopotamia including what has
been identified as an Indus translator. There is a bit of Indus-like material in eastern Iran and
southern Central Asia, but contact across Iran may have been more indirect while that
through maritime means more direct, although the evidence for such a scenario is not
particularly rich.

Both civilizations flourished in similar periods and shared many geographical, cultural, and
political elements in common.

The ancient Mesopotamian civilizations were located between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers, while Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were both located in the valley of the Indus river.
Thus both civilizations were highly dependent on rivers for irrigation.

Both civilizations were agricultural (as opposed to hunter-gatherer) and required large groups
of people to coordinate complex schemes of irrigation in order to produce...