20 February 2023

Khmer

In 1066, England was invaded from France by Normans under the leadership of William the Conqueror. It was a critical turning point in our nation's history. Even today, that year - 1066 is etched in England's collective memory for it changed everything.

At that same time and unbeknown to those who participated in The Battle of Hastings, an amazing  civilisation was thriving in south east Asia. In the middle of the Khmer Empire a huge city had grown. Some modern historians reckon that it may have had a population of around a million and it was the biggest city on the planet. It was all around the Angkor Wat temple complex in what we now call Cambodia.

In recent years, LIDAR ( Light Detection and Ranging) examination of that region has revealed evidence that the city was much bigger than had first been imagined. Of course physical evidence of wooden domestic buildings disappeared long ago for they simply rotted away.
Only the stone structures remain - mostly in ruins - and there are very many of them. Generally they are temples connected with the Hindu-Buddhist belief systems that the Khmers subscribed to.

I was lucky enough to visit the old city in the summer of 2011. I spent three full days there. Of course everybody knows about the main temple complex that appears on the modern day flag of Cambodia but around it, often still smothered in jungle greenery there are hundreds more temple sites and there are stone reservoirs, redundant water channels, streets and heaven knows what else.

It was quite breathtaking and so were the countless stone carvings I observed. It had all so clearly emerged from a civilisation that was supremely confident about its power, its beliefs and its longevity. They never expected that the Khmer Empire would one day follow the path of all other empires and fall.

Earlier today, I was looking back through the photos I snapped there back in 2011 and I have picked five of them to share with you. Please be warned that I might post some more tomorrow.

26 comments:

  1. It's why my Grieve relatives who are pre-dominantly Scottish also have a fairly high percentage of Scandinavian ancestry. :)

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    1. Are you referring to The Norman Conquest?

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  2. Has there ever been an empire that hasn't fallen? Makes me wonder what will be the cause of our (U.S.) demise and what will rise up from the ashes.

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    1. Even the "Blockbusters" video rental empire fell.

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  3. Amazing! Great photos!
    I was just reading an article today about the Maya civilization and how LIDAR is absolutely changing our knowledge of it. They have discovered an 800 and something square mile area that had more inhabitants than NYC does now. Over eleven million people which meant that they had to alter the geography to allow for intense farming to feed all those people. Wish I could remember the era this was.

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    1. LIDAR has certainly made some fascinating discoveries without digging a single hole.

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  4. Thank you for the lovely photos. I read up a little on the Khmer Empire, I didn't know, which led me to the Khmer Rouge, (didn't know they were supported by the Chinese Communist Party) which led me to the great Chinese famine of 1950-1961. Humans and their hubris always end in death it seems.

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    1. I wonder where The Ukraine War will end. It's pretty scary.

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  5. It is rather amazing that it partly survived under the attack of the jungle. As each year passes, I remove things from my bucket list rather than tick them off and I'm afraid a visit to Cambodia is one of them.

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    1. One day you will even remove the bucket... probably by kicking it.

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  6. How fortunate you were to be able to see all that!

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    1. It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been teaching next door in Thailand.

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  7. Post as many as you like. They're beautiful. I shall have to visit Google to see more for myself.

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    1. Exploring some of the outer temples I was the only visitor there.

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  8. Ever since as a little girl I saw pictures of Angkor Wat in a book about discoveries, I wanted to go there and see this mysterious and wonderful place for myself. Nowadays, I shy away from flying in general, and of such long flights in particular. But I can still look at pictures and read about the place. Therefore: Thank you for the photos and explanation.
    If I remember correctly, this is not the first time Angkor Wat appears on your blog. As you say, you were there for three days - no doubt there is a lot more in your memory and on your computer's hard drive for future posts.

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    1. I realised that most of my current visitors were not with me twelve years ago and besides it was nice to look back on my old photos.

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  9. It's such fascinating history, and makes me wonder what distant future generations will make of our time on this planet. That's if anything has managed to survive.

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    1. Modern humans have certainly left their mark on the planet - far bigger than any civilisation before us.

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    2. Are we rushing hell-bent to oblivion?

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    3. The evidence points in that direction doesn't it?

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  10. I just love the way the tree roots curve around the ruined buildings. Always wanted to go there, such an air of mystery and lives that were once lived. The water channelling is I believe quite sophisticated.

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    1. As someone with a passion for archaeology you would be living the dream in the jungle that surrounds Angkor Wat. Round every corner it is quite breathtaking.

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  11. England was also invaded by the Borises and Trusses in recent times.

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  12. I'm no good when it comes to World History or World Geography.
    This is so interesting, Neil.

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    1. The two subjects you mentioned are two of my great interests. We are all different Ellen. Thanks for calling by again.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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