There were still just enough God-kings, warring dynasties and spectacular feats of aqua-engineering to hold the interest
The two-part Jungle ATLANTIS
is all about Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. The largest religious monument in the world is familiar as a stop on the backpacker trail, but it was also once the centre of an ancient city. During its 12th-century peak, this city spanned a larger area than modern-day NYC and had a population of nearly three quarters of a million. London at that time was home to only 18,000. Our schools’ history curriculum may pretend that civilisation is a strictly Western invention, but at least television can fill in the blanks
is all about Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. The largest religious monument in the world is familiar as a stop on the backpacker trail, but it was also once the centre of an ancient city. During its 12th-century peak, this city spanned a larger area than modern-day NYC and had a population of nearly three quarters of a million. London at that time was home to only 18,000. Our schools’ history curriculum may pretend that civilisation is a strictly Western invention, but at least television can fill in the blanks
A droning voiceover and some lacklustre computer graphics didn’t quite MANAGE to extinguish the natural fascination of the subject. There were still just enough God-kings, warring dynasties and spectacular feats of aqua-engineering to hold the interest. The real hero of this series, however, was not Khmer king Suryavarman II, nor even Angkor Wat’s nameless builders, but a new technique called “lidar”. Like radar, but better, lidar has allowed archaeologists to build a picture of the roads, canals and homes which have been buried for centuries, Altantis-like, beneath the dense foliage.
to extinguish the natural fascination of the subject. There were still just enough God-kings, warring dynasties and spectacular feats of aqua-engineering to hold the interest. The real hero of this series, however, was not Khmer king Suryavarman II, nor even Angkor Wat’s nameless builders, but a new technique called “lidar”. Like radar, but better, lidar has allowed archaeologists to build a picture of the roads, canals and homes which have been buried for centuries, Altantis-like, beneath the dense foliage.
Now only one mystery remains for part two: why would the 16th-century Khmers allow their magnificent capital to be devoured by the jungle?
4 comments:
Y ask Y!? Because of Yuon & Siam invaded Khmers too any times we didn't have time to take care of that cities.We didn't have time to take care ourself then we abandoned our cities!..
Thai sacked Angkor Thom at least two times. Then Thai sacked Oudong, Lovek, Phnom Penh once for each capital. Vietnam never sacked any Khmer capital. Make that clear.
-Drgunzet-
Khmer race paid for their crime in enslaving other races to build the temple. Thais revolted and sacked Khmer capital again, again, again, again and again. Oooooh, it's horrible each time of the sacking.
If the Khmer still have not learned, I say, let's fix up the Khmer race.
-Drgunzet-
Angkor Wat is the temple of doom. It is the root cause for the collapse of the Khmer civilization. My analysis:
1. To build the huge temple, the Khmer clumped everyone around the temple site. Thus, they committed the mistake of "putting all eggs into one basket" making it easy for the enemy to make one swipe to destroy them all.
2. To feed the mass people, Khmer build complicated irrigation water work. Again, the enemies can easily destroy this water work and disrupt the Khmer food supply.
3. By clumping everything together, Khmer denied themselves the chance to spread out and expand. In Vietnam, when a lord had a dispute with the court, the lord went into exile and took along thousand of followers. They built up new areas, thus Vietnam gradually grew in size. Case and point:
Vietnam had a Nguyen Lord who left the court and went to the new land of conquered Champa land to build South Vietnam. This Lord aggressively attracted all citizens into his domain including the Ming Chinese. He used the Ming Chinese to populate the Mekong delta (Khmer Krom) then gradually took over the area.
I investigate and found the South Vietnamese are quite different from the North Vietnamese. North Vietnamese are vastly superior over the South Vietnamese. Go to Topix Vietnam forum and ask the North Vietnamese. They said the South Vietnamese are tainted with Khmer genes. lol...
-Drgunzet-
P.S. If I were the Khmer King, after I moved the Khmer capital Eastward, I would have built my new capital on the East bank of the Mekong river. Then I build a river fleet to block any Thai army trying to cross the Mekong river. I will also build traps along the Mekong river to combat any Thai fleet. I put stakes into the river to poke any deep-draft ocean going ships while my shallow-draft boats can easily glide over.
Once I firmly establish my new capital, I will start to build new cities along the Mekong river, all on the East bank. slowly I will expand my domain alone the entire Mekong river.
Then I would expand to the Mekong delta and start to build a new capital. This new capital is where I will deal with International power.
Once I built up the Mekong delta, I will build an ocean going fleet to expand my empire. Harnessing the wind power to move my army, ships, people, goods around is the key for my empire's success. Mekong river will first serve as the giant moat to protect my empire, then it will serve as the main artery to flow in the empire.
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