The text describes the discovery and exploration of the ancient city of Angkor Wat in Cambodia by French naturalist Henry Mouhot in 1860. The city, built by the Khmer civilization, was once a vast religious and administrative center, covering an area larger than London. The Khmer kings, known as the "great builders", constructed grand temples and a complex irrigation system to support the large population. Angkor Wat was the mausoleum of King Suryavarman II, also known as the Sun King.
The city was abandoned in the 15th century due to a combination of factors, including war, changing religious beliefs, and environmental issues related to deforestation and the siltation of rivers and canals. The Khmer court relocated to the banks of the Mekong River, near present-day Phnom Penh.
The city was rediscovered in the 20th century, and today, it is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Modern archaeologists continue to uncover new information about the city and its inhabitants, revealing more about this remarkable civilization.
1. In 1860, a French naturalist named Henry Mouhot discovered a massive complex of stone temples in the Cambodian jungle, now known as Angkor Wat, a 900-year-old architectural marvel [Document(page_content="00:00:10.62: In 1860, a french naturalist was cutting his way through the cambodian jungle in search of exotic insects.\n00:00:24.24: Henry Mouhot suddenly came across the last thing he was expecting: a massive complex of stone temples.\n00:00:35.18: Muhot had stumbled across one of the world's most astonishing and enduring architectural feats:\n00:00:42.11: the nine hundred year old remains of\n00:00:45.08: Angkor Wat.\n00:00:48.38: But who built these vast sophisticated temples?\n00:00:53.42: Why construct them deep in the jungle only to abandon them?")].
2. Angkor Wat was part of a larger city, Angkor Thom, which was much larger than originally imagined and could have been as big as London [Document(page_content="00:13:40.67: the Perfectly square wall like angkor wat is surrounded by a moat and\n00:13:46.52: covers an area the size of Manhattan Island\n00:13:52.13: At its center is the Bayon temple\n00:13:56.18: In his journal from 1296 show Doug wan describes a busy city teeming with life")].
3. Angkor Wat was the temple mausoleum of one of Angkor's greatest Kings: King Surya Varman the Second, also known as the Sun King [Document(page_content="00:03:42.70: Angkor Wat was the temple mausoleum of one of Angkor's greatest Kings: King surya Varman the second, the sun King and\n00:03:51.19: When he died his ashes would have been placed under the heart of the central register behind me")].
4. The Khmer people, indigenous to Cambodia, built Angkor Wat and the surrounding city as part of a sophisticated water management system [Document(page_content="00:34:43.04: Planning expert Jaga believes the success of angkor is due to the elaborate system of interconnecting waterways\n00:34:51.94: You are tanks of ponds which are dead to\n00:34:56.41: keep also this water and you have\n00:34:59.02: some canonization this royal palace is full of small Canalization the\n00:35:04.45: City is full of channels and the outside theatre is also full of big channels this systems\n00:35:11.89: Which are different level of scale they must have been connected to each other?\n00:35:20.27: It was the khmers ability to harness water that made them unique\n00:35:25.91: While the dutch were experimenting with their first canals the khmer were already past masters")].
5. The city was abandoned due to a combination of factors, including wars with neighboring kingdoms and possible environmental changes [Document(page_content="00:42:01.64: One key Factor is known throughout and cause history the khmer had waged war with their neighbors\n00:42:24.33: In the early years of angkor the Vietnamese chams were the khmer sworn enemies\n00:42:33.04: Most of the Temple Walls around the Capitol depict Epic battles against the chance\n00:42:47.47: But by the time of jaw dog wonka with the main threat came from the emerging Thai kingdom of siam as it expanded into Cambodia\n00:43:01.64: Here comes recently during