5. The Khmer Empire - Fall of the God Kings
Fall of Civilizations Podcast

5. The Khmer Empire - Fall of the God Kings

B2Upper-intermediateMay 3, 20191 hr 38 min

Deep in the Cambodian Jungle, a ruined city crumbles among the roots of banyan trees. In this episode, we look at the history of the Khmer Empire of medieval Cambodia, and the ancient mega-city of Angkor. I want to explore how this great civilization rose to a size and wealth virtually unprecedented in the world, how it overcame the challenges of its climate and landscape, and all the factors that led to its final, dramatic collapse.Credits:Sound engineering by Thomas NtinasVoice Actors:Rhy BrignellLou MillingtonSebastian GarbaczMusic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org...

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the year 1586, towards the end of the 16th century, a Portuguese missionary called Antonio

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In the year 1586, towards the end of the 16th century, a Portuguese missionary called Antonio de Magdalena was part of a group exploring the deeply forested interior of Cambodia. They traveled through the soupy heat of the Cambodian jungle, surrounded by the fluttering

0:39

of banana palms and the chattering of cicadas. Their Cambodian guides had told them that the ruins of an enormous city lay somewhere here in the jungle, but they didn't know the scale and grandeur of what awaited them. Cetalena was killed soon after in a shipwreck, but before he died, he managed to relate to

1:02

a friend who wrote down all that he saw of these sprawling ruins in the jungle. The city is square, with four principal gates and a fifth which serves the royal palace. The gates of each entrance are magnificently sculpted, so perfect that they look as if they were made from one stone. In the middle of the city is an

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