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00:02Angkor Wat Cambodia the largest religious monument ever built the ancient
00:11Khmer civilization constructed this magnificent Hindu temple 900 years ago
00:17when you get up close and you look at the detail it is truly an absolute masterpiece
00:23the crowning glory of a once great Empire it's extraordinary on so many levels that
00:30it's very difficult to even comprehend why was this gargantuan temple built seemingly in the
00:37middle of nowhere and how is it still standing after centuries of neglect ravaged by jungle trees
00:46and monsoon rains to unearth the truth we'll explore the temple structure stone by stone
00:56will expose its hidden chambers and lost tunnels to reveal the astonishing secrets of
01:04the long-lost civilization that built this ancient wonder
01:17Angkor Wat the largest temple on earth this massive structure dominates the jungle landscape of northern
01:26Cambodia but for centuries its sandstone towers and carved walkways were lost to the forest
01:34hidden beneath an impenetrable canopy of trees now archaeologists investigating Angkor Wat are
01:43revealing its hidden secrets workers have cleared the trees to reveal a temple complex covering over
01:52500 acres and there could be more archaeology teams use innovative laser technology to hunt for the
02:02long-lost city they believe must once have surrounded Angkor Wat other experts search for clues inside the temple to
02:11solve
02:11the mysteries of how and why it was built its perfection in terms of carving its perfection in terms of
02:20dimensions in terms of
02:22a huge rhythm of spaces within the temple this required an extraordinary vision
02:32ancient architects designed Angkor Wat to inspire awe and wonder
02:37a majestic staircase a majestic staircase led pilgrims to a magnificent central atrium
02:43where they came face to face with Vishnu
02:46a supreme being in the Hindu faith
02:50five imposing stone towers rose above their heads
02:56symbolizing the sacred Mount Maru
03:00home of the gods
03:04built using half a million tons of stone Angkor Wat is a spectacular recreation
03:11of heaven on earth
03:15but why did the ancient Cambodians build this temple so much bigger than any other
03:23Simon Warwick
03:24Simon Warwick has spent decades investigating Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples
03:30he believes the answer to this mystery lies in decoding the intricate carvings that adorn the temple walls
03:38we're in the third enclosure of the temple of Angkor Wat and in this enclosure we have more than half
03:43a mile of carved bass reliefs
03:46the carvings tell the story of the ancient civilization who built the temple
03:51the Khmer
03:52they depict the armies military victories
03:56and they give us an image of a great ruler
03:59King Suryavaman the second
04:03so here we are in front of King Suryavaman the second himself
04:06this is the first portrait of a Khmer king in the history of Khmer art
04:10here he is sitting on his throne looking very regal surrounded by his counselors
04:15and his ministers several holy men and wonderful umbrellas to shield him from the sun
04:22fans fly whisks all the accoutrements of royalty here
04:27critically King Suryavaman wasn't born to rule
04:31he had seized power from his great uncle
04:35and Simon is convinced that Angkor Wat's huge size was a grand political statement
04:40to win over his new subjects
04:45carved here is the message that the king wanted to get to his people
04:50in a way this is the campaign ad for Suryavaman the second
04:58Suryavaman didn't just want to be seen
05:00as a rightful king
05:02he wanted to be revered
05:03as a god
05:07so he built a temple with an extraordinary secret
05:10that links it to the heavens
05:15each year at the spring equinox the Sun rises directly over the central tower
05:22a hole in the capstone focuses the sunlight down into the temple
05:28it shines through a hole in the floor below
05:30and down a 90-foot shaft
05:33to a secret chamber deep underground
05:38some experts believe that Suryavaman designed this secret vault to hold his mortal remains
05:45if they're right Angkor Wat is not just a temple
05:49it's a spiritual machine to elevate the god king to his rightful heavenly throne
05:59but this idea creates another big mystery
06:04if Angkor Wat was designed to be Suryavaman's tomb
06:07it had to be constructed and decorated in time for his death
06:12the reign of King Suryavaman the second was 32 years
06:16that's a very short time to build the biggest stone religious building in the world
06:23the great European cathedrals built in the same era took centuries to complete
06:29yet they're a fraction of the size of Angkor Wat
06:33so how did the Khmer engineers build this remarkable triumph in such a short time?
06:44Simon thinks that the solution could be a vast supply of manpower
06:49to test his theory he visits another Khmer temple
06:53Fananba Kang
06:54where a team of stonemasons are rebuilding the temple's southwestern wall
07:02Simon experiments by chiseling a sandstone block
07:07he wants to investigate how long it would have taken the Khmer to do the same job 900 years ago
07:14roughing out with a point chisel and a big hammer is really hard work
07:19and that would have been done by the less skilled teams
07:23to make sure the blocks sat flush against each other
07:26they had to chisel and then sand them until they were perfectly smooth
07:30the most uncomfortable thing about doing this kind of work
07:34is of course the heat and the dust
07:40Simon's an expert stonemason
07:42but it still takes him over two hours to prepare the block for the temple wall
07:48this here is a relatively small block
07:51this is one you can actually move by hand
07:53the blocks in Angkor are up to 10 tons
07:57and were placed in situ and then worked by hand
08:02the size of that task is very difficult even to actually imagine
08:10Simon suspects it would have taken a Khmer stonemason up to eight hours
08:14to prepare each of the massive blocks used to build Angkor Wat
08:19and with five million blocks to prepare
08:23Suryavaman would have needed thousands of stonemasons working every day
08:27to complete the temple within his lifetime
08:32and this would have been just a fraction of the workforce
08:38Suryavaman also needed the materials to be quarried and transported to the jungle site
08:45you can estimate by doing a simple calculation
08:49that there was between 200 and 300 blocks per day arriving on site
08:56and that is almost impossible to conceive
09:04Angkor Wat sits in the middle of the jungle
09:08The nearest sandstone is in the Kulin Hills
09:1225 miles to the east
09:16Archaeological research has revealed that the Khmer cut canals to join up the rivers
09:21to create a transport route direct to the building site
09:26They crafted bamboo rafts to support the sandstone blocks
09:32and the current effortlessly carried them towards Angkor Wat
09:37This system provided a constant supply of sandstone
09:41to an army of builders who worked tirelessly to erect the temple
09:49We can imagine an almost solid stream of stone
09:52going from the quarry to the site
09:55at the height of the building period
09:57a site I would love to have been able to see
10:03To build a temple of such epic proportions in so few years
10:07would have taken hundreds of thousands of workers
10:11Perhaps the largest construction task force ever assembled in the pre-industrial world
10:17The size of the team must have been extraordinary, really vast
10:21It shows a capacity for organization
10:25which is characteristic of a very, very great civilization
10:29Through sheer force of numbers
10:31King Suryavaman achieved his extraordinary vision
10:35and the final stone of Angkor Wat was in place before he died
10:39But this surprising fact presents another mystery
10:43If such a vast workforce was needed to construct the temple
10:48Where do they all live?
10:52Today, the temple appears to sit like an island in a sea of dense jungle
10:59Is new technology about to reveal Angkor Wat's most closely guarded secret?
11:14Today, tourists marvel at the splendor of Angkor Wat and its vast moat
11:21Designed to glorify the rule of an ambitious king
11:26It contains hundreds of grand columns
11:30And its walls and towers are adorned with thousands of exquisite carvings
11:36But 900 years ago, it would have looked even more magnificent
11:43Its roofs were beautifully gilded
11:47Every gate crowned with fine gold-covered carvings
11:53And the centerpiece of it all
11:56The five lotus towers enrobed in gold
11:59Reflecting the sunlight, shining like beacons across the plain
12:06It took hundreds of thousands of workers to build this lavish monument
12:12Yet today, there's no sign of a city around the temple
12:18So, where did these ordinary people live?
12:22It's a mystery, because the jungle has swallowed up almost all trace of outlying settlements
12:29It's a great interest for us to know where the people live, how they were living, and how was the
12:34space organized
12:37Archaeologist Jean-Baptiste Chavance hunts for the remains of this 900-year-old jungle Atlantis
12:44Today, he's chasing down the results of a groundbreaking mapping technology called LIDAR
12:50LIDAR is an airborne laser that is sending laser dots through the canopy
12:58The laser beams scan the ground covering every inch
13:01It strips away all the trees and bushes to reveal the true landscape beneath the dense vegetation
13:10Jean-Baptiste's investigations here reveal something astonishing
13:15This is the Angkor Wat temple with the moats that were known before
13:20The LIDAR gave us a new vision about the settlements around the temples
13:26Angkor Wat and its square moat appear to be surrounded by a city grid of ancient roads and buildings
13:34So if we zoom out, you can see that it's covering basically the whole Angkorian region
13:42Today, Jean-Baptiste wants to check out some of the features picked up by the laser scanning
13:48To see first-hand if they really are the remains of an ancient city
13:52This is a process called ground truthing
13:56GPS allows us to download the LIDAR data
14:00Highlighted with what we think ancient mounds or ancient dikes are
14:06We're able to spot exactly where we are
14:09And to see if those bumps and low points correspond to what we have on the ground
14:17They follow the GPS signal, trekking deep into the jungle
14:24Jean-Baptiste looks out for humps in the jungle floor
14:27These humps could be the remains of the raised platforms the Khmer built their homes on
14:34There's an earth dike here, you can see the bump
14:37We can clearly see the lower part between the two higher part
14:42This is corresponding to the space between two earthen dikes
14:48This has never been seen before
14:53The team takes a closer look, hunting for evidence that these humps were man-made
15:01So we're next to a earth platform but this one is quite interesting because you have here some remains of
15:08architectural construction bricks
15:11This is nice evidence of quite a prestigious construction
15:16And this exciting discovery isn't a one-off
15:21Ground truthing has confirmed that a giant city once surrounded the temple of Angkor Wat
15:28Houses filled the spaces within the great moat
15:34Hundreds of thousands more stretched out beyond
15:38Densely covering the landscape
15:44The Khmer cut wide canals between these city blocks
15:50Creating a complex transport network
15:55This vast metropolis stretched over 400 square miles
15:59And was home to three quarters of a million people
16:05Angkor Wat wasn't just a temple
16:07It was the center of a vast mega city, one of the largest in the world
16:16But how could a city of this scale thrive in the middle of the jungle?
16:22What was the secret ingredient that bankrolled the city of Angkor
16:26And kick-started the expansion of a Khmer Empire?
16:41Angkor Wat was once the beating heart of a jungle metropolis
16:46But the Khmer rulers were intent on creating an empire
16:54Simon Warwick explores the ancient communities that still live in the hills around Angkor Wat
17:00He's searching for the mysterious material he believes fueled the Khmer's rise to greatness
17:07We've just found a blacksmith creating a tool which is portrayed on the reliefs of Angkor
17:13Which are 11th century
17:14This is identical
17:16So he's making the same tools as his ancestor made a thousand years ago
17:20These tools are being forged from iron
17:23A metal that's hard to find in this part of the world
17:27It's a lovely piece of work
17:28And it's extremely sharp
17:30And I would enjoy using this
17:35Could iron have been the secret weapon of the Khmer Empire?
17:39Iron would have been the perfect material at that time
17:42You can make it sharp
17:43You can make a thick chisel to knock off the big lumps when you're working down a large block
17:48You can work it into a very thin point
17:51So that you can work the very very fine details that you see on Angkor
17:55If the Khmer had access to vast quantities of iron
17:59They could have used it to boost all aspects of their culture
18:05From construction
18:07To agriculture
18:09And most importantly
18:10Warfare
18:14Iron weapons would explain how the Khmer Empire spread so quickly
18:19Conquering all of Southeast Asia in just 22 years
18:26The military was an extremely important feature
18:29And enabled them to expand
18:31And to create an empire the size of the one that they did
18:37A glut of iron would have transformed the Khmer from a simple civilization to a mighty empire
18:44But how can we be sure they had access to enough of this rare miracle material?
18:51Archaeologists have discovered a crucial clue hidden inside the sandstone blocks that make up Angkor Wat
18:58The Khmer didn't use mortar
19:01Remarkably their grand temple was held together by iron
19:06Curious holes in the stonework reveal how
19:10These are the scars left by looters
19:13Who chiseled into the stone to extract iron clamps
19:20Designed to hold the stones tightly together
19:23They were placed between the sandstone blocks
19:28There must have been thousands of them
19:32But where did the Khmer get all this iron from?
19:36And how could they afford to bury so much of it inside a temple?
19:43Astonishingly, there's no iron ore found around Angkor Wat
19:50This presents another puzzle for experts to solve
19:53We're about a kilometer and a half south of Plomdyk
19:58Which literally translates into the Iron Mountain
20:01And this area is really important because there's a series of mounds that are covered in slag
20:07Which we think are iron production sites
20:16Archaeologist Mitch Hendrickson believes the Khmer relied on the specialist skills of a tribe known as the Khuwi
20:22That lived 80 miles from Angkor Wat
20:29He wants to investigate the mounds for signs of ancient Khuwi iron works
20:33But first, he needs spiritual permission
20:37Before we actually undertake any excavation, we have to do a small ceremony
20:44The local tradition is if you don't clear it with the spirits
20:47Bad omens and things can happen to you and the people who own the land
20:50So it's just best to make everyone happy
20:53From the spirit world to the cultural world, really
20:58Mitch believes that the Khuwi were one of the few tribes with the resources and know-how to produce vast
21:04quantities of iron
21:06But how did this valuable metal end up in the hands of the empire-hungry Khmer?
21:13The relationship between the two cultures, it was almost a form of exchange
21:19We don't know exactly because there's no written records
21:21But what we're trying to do here is to understand the trade of iron between the source and the consumer
21:30To prove his theory, Mitch and his team are working hard trying to uncover evidence of iron production dating to
21:38the peak of the Khmer Empire
21:42This is Trench 2, which is situated on top of the mound
21:47We chose this location for a couple reasons, one of which was the hope that we get the remains of
21:52a furnace
21:52And what you can see here is actually the remains of the outline of one of these furnaces
21:58What we have is the interior and exterior going around in this horseshoe shape
22:03And inside is where they would have actually made the iron
22:07These long clay tubes, which are called two years
22:10This is how air would have passed into this furnace, which would have enabled the reduction process
22:19So this is very exciting because this is the first time that we've seen the shape of one of these
22:23iron furnaces during the Anchorian period
22:28Mitch's discoveries are proof that the ancient Kui were smelting iron on a vast scale
22:37They built their charcoal furnaces from local clay
22:40And used huge bellows to feed them with oxygen, keeping them burning at a constant 1800 degrees
22:48They filled the furnaces with nuggets of iron ore
22:51And after 15 hours, broke the furnace open to retrieve lumps of iron
22:59Mitch expects the other mounds in the area to be filled with similar remnants of the Kui's extensive iron industry
23:06This is one of 12 mounds in the immediate vicinity
23:10There are probably hundreds of different furnaces that would have operated at this site
23:16And there would have been hundreds at each of the sites nearby
23:20We have a massive explosion of iron production
23:24Which seems to correlate around the time period of when Angkor begins to assert itself in the landscape
23:32Access to iron transformed the Khmer into a monument building, war-waging empire
23:37By the 13th century, the whole of Southeast Asia was paying tribute to the Khmer king
23:45Angkor Wat, with its sheer size and grandeur
23:49Was the ultimate symbol of the empire's greatness
23:55But the ancient Khmer faced a monumental challenge
24:00Angkor Wat sits on soft sandy soil
24:03So to keep their prized jewels standing, they needed an engineering solution of unprecedented scale
24:21Angkor Wat is the largest single religious structure in the world
24:25It stands 213 feet tall
24:30Contains over 5 million sandstone blocks
24:33And weighs over half a million tons
24:38This extraordinary edifice defies accepted engineering wisdom
24:43It has no conventional foundations
24:47Yet despite this, Angkor Wat has outlived the civilization who built it
24:54So what stops this colossal structure from sinking into the soft jungle floor?
25:05The weathered walls of the temple reveal one possible clue
25:10Where the blocks of sandstone have fallen away
25:13A mysterious different type of rock is exposed
25:17This reddish stone is filled with pockets of air
25:21It's called ladderite
25:22Could this strange honeycomb-like rock be the reason Angkor Wat is still standing today?
25:31Archaeologists have revealed that the base of the temple is a mound of compacted earth
25:36Topped with rough blocks of ladderite and a thin layer of sandstone paving
25:43The Khmer then used huge ladderite blocks to build the inner core of the temple
25:50And again covered it with sandstone
25:53This time carving and polishing the facade to hide the joints
26:00Although it's well hidden, Angkor Wat has a heart of sponge-like ladderite
26:07But is it there to stop the temple from sinking?
26:18Restoration expert Ginevra Boato is hunting for clues at this Khmer temple not far from Angkor Wat
26:25As restorers dismantle and rebuild it, they reveal hidden secrets about clever Khmer engineering
26:33We are now at the southeast corner of Nambakain Temple
26:37This is an area where we have observed a lot of loss of the original foundation
26:45Ginevra's team is currently restoring the building's many layers of ladderite and sandstone
26:51It's a rare opportunity to investigate why the Khmer chose this strange combination of building materials
27:00They must remove every block of stone to repair the temple
27:03It's painstaking work
27:06This is really like a gypso puzzle
27:09When we deal with this huge amount of blocks, it's really necessary that we are systematically inventoring the blocks
27:16We number them so that we can remove them, dismantle them, clean them, conserve them
27:22And then put them back exactly in the same location where we took them first
27:29Each block of the inner ladderite layer must be restored before it can be lifted back into the wall
27:36Surprisingly, it seems that weight is not the answer
27:40Ladderite turns out to be just as heavy as sandstone
27:44Despite its honeycomb appearance
27:47But if the ancient Khmer didn't use ladderite to prevent Angkor Wat from sinking
27:52Why did they use it?
27:56Ladderite is so easy to carve and so easy to get into the shape of a block
28:01I think this is one of the reasons why ladderite was so widespread
28:06And why people use it specially for making the mass, or as an infill material
28:17Khmer stonemasons could quickly carve ladderite into the blocks they needed for the inner layer of Angkor Wat
28:25Ginevra has solved the mystery of Angkor Wat's honeycomb core
28:29But she's still no closer to understanding why the great temple hasn't sunk into the soft sandy floor
28:39Engineer Po Hang believes he may have the answer
28:44He thinks the vast moat that encircles the temple has a crucial role to play
28:48The moat of Angkor Wat can store around 2 million cubic meters of water
28:55It's a huge engineering water system that they built to support Angkor Wat temple
29:04Khmer engineers dug a vast moat
29:07Measuring over 3 miles in circumference
29:10And 650 feet across
29:15How did this giant body of water support the temple?
29:22Po believes the dry sand under Angkor Wat shouldn't be able to support the temple
29:32But adding water glues the grains of sand together
29:36Making the soft ground as hard as concrete
29:39Able to support millions of tons of weight
29:43By digging a massive moat around the temple
29:46The Khmer engineers created a vast reservoir
29:50Able to hold millions of gallons of rain water
29:55So that when the rain stopped
29:58Water in the moat seeped into the soil
30:01Preventing the temple from collapsing
30:06The Khmer used this brilliant technique to support many of their temples
30:14If you are looking from the side
30:16You can see the moat Angkor Wat is very big and very deep
30:20If you look for other small temples
30:23You have small moat and very shallow
30:26So it means they already made a computation
30:29How the load of the temple compare to the water storage
30:33To supply the sand layer underground
30:36The moat is proportioned with the temple side
30:42Ingenious water engineering has kept these giant temples upright throughout the centuries
30:47Even without foundations
30:52Archaeologists believe this precise control of water may have spread through all aspects of Angkorian life
30:58From farming to transport and even religion
31:03So how did they do it?
31:05In a land hit by crippling drought for six months of the year?
31:18The civilization that built Angkor Wat mysteriously vanished 400 years ago
31:24Historians have to hunt for clues to their lost culture in the temples they left behind
31:30And the surrounding ritual landscape
31:34Simon Warwick is upriver from Angkor Wat searching for the origins of the Khmer's near religious obsession with water
31:43Water is at the heart of the incredible success of the Khmer civilization
31:47The management of water and therefore the sacred nature of water
31:52And that's why up here on the Kulen mountain we find a river
31:55Where the bed of the river has been carved with hundreds of hundreds of lingas
32:02Simon believes these sacred linga carvings are older than the temple of Angkor Wat
32:07Lingas are a symbol of fertility which gave spiritual significance and luck to the water
32:13Which would then give greater benefit to the people of the city of Angkor which was developing in the lands
32:19below
32:21Simon's theory is that the Khmer chose a lowland site for their showcase temple because this very special source of
32:28water flowed into it
32:31And archaeologists have discovered further clues to the Khmer fixation with water
32:36Hidden deep inside the temple itself
32:43Angkor Wat is a showcase of water engineering
32:47The roof tiles slope steeply down so rainwater runs off quickly
32:53And the sandstone walls hide an elaborate drainage system
32:58Dozens of holes and tunnels carved right into the fabric of the temple
33:08Rain falling on the statue of Vishnu was turned into holy water
33:13Then flowed outside for worshippers to wash with
33:18But why was water so central to the Khmer state of mind?
33:28Engineer Po Hang believes a clue can be found in an ancient Khmer style of housing
33:34Designed to deal with floods during the monsoon season
33:40The landscape in that area is completely different during dry season and the wet season
33:47Because the water level changed
33:48And dry season is a normal land
33:51But in rainy season it completely looks like you are in the ocean
33:57The ancient Khmer faced an incredible challenge
34:01To feed their growing population in the face of such wildly variable water levels
34:07But by placing the control of water at the forefront of their civilization
34:11They were able to create the perfect conditions for growing their most important staple crop
34:17All year round
34:21It's really important for the Khmer people to have rice
34:25Without rice, you know, they cannot survive
34:30To grow rice, the Khmer needed at least 2 inches of water in their paddy fields at all times
34:38To achieve it, they dug vast reservoirs
34:41The largest of these is called the Western Barre
34:45And is still in use today
34:50During the monsoon, this mighty reservoir fills with water
34:55And in periods of drought, farmers open giant sluice gates to divert the water to their fields
35:07The network of canals in use today represents just a small fraction of the Khmer's ingenious irrigation system
35:20Just north of Angkor
35:22The Khmer diverted the Puak River into the Seam Reap Canal
35:26Which fed the vast bares
35:30They dug a network of canals and irrigation channels
35:34To carry people and goods across the mega-metropolis
35:40And crucially, to supply water to the paddy fields
35:44Leading to an explosion in rice production
35:52Most parts of the country had just one annual harvest
35:55But the innovative farmers around Angkor Wat could look forward to multiple crops
36:01In the Western Barre area, even today, we can have three times of the rice production per year
36:11Once again, the Khmer had tamed the elements
36:13And turned the tyranny of the monsoon to their advantage
36:18Ingenious engineering meant they could feed the vast population needed to support the expansion of their empire
36:27For centuries, the Khmer emperors enjoyed unrivaled power
36:32But nothing lasts forever
36:35Six hundred years ago, the temples appeared to have been suddenly abandoned
36:40And the city that surrounded them left to ruin
36:44What went wrong?
36:47What went wrong?
36:55The great Khmer king, Suryavaman II, built Angkor Wat as a symbol of his godlike status
37:03With its magnificent lotus towers
37:07And carvings of Hindu goddesses
37:09The temple was a recreation of heaven on earth
37:14Nine hundred years later
37:16It remains the spiritual center of Cambodia
37:23The temple was when it was built
37:25And remains to this day
37:27Absolutely at the heart of the Khmer people
37:33Every Cambodian anywhere in the world will dream of visiting this place once in their life
37:39Today, Buddhist monks use the temple as a retreat
37:43They come here to worship and meditate
37:49But the vast city that once surrounded Angkor Wat has vanished
37:54What caused this mighty empire to suddenly collapse?
38:01Simon Warwick is on the Sim Reap river, just north of Angkor
38:05Looking for clues to the downfall of the empire
38:09He believes an attack by a foreign power is the most likely answer
38:15But how could these invaders have overcome the fearsome Angkorian army?
38:20If you imagine an empire the size of the ancient Angkorians
38:24Which stretched all the way across Southeast Asia
38:25There must have been more factors in play
38:32Simon suspects that an environmental catastrophe could have weakened the resources of the Khmer army
38:39Today, he's searching for evidence to prove his theory
38:43This bridge here, it's made of lots of pieces of temple
38:48We can see pieces of a vault, we can see carvings
38:50So it must be from the late Angkorian period
38:54But the clue to what happened is not so much in the pieces of the superstructure
38:57But where its feet are
39:01Simon thinks the position of this bridge holds the key to the mysterious collapse of the Khmer empire
39:07The feet clearly lie on the bottom of the river as it was in the Angkorian time
39:11The bottom of the river today is where I just climbed up from
39:16So there's been a dramatic change between the late Angkorian period and today
39:22The river bed has dropped by around 15 feet
39:27This clearly shows that something has failed
39:29Could be a change due to the erosion of the rivers, a failure in the water systems
39:35The Seam Reap river was a crucial source of water for irrigation
39:39And the Khmer went to great lengths to manage it
39:44The water was held in position by their dramatic control of the city
39:49So they were holding things up with sluices, with dams, and everything was under control
39:54But over time, erosion wore away the river beds and the water levels dropped
40:02The Khmer farmers struggled to divert the precious water to their fields
40:08The failing irrigation system triggered food shortages and weakened the kingdom
40:15The Khmer were no longer strong enough to defend themselves
40:25Finally, the Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya lay siege to Angkor in 1431 and brought down the city
40:33The great Khmer empire and its magnificent temples were lost to the jungle
40:44Today, despite the collapse of the city surrounding it, Angkor Wat remains at the very heart of this nation
40:51This temple is a national flag
40:55It's on the money, it's the most important symbol to the Cambodian people
41:01Angkor Wat is a testament to the mind-blowing achievements of a great civilization
41:07Who mastered the elements
41:10Harnessed the power of the monsoon
41:12Built on an unimaginable scale
41:16With phenomenal feats of engineering
41:19And acquired extraordinary wealth
41:22Leaving as their legacy a truly awe-inspiring monument
41:31This has been a blessing
41:32This journey of the generation arrived
41:33Literally, we have to fight out emergency
41:37To license the никots of young people
41:39io
41:58Celebrate
41:58You
41:58We'll be back.
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