The Civilization of Angkor

by Charles F.W. Higham

In the late sixteenth century a mythical encounter was reported during an elephant hunt in the dense north of the Tonle Sap, or Great Lake of central Cambodia. King Satha of Cambodia and his retainers were beating a path through the undergrowth when they were halted by stone giants and a massive wall. The King, the fable reported, ordered six thousand men to clear away the forest overgrowth around the wall, thereby exposing the city of Angkor--"lost" for over a century.

Subsequent reports from Portuguese missionaries described its five gateways, with bridges flanked by stone figures leading across a moat. There were idols covered in gold, inscriptions, fountains, canals, and a "temple with five towers, called Angor." For four centuries, this huge complex has inspired awe among visitors from all over the world, but only now are its origins and history becoming clear.

This book begins with the development of the prehistoric communities of the area and draws on the author's recent excavations to portray the rich and expansive chiefdoms that existed at the dawn of civilization. It covers the origins of early states, up to the establishment, zenith, and decline of this extraordinary civilization, whose most impressive achievement was the construction of the gilded temple mausoleum of Angkor Wat in the twelfth century, allegedly by 70,000 people.

Drawing on the latest research on prehistoric archaeology, epigraphy, and art history, Charles Higham has written a clear and concise history of this remarkable civilization.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Asia, Archaeology, Travel

207 pages, Paperback

First published June 14, 2001

About the author

Charles Frank Wandesforde Higham ONZM is a British-born New Zealand archaeologist. In 1957, he was offered a place at St Catharine's College, Cambridge to read Archaeology and Anthropology. However, he first spent two years at the Institute of Archaeology, London University. In 1959 he went up to Cambridge, and studied the Neolithic Bronze and Iron Ages of Europe. He took a double first and was elected a Scholar of his college in 1960. He was provided with a State Scholarship in 1962, and embarked on his doctoral research on the prehistoric economic history of Switzerland and Denmark. He was awarded his doctorate in 1966. He was appointed Foundation Professor of Anthropology at the University of Otago in 1968, and began fieldwork in Southeast Asia a year later. He is most noted for his work on the Angkor civilization in Cambodia. Dr. Higham is a Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand; he is also a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society of New Zealand, and an Honorary Fellow of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge.

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

I love reading books on archaeology. A lot of the information doesn’t sink in — the names and dates and precise contents of tombs — but the interpretations that come out of it do, and I have a great time reliving my childhood dreams of being an archaeologist. (Blame Time Team.) In the case of this book, it’s mostly based on inscriptions and ruins actually found standing, rather than excavations, and I ended up tiring of the succession of names and vague facts, and of being told over and over again what a linga is (it’s a giant stone penis). There’s definitely magic in the ruins of Angkor Wat, and I did enjoy some of the understanding I gleaned of how that society worked… but it got pretty repetitive, just lists and lists of who was related to whom, the gods they venerated and the piles of treasure and groups of workers they supplied for temples.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s important stuff to know in the interpretation of the site, but it’s a little… bloodless. It all seemed to be summed up rather neatly in the final 20-page chapter, which was the bit where most of the analysis came in.

[Anuradha Sarup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable reading specially when travelling in Siem Reap. Makes the monuments much more understandable. Not as a travel guide but as to who the people were.

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. The book has some really engaging chapters while others are marred by dry and workmanlike writing. This probably has to do with the nature of the source material; for large parts of the period covered our only written sources are inscriptions on walls and stelea that mainly detail donations to temples made by kings and grandees, and the chapters based on these sources thus end up feeling listlike and repetitive. Even so, I can't help but feel like a truly skilled author would have managed to wring a more engaging account out of these inscriptions through inference and interpretation - the tour guides certainly do.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally learned a lot from this book as a great reference to summarizing the lead-up and the eventual establishment of Angkor. The book is full of lots of details, and as a reference I am sure it is hard to pass. However, this was a difficult book to read, especially during the long, drawn out achievements of the various rulers of Angkor. At the conclusion of reading the book and going back through the various notes that I took while reading this book, I have a greater appreciation for the book and its synthesis of Angkor civilization.

[Troy Goodfellow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fundamentally a book about the temple culture of the Khmer in the classical and medieval period, Higham, an archaeologist, spends little time outside of the elite ritualized world of the prasats. There is very little discussion of the larger political or domestic happenings in Cambodia beyond the occasional reference to a war or a Chinese embassy, and the wider Khmer society beyond the huge Angkor temple complexes is largely a mystery. The final chapter poses interesting questions about the scale of royal planning or the nature of the Cambodian common population in this era, but does nothing beyond nod in their general direction.

Strong details on the temples and what inscriptions reveal about elite landholders and religious officials in this era. Nothing on the decline of the civilization or how the large prasats became "lost" - changing from the centers of bustling cities to overgrown jungle monuments that astonished 17th century Europeans.

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at the airport after spending 10 days in Cambodia. I didn’t get the chance to visit Angkor Wat, but had travelled to 5 provinces — and noticed how proud the Cambodians were of their country and history. This book sheds some light on the Angkor civilisation, as well as the nature of studying history/ nature of knowledge; how theories in the past are disproved now. Archeology is however not my forte and some parts of the book were too academic for my fancy. I would’ve preferred something more historical. Nevertheless, a swift introduction into the civilisation.

[Laurel Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the people of region the archaeological evidence leaves clues about as well as expanding geographic knowledge of the area as a whole. Essentially, this is a beginner’s book into the world of Angkor Wat and its surrounding temple which provides a fairly impartial look at the area without overwhelming the reader with too much fine detail.

[Duong Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Đáng tiếc là trò chơi Age of Empire đã không kịp bổ sung Khmer vào danh sách đội quân đế chế. Thật quá đáng tiếc :D

[Jaia Colognese · Rating 2 out of 5]

drier than dry.

[Revanth Ukkalam]

This book is as classical as the title sounds. Got a few notes down though, on temples in Greater Angkor and Koh Ker.

[Catina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full review to come.
"What do read instead" recommendations at the bottom.
This book is a huge disappointment, especially knowing that the author (judging by several of his other books) is talented.

The book claims to be about the Angkorian civilization (that is, the Khmer Empire). Instead, at least half the book is about the several ancient Southeast Asian cultures that preceded it (Funan and Chenla/Zhenla). This is a huge mistake. The author should instead have used that equivalent amount of space to discuss several aspects of life in the Khmer empire (law, government, religion) in detail. Instead, we only get glimpses or vague sketches of those important aspects. Which brings us to another problem: the book doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it another "list of kings, important dates, and battles" book? Or is it another "vague and jumbled sketch of daily life in a culture" book? I bet even the author doesn't know.

The individual vague sketches about aspects of life in ancient Cambodia are also disorganized and sloppy in and of themselves. The author is fond of jumping throughout time without warning (often in the same page, and sometimes even in the same paragraph).

[Tom Mcmillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of the Khmer Empire beginning in around 100 AD, and eliminating in the creation of the city of Angkor in approximately 1200 AD, and how the city, which at one time was the LARGEST CITY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, simply disappeared. No one understands exactly what happened other than it fell to the constant warfare in Southeast Asia from 1300-1700. A good scholarly work.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are occasional points of interest about the civilisation of Angkor scattered throughout this book, but overall it is very difficult to relate to the subject matter. The maps and timelines are particularly poor.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little erudite for me, but I still enjoyed getting a big picture of life and times of Angkor.