Cambodia Expats Online: Forum | News | Information | Blog

Ancient statue unearthed at Cambodia’s Angkor complex
Breaking News August 01, 2017 13:35
Phnom Penh: Archaeologists have unearthed a large, centuries-old statue that is believed to have once stood guard over an ancient hospital at Cambodia’s famed Angkor temple complex.
The nearly two-metre tall carving, which is thought to be from the late 12th to the early 13th century, was discovered during a dig on Saturday, said Long Kosal, a spokesman for Apsara Authority -- the state agency charged with managing the complex.
AFP
Cambodian archaeologists and experts from Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies found the statue buried 40 centimeters under the ground during an excavation of an Angkor-era hospital built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII.

The Apsara agency said the sandstone statue’s arms and legs had broken off but the carving on the body and head “remain beautiful” despite the passage of time.
They said the statue was likely to have been a symbolic guardian of the hospital.
The Nation/AFP

It's great when they find something like this and do their best to preserve it. Unfortunately the damage done to all the old sites during the war is irreversible. I read a paper recently about the looting, a statue like that might have gotten your whole crew $50 back in the 90s. By the time it got to Bangkok it was 100 or more times the price, plus they would often copy and fake statues along the route too.

nice

- Experts say [that is] why the latest find is so extraordinary. It is described as the most important statue to have been found at Angkor in recent years.
Archaeologists found the statue buried 40cm (16in) underground while excavating a hospital built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII who reigned from 1181 to around 1220.

The king had a reputation for social programmes, with the hospital being one of the most prominent.

The statue's arms and legs are broken but engravings on its body and head can still clearly be seen.
Experts say the hope now is that other objects will be unearthed at the site so that more information can be gleaned on the lifestyles of people of the era.

Historian Rethy Chhem told the Cambodia Daily that the hospital is one of four built in the area, none of which has been properly excavated.
Each hospital contained various statues of divinities, he said, the most prized of which was a statue of the Medicine Buddha.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40788658

Photos from Apsara National Authority

More discoveries at the hospital site, remains of Buddha statues:

Four sandstone remnants of Buddha statues dating back to the Jayavarman VII era were discovered at an Angkor-era hospital site on Sunday in Siem Reap province.
Em Sok Rithy, deputy director of the International Centre of Research and Angkor Documents, said the remnants were discovered at the Tonle Sngout temple by a group of Apsara Authority archaeologists working with colleagues from the Singapore-based Institute of South-East Asian Studies...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5077329/anc ... nts-found/

After Incredible Finds, Angkor Archaeologists Wrap Up Dig
August 11, 2017
After 13 days of excavation that yielded artifacts beyond their dreams, archaeologists and researchers wrapped up work in Angkor Archaeological Park this week. After the excitement of their finds—which included a 1.9-meter statue of a guard and part of a Medicine Buddha—the team now have to get on with the job of assessing what they’ve found.
This will range from restoring statues to analyzing soil samples to determine which medicinal plants were grown at the site where a hospital stood 800 years ago, during the reign of King Jayavarman VII.

One big task will be to renovate the magnificent guard statue found on the second day of the dig on July 29. It would have once stood in the hospital grounds, which are located next to the northern entrance of Angkor Thom, the walled city of the king.
Weighing about 200 kg and missing its feet and part of its legs, the sandstone figure was an unexpected discovery.

On Monday, the archaeologists unearthed their second major find. This time it was a Medicine Buddha, which they identified from an object similar to a small pyramid in the palm of his hand. Although hospital inscriptions from that era mention that a Medicine Buddha stood in the temple of every Jayavarman VII hospital compound, this is the first ever found...
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/afte ... ig-133509/

At last some real hope for progress in the kingdom's hospitals.

How awesome!! I'd love to know more about the medicinal herbs they used in those days.
What did they use before Tiger Balm?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

rozzieoz wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:40 pm How awesome!! I'd love to know more about the medicinal herbs they used in those days.
What did they use before Tiger Balm?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Real tiger. Still do when they can afford it.