Water & Climate

From the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, Angkor was one of the most advanced urban centers in the world. Some estimates suggest that the population numbered close to a million people, making greater Angkor by far the largest city in the world in this period. In this module, we explore the Khmer relationship with the environment through three chapters:

Concluding Discussion

The connections between climate and Angkor are both important and highly revealing.  If we look broadly across the Khmer relationship with the environment in this period, two contradictory points emerge. On the one hand, the Khmers displayed a deep knowledge and understanding of nature and showed remarkable success in harnessing its power to improve their lives.  But these successes also made Angkor highly vulnerable. While they demonstrated a remarkable ability to come up with creative engineering solutions to the problem of a changing climate, they were ultimately deeply vulnerable to major environmental shifts and the power of nature. This may provide a cautionary tale as we attempt to navigate the challenge posed by climate change.