History
It appeared owing to the ancient Khmer rulers who strengthened unity between peoples with a good political doctrine and the development of an intelligent irrigation system who allowed to control water of the Mekong River for agriculture and so to work out its prosperity. Then it were slowly deteriorated during five century. Of this Khmer Civilization, it left some fabulous and exceptional monuments (like Angkor Watand Bayon Khmers temples), some numerous sculptures.
The word ” Angkor ” is derived Sanskrit (an ancient Indian language), of “ Nagara ” which means “ City “. Angkor Wat literally means ” City of Temple ” and Angkor Thom ” The Magnificent City “.
The ancient Khmer’s were great masters of stone carving and we can see the evidences of various Angkor temples who extended on the large plain of Siem Reap up to outside of Cambodian border to the Preah Vihear atDangrek mountain, Phnomrung and Phimaiin Thailand and Wat Phu in Laos. These temples were make up patiently during centuries by Khmer artisans. This expect a main energy to realize such efforts as a long time, in contradiction with the normal and easy life of the Khmer people and villagers of their time.
For historians and archaeologists, it is not easy to do the detailed study of Khmer civilization. Most of the writing, found after the excavation of Angkor, were carved in the stones, who became the best support against time wear. They are important evidences to understand the basic constituency of Khmer society and its chronology. They relate principally religious rituals, king’s praise and literature of Indian epics of ” Ramayana ” and “ Mahabharata “. There is not much things on the subject of the ordinary life of the local people.
It is owing to a Chinese Ambassador, Zhou Daguan in the middle of 13th century during the Chinese dynasty Yuan, who traveled to Angkor, lived with peoples and explored the empire during one year, that we learn more things about Khmer civilization. He wrote very clearly and vividly how people were live in the Khmer society in this period.Angkor Wat represent center of Khmer civilization. It is situated on the plain of Siem Reap province north of the Great Lake of Tonle Sap.
All along Khmer history, the throne were often desire, which involved some violent bloodshed. Differences successive kings build each one a different capital, all in the Angkor Wat and Ruolos sector, with some names likeHariharata, Yasodharapura, Jayendanagari, Angkor Thom and a lot of others unknown names.
Much temples like Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom represent incontestably the relics of the past Khmer Civilization.
In the Khmer society, hierarchy include above the God-King, surrounded by brahmins tutors and the members of his royal family. The priests who live in the temples were also powerful and controlled their own lands and paddy fields.The names of donors were written in the stone, on the temples and we learn that they were allowed noblemen or high dignitary responsible for the administrative and judiciary tasks, how that may be, all this wasn’t very precise for historians, it is so difficult to drove up a complete list of the Angkor Empire hierarchy.
The Khmer Civilization economy was based principally on agriculture, the majority of people was farmers or peasants and some of the less wealthy of them was fastened to large landowners or of the temples.
The lowest hierarchy of the Khmer Civilization was reserved to slaves who bellowed at temples, which we found the majority of the names inscribed on the stone. Their names was kept in a holy place, what who let think they could not have been the low class slaves as its word ” slave ” implied. For historians they were only temples servants and priests were ” Gods slaves ” and not to any human being. In fact, slaves were mostly captured in the neighboring countries, but Khmer people themselves could fall in the lowest status and being a ” slave ” if they failed to pay their rents or loans to the upper ruling class.
Angkor World Heritage Site
Angkor was the Khmer ancient metropolitan areas which covered Angkor Plain stretching from Koulen Mountains to the north and Tonle Sap Lake to the south – an area of almost 5,000 km2 and more than thousand archaeological sites have been identified.
In 1991, due to the wrecked condition of the temples, King NORODOM Sihanouk appealed to UNESCO to coordinate the international efforts to preserve and safeguard the Angkor site. On 14th December 1992, Angkor was inscribed in the World Heritage List and the World Heritage in Danger. Covering the area of 401 km2 with 90 temples (please the attached list of temples); Angkor was inscribed on the basis of the following criteria:
1. it represents a unique artistic achievement, a master piece of creative genius;
2. it has exerted great influence over a span of time, within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture, monumental arts, and landscaping;
3. it bears a unique exceptional testimony to a civilisation which has disappeared; and
4. it is an outstanding example of an architectural ensemble which illustrates a significant stage in history.
Also the Angkor Park was inscribed under five conditions as below:
(a) Enact adequate protective legislation
(b) Establish an adequately staffed national protection agency
(c) Establish permanent boundaries based on the UNDP project
(d) Define meaningful buffer zones
(e) Establish monitoring and coordination of the internationally conservation effort.
The aim of ZEMP is to delimit appropriate boundaries to the zones and the boundary of the Angkor World Heritage Area and to recommend options for an integrated site management plan which includes:
(a) long-term, sustainable and environmentally sound management strategies ‘for the protection of Area’s archaeological, cultural and natural resource;
(b) a framework for integrating the area into the development strategy of Siem Reap province, taking into account tourism impact and employment creation opportunities, including land-use zoning and management plans which incorporate environmental, cultural and historic and tourism/development aspects;
(c) a legal framework and implementation guidelines;
(d) design of an information and decision making system for future special and environmental management of the site; and in a second phase;
(e) professional training for present and future national park administrators in order that they may be able to deal effectively with the complexity of managing the Angkor World Heritage Area, particularly the special areas of archaeological concern and ecologically sensitive zones within and outside the delimitations of the park.
The Angkor Park is divided into five categories of protected zones. These have differing management objectives. The Royal Decree that established Protected Cultural Zones in the Siem Reap-Angkor region and guidelines for their management was adopted in May 1994. It provides the legal basis for the zoning of the park and its management. The five different zones are as follows:
Zone 1: Monumental site. This zone is the core zone, monumental sites and protected archaeological reserves. It has the most significant archaeological features and the highest level of protection. There are three main non-contiguous and monumental sites in this zone:
- around the temples that surround the ancient capitals of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom;
- Roluos which is a group of temples located some 30 km southwest of Siem Reap town;
- Banteay Srei which lies forty kilometres northwest of Angkor.
Zone 2: Protected archaeological reserves. This zone acts as buffer zone, around the monumental sites.
The zones 1 and 2 are under strictest management control. There is prohibition of development in any part of these zones with the following exceptions: development essential for the protection and enhancement of the monuments in zone 1, and development essential for the protection and enhancement of the monuments and the preservation of local lifestyles in zone 2.
Zone 3: Protected cultural landscapes are areas preserved for their distinctive traditional physical and cultural features, including historic buildings and land use practices. Siem Reap and Roluos rivers are included in zone 3.
Zone 4: They are sites of archaeological, anthropological or historic interest. This zone is of less significance than the zone 1 and 2, but requires protection for research, education and tourism. The isolated temple of Phnom Krom, which overlooks Tonle Sap Lake, is included in zone 4.
Zone 5: The socio-economic and cultural development zone of the Siem Reap-Angkor region. This zone covers the whole of Siem Reap province and broadly corresponds to the catchment area of greater metropolitan Angkor. This zone is to be managed as a multiple-use area with an emphasis on economic and social development through sustainable natural resource use and cultural tourism.
The condition (e) was fulfilled with the establishment of the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor called ICC-Angkor after the International Conference in Tokyo in 1993 and confirmed by a Second International Conference in Paris in 2003.
The members of the ICC-Angkor are countries and institutions who participated in one or both conferences in Tokyo and Paris. They are the following: Asian Development Bank, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, European Community, FAO, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, ICCROM, ICOM, ICOMOS, IMF, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Laos PDR, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, SEAMEO/SPAFA, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, UNDP, United Kingdom, United States of America, UNV, Vietnam, WMF, World Bank, WTO.
The ICC-Angkor is Co-chaired by France and Japan. The Co-chairs convene twice a year its members and technical teams who are working in the Angkor World Heritage Site. The plenary session is organized around November-December to discuss the policy orientation and cooperation while the technical session, around June-July, provides a forum for technical discussion on various fields such as restoration, research, development.
By December 2008, the following teams are working at Angkor:
Organization ICC-Angkor Project Email
UNESCO/Japanese APSARA Safeguarding Angkor(JASA)
Restoration of Bayon temple
1. UNESCO/Japanese APSARA Safeguarding Angkor(JASA)
Restoration of Bayon temple
nakag(at)waseda.jp
2. Sophia University (JAPAN)
Restoration of Angkor Wat Causeway phase II
satoru(at)online.com.kh
3. Germany Angkor Conservation Project (GACP)
Restoration of Angkor Wat, stones conservation and research
l(at)phno.auswaertiges-amt.de
4. Banteay Srei Conservation Project (Switzerland)
Development of Parvis of Banteay Srey
rolf.grossenbacher(at)atelier-gs.ch
5. Ecole française d'Extrême Orient (France)
Archeological research (Bayon and others) and Restoration of Baphoun
pascal.royere(at)efeo.net
christophe.pottier(at)efeo.net
jacques_gaucher(at)yahoo.com
6. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
Restoration of Ta Prohm
ds_sood2006(at)yahoo.com.co.in
7. Chinese Safeguarding Angkor (CSA)
Restoration of Ta Keo
en1366(at)hotmail.com
8. Ingegneria Geotecnica e Structural snc (I.Ge.S), Italy
Restoration of Angkor Wat
vm.santoro(at)igessnc.com
9. World Monuments Fund (WMF), USA
Restoration of Angkor Wat, Bakheng and Preah Khan
gboornazian(at)icr-icc.com
10. New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAid)
Community participation project
lynn.desilva(at)mfat.govt.nz
11. UNESCO/Australia-APSARA
Management framework
Margaret.Adamson(at)dfat.gov.au
12. University of Sydney, Australia
Living with Heritage, Greeter Angkor Project
roland.fletcher(at)arts.usyd.edu.au
13. University Blaise Pascal, France
Ta Keo project (impact of deforestation on stone destruction)
m-francoise.andre(at)univ-bpclermont.fr
14. International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, Japan
Environmental Archaeological Study of the Angkor-Thom and Research on prehistory and the Environment in the Angkor Region
sergey720(at)yahoo.com
15. A Khmer-Thai Joint Research Project
Living Angkor Road
imsokrithy(at)hotmail.com
16. Nara Institute, Japan
Investigation of Western Prasat Top
tomoishi(at)nabunken.go.jp
17. Czech Academy of Sciences
Research for an early human settlement at the site of the Royal Palace
karel(at)ujf.cas.cz
18. National Institute for Cultural properties of Tokyo, Japan
Joint Research Project on Ta Nei monument Stones
futa(at)tobunken.go.jp
19. Centre des Hautes Etudes de Chaillot
Centre for Heritage training
sylvain.ulisse(at)free.fr
20. Government of Cambodia, with financial contribution from India
Restoration and showcasing of West Baray
hangpeou(at)yahoo.com
21. APSARA
Run Ta Ek, eco-village for sustainable development
tanbounsuy(at)yahoo.com
22. APSARA, with financial contribution from HOLCIM Group of Company
Restoration of Bakong pagoda Project
kaqc2004(at)yahoo.com
23. UNESCO/APSARA-Jet Tour Fund-In-Trust
Restoration of Sras Srang
kaqc2004(at)yahoo.com
24. Agrisud International, French
NGO Development of agriculture project in Siem Reap
sberton(at)agrisud.org
25. Archaeology and Development Foundation, France
Archaeological Research at Phnom Kouken
jbchevance(at)free.fr
26. Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst German Development Service (DED), Germany
Restoration of elephant statue of East Mebon
012 552 164,
ld(at)ded.org.kh
27. Environment Research Development Angkor Cambodia (ERDAC), Japan
Research on environment in Angkor Region
t.shinji(at)staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
28.Gopura Team (Czech Republic)
Restoration of Lion statue of Phimeanakas temple
gopura2(at)gmail.com
29. Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Development of Siem Reap town
Morihata.Shingo(at)jica.go.jp
30. Royal Angkor Foundation (RAF), Hungary
Archaeological Research at Koh Ker
jelenjanos(at)gmail.com
31. University of Bonn, Germany
Research on Khmer inscription
t.maxwell(at)web.de
For more information about the ICC-Angkor, please contact UNESCO Phnom Penh, through Mr. Bunhok LIM at bh.lim(at)unesco.org
Angkor
Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesisAngkor, in Cambodia’s northern province of Siem Reap, is one of the most important archaeological sites of Southeast Asia. It extends over approximately 400 square kilometres and consists of scores of temples, hydraulic structures (basins, dykes, reservoirs, canals) as well as communication routes. For several centuries Angkor, was the centre of the Khmer Kingdom. With impressive monuments, several different ancient urban plans and large water reservoirs, the site is a unique concentration of features testifying to an exceptional civilization. Temples such as Angkor Wat, the Bayon, Preah Khan and Ta Prohm, exemplars of Khmer architecture, are closely linked to their geographical context as well as being imbued with symbolic significance. The architecture and layout of the successive capitals bear witness to a high level of social order and ranking within the Khmer Empire. Angkor is therefore a major site exemplifying cultural, religious and symbolic values, as well as containing high architectural, archaeological and artistic significance.
The park is inhabited, and many villages, some of whom the ancestors are dating back to the Angkor period are scattered throughout the park. The population practices agriculture and more specifically rice cultivation.
Criterion (i): The Angkor complex represents the entire range of Khmer art from the 9th to the 14th centuries, and includes a number of indisputable artistic masterpieces (e.g. Angkor Wat, the Bayon, Banteay Srei).
Criterion (ii): The influence of Khmer art as developed at Angkor was a profound one over much of South-east Asia and played a fundamental role in its distinctive evolution.
Criterion (iii): The Khmer Empire of the 9th-14th centuries encompassed much of South-east Asia and played a formative role in the political and cultural development of the region. All that remains of that civilization is its rich heritage of cult structures in brick and stone.
Criterion (iv): Khmer architecture evolved largely from that of the Indian sub-continent, from which it soon became clearly distinct as it developed its own special characteristics, some independently evolved and others acquired from neighboring cultural traditions. The result was a new artistic horizon in oriental art and architecture.
Integrity
The Angkor complex encompasses all major architectural buildings and hydrological engineering systems from the Khmer period and most of these “barays” and canals still exist today. All the individual aspects illustrate the intactness of the site very much reflecting the splendor of the cities that once were. The site integrity however, is put under dual pressures:
1. endogenous: exerted by more than 100,000 inhabitants distributed over 112 historic settlements scattered over the site, who constantly try to expand their dwelling areas;
2. exogenous: related to the proximity of the town of Siem Reap, the seat of the province and a tourism hub.
Authenticity
Previous conservation and restoration works at Angkor between 1907 and 1992, especially by the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), the Archaeological Survey of India, the Polish conservation body PKZ, and the World Monuments Fund have had no significant impact on the overall authenticity of the monuments that make up the Angkor complex and do not obtrude upon the overall impression gained from individual monuments.
Protection and management requirements
The property is legally protected by the Royal Decree on the Zoning of the Region of Siem Reap/Angkor adopted on 28 May 1994 and the Law on the protection of the natural and cultural heritage promulgated on 25 January 1996, the Royal Decree on the creation of the APSARA National Authority (Authority for the protection of the site and the management of the Angkor Region) adopted on 19 February 1995, the No. 70 SSR government Decision, dated 16 September 2004 providing for land‐use in the Angkor Park: “All lands located in zone 1 and 2 of the Angkor site are State properties”, and the sub-decree No. 50 ANK/BK on the organisation and functioning of the APSARA National Authority adopted on 9 May 2008, specifically provided for the establishment of a Department of Land‐use and Habitat Management in the Angkor Park.
In order to strengthen and to clarify the ownership and building codes in the protected zones 1 and 2, boundary posts have been put in 2004 and 2009 and the action was completed in 2012.
As off 1993, the ICC-Angkor (International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the historic site of Angkor) created on 13 October 1993, ensures the coordination of the successive scientific, restoration and conservation related projects, executed by the Royal Cambodian Government and its international partners. It ensures the consistency of the various projects, and defines, when necessary, technical and financial standards and calls the attention of all the concerned parties when required. It also contributes to the overall management of the property and its sustainable development.
The successful conservation of the property by the APSARA National Authority, monitored by the ICC-Angkor, was crowned by the removal of the property from the World Heritage List in danger in 2004.
Angkor is one of the largest archaeological sites in operation in the world. Tourism represents an enormous economic potential but it can also generate irreparable destructions of the tangible as well as intangible cultural heritage. Many research projects have been undertaken, since the international safeguarding program was first launched in 1993.The scientific objectives of the research (e.g. anthropological studies on socio-economic conditions) result in a better knowledge and understanding of the history of the site, and its inhabitants that constitute a rich exceptional legacy of the intangible heritage. The purpose is to associate the “intangible culture” to the enhancement of the monuments in order to sensitize the local population to the importance and necessity of its protection and preservation and assist in the development of the site as Angkor is a living heritage site where Khmer people in general, but especially the local population, are known to be particularly conservative with respect to ancestral traditions and where they adhere to a great number of archaic cultural practices that have disappeared elsewhere. The inhabitants venerate the temple deities and organize ceremonies and rituals in their honor, involving prayers, traditional music and dance. Moreover, the Angkor Archaeological Park is very rich in medicinal plants, used by the local population for treatment of diseases. The plants are prepared and then brought to different temple sites for blessing by the gods. The Preah Khan temple is considered to have been a university of medicine and the NeakPoan an ancient hospital. These aspects of intangible heritage are further enriched by the traditional textile and basket weaving practices and palm sugar production, which all result in products that are being sold on local markets and to the tourists, thus contributing to the sustainable development and livelihood of the population living in and around the World Heritage site.
A Public Investigation Unit was created as « measure instrument » for identifying the needs, expectations and behaviors of visitors in order to set policies, monitor its evolution, prepare a flux management policy and promote the unknown sites.
The management of the Angkor Site, which is inhabited, also takes into consideration the population living in the property by associating them to the tourist economic growth in order to strive for sustainable development and poverty reduction.
Two major contributions supporting the APSARA National Authority in this matter are:
1.The Angkor Management Plan (AMP) and Community Development Participation Project (CDPP), a bilateral cooperation with the Government of New Zealand. The AMP helps the APSARA National Authority to reorganize and strengthen the institutional aspects, and the CDPP prepares the land use map with an experimental participation of the communities and supports small projects related to tourist development in order to improve the income of villagers living in the protected zones;
2.The Heritage Management Framework composed of a Tourism Management Plan and a Risk map on monuments and natural resources; a multilateral cooperation with the Government of Australia and UNESCO. Preliminary analytical and planning work for the management strategy will take into account the necessity to preserve the special atmosphere of Angkor. All decisions must guarantee physical, spiritual, and emotional accessibility to the site for the visitors.
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