Ak Yum ( km, អកយំ, ) is an ancient temple in the
Angkor
Angkor ( km, អង្គរ , 'Capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura ( km, យសោធរបុរៈ; sa, यशोधरपुर),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-Engl ...
region of
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
.
[Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., ] Helen Jessup dates the temple to the 8th century, and states it is the oldest known example of "temple mountain" in Southeast Asia.
[Michael W. Meister (2006)]
Mountain Temples and Temple-Mountains: Masrur
''Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', Vol. 65, No. 1 (Mar., 2006), University of California Press, pp. 39- 44;
The origins and repair history of the temple are unclear. Stone carrying inscriptions, including one with a date corresponding to Saturday 10 June 674 AD during the reign of king
Jayavarman I
Jayavarman I ( km, ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី១) is considered to be the last ruler of the united Chenla, the predecessor polity of the Khmer Empire.
He ruled from approximately 657 until around 681. Over the course of his reign, and ...
. The first structure on the site was a single-chamber brick sanctuary, probably constructed in the latter part of the 8th century. Later it was remade into a larger stepped pyramid structure, with a base approximately 100 meters square. The expansion probably took place in the early 9th Century during the reign of King
Jayavarman II
Jayavarman II ( km, ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី២; c. 770 – 850) (reigned c. 802–850) was a Khmer prince who founded and became the ruler of the Khmer Empire (Cambodia) after unifying the Khmer civilization. The Khmer Empire was the ...
, who is widely recognized as the founder of the
Khmer Empire. When the
West Baray
The West Baray ( km, បារាយណ៍ខាងលិច, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ) or Baray Teuk Thla ( km, បារាយណ៍ទឹកថ្លា, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; "Clear Water Reservoir") is a baray, or reservoir, at Angkor, Cambodia, ...
reservoir was built in the 11th Century, Ak Yum was partially buried by the southern dike. The site was excavated in the 1932 under the direction of archaeologist George Trouvé.
Gallery
File:Ak Yum 0003.jpg, Prasat Ak Yum
File:Ak Yum 0001.jpg, The wall of the temple
References
* Higham, Charles. ''The Civilization of Angkor''. University of California Press 2001. p. 96
{{coord, 13.4246, N, 103.777, E, source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title
Angkorian sites in Siem Reap Province
Religious buildings and structures in Cambodia