Embedded Files
Students learn to:use a range of sources and the site of Angkor as an historical source, describe what it reveals about Angkor/Khmer life and culture - including, water management.
Water Management
Water Management
In a tropical climate, where rain only falls during the wet season, how does a city as big as Angkor, provide its citizens with enough water throughout the whole year? Many historians believe Angkor was such a successful city, because it did in fact find a way to achieve this problem. It allowed water to be easily accessible for its people.
Activity One:
MindMap:
As a class, discuss this question.
What do you think the different uses of water, that the people of the Khmer Empire, would have needed?
After you have discussed this, copy down the answers using Text2Mindmap.
Screenshot your finished product and copy it onto your google document.
Why was this so important?
Why was this so important?
Providing water for the year was a challenge, as the Khmer Empire only had two seasons:
- Wet Season - From late May to October, this season has heavy rains and strong winds, also known as monsoons.
- Dry Season - From November to April, this season has little rainfalls.
Yet, through a series of creations and modifications, the Khmer civilisation was able to store water to be used all the time.
How did they achieve this?
How did they achieve this?
The Khmer empire established a centrally controlled water-management system covering an area as big as 1000 square kilometres. The empire needed a way to store water from the monsoon season. To do this, it made a interconnected water system of barays, ponds, canals, dykes and embankments to capture and distribute this water to farming areas.
This system was so successful that it allowed people to establish rice paddies that could yield two or three crops a year instead of one, increasing food production and agricultural trade. It also created a permanent change in the region’s hydrology — the way water moves in relation to land.
Source One: Map of the Temples of Angkor and Water Management system.
(World Heritage Site, 2015. Angkor Wat, Location and Map. Accessible from <http://www.world-heritage-site.com/unesco-world-heritage/angkor-wat-location-and-map/>Activity Two:
- Define the terms underlined: Baray, canals, water dykes, embankment and hydrology.
- How many seasons did the Khmer Empire have? What were they called?
- What did it create in the regions' hydrology? What does this tell us about the Khmer people?
- Looking at Source One (above) answer the following questions:
- How many Barays are there?
- Why do you think the East Baray is green on the map and not blue?
The West Baray
The West Baray
Barays were very common, built with earthen banks on all sides to contain the water. However, the West Baray at Angkor is one of the largest barays built, dating back to the 11th century. It was 8km long and 2 km wide. It could hold up to 53 million cubic metres of water! Can you imagine how large that would be?
The water came from nearby Siem Reap River and from the heavy rainfall during monsoon season. In addition, right in the middle of the West Baray, an artificial (man-made) island was built, with one of the 700 temples of Angkor, constructed on the island.
Interesting Fact:
Interesting Fact:
There are many debates as to why the Barays were built. Some historians believe that they had only a religious meaning. In the Khmer Empires' belief system, the ocean surrounds their gods' home, on Mount Meru. Historians believe the construction of a temple in the middle of the Baray suggests that the Baray was entirely religious and not practical. Kings may have seen this as another way to emphasise their ability to re-create the world of the gods. Other historians believe it was more practical in nature. To use it as a large road, to wash and use water for household purposes.
Source Two: The West Mebon temple and the West Baray in 1996
(Anderson, M.,Keese, I. & Low, A. (2013). Retroactive : Stage 4 The Ancient World to the Modern World, Chapter 5a The Angkor/Khmer empire, Sydney: Jacaranda)The Spean Praptos Bridge
The Spean Praptos Bridge
Another engineering feat of the Khmer Empire is the Spean Praptos Bridge. It acted as both Bridge and flood barrier. The Bridge was built using arches. It has been shown that the arches could be entirely or partially closed, when the river was flowing upstream. 'The bridge required the use of a noria — a chain of buckets moved by the water current around a wheel to raise water from the river below to irrigate the nearby fields.'
Activity Three:
Write a paragraph answering the following question.
Describe the importance of water management in the city of Angkor.
Look at why it was built, its uses and impacts. Refer to at least one source from the google sites or your own research.
Remember to use paragraph structure - P.E.E.L.
Page updated
Report abuse