摘要: Description　　Angkor Borei is an important center of one of the earliest complex polities in Southeast Asia. It was a major political centre and the foundation of Khmer civilization that began between

Description

　　Angkor Borei is an important center of one of the earliest complex polities in Southeast Asia. It was a major political centre and the foundation of Khmer civilization that began between 500 B.C. until the late 6th century. It located in Takeo province, about 102 kilometers south of Phnom Penh, the modern capital city of Cambodia.

　　Angkor Borei is one of the important archaeological sites in Cambodia. It was the capital of Funan and the early Khmer capital that developed and became a quasi-model for the later period city development that include the current World Heritage sites of Sambor Prei Kuk (Ishanapura) and Angkor (Yasodharapura). Angkor Borei is approximately 300 hectares in size with many brick structures. It is surrounded by a large brick and soil wall, lined by moats both inside and outside. A long canal connected this site with other Funan centres such as Phnom Bayong and with the Oc Eo region, in present day Vietnam. The site has revealed the oldest extant dated Khmer inscription and the earliest examples of architecture and sculpture that can be considered to be Khmer.  Moreover, the Angkor Borei area continued to be an important religious centre following the pre-history period including the burials at Komnou pagoda and Borei mountain.

　　Phnom Da is the name of the mount to the south of the town of Angkor Borei.  Currently, two temples still remain standing on this mount and several caves that have been found around its base. The principal temple, now known as Phnom Da temple, was built in the 11th century on foundations remaining from the Funan period. On the northeast slope of the mount is another temple named Asram Maha Rosei. It is a temple built of unusual material for Khmer construction. A very hard basalt stone has only been used in two temples in Cambodia, and it is one of a very few temples in Cambodia that has an internal “womb” (Garbhagṛha) where the priests (Pujari) go inside to make ceremonial actions.

　　Around the foot of the mount of Phnom Da, some five caves have been located – three on the north face, one on the east and one on the west.   Sculptures related to Vishnu were found in those caves, some of which are currently housed in the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.

　　From an art history perspective, Phnom Da was identified by art historian as the first Khmer art history style, defined as Phnom Da style with two different parts ; Phnom Da part A and Phnom Da part B. The main characteristic of this style is to integrate both Hindu and Buddhist sculpture, showing similarity with the Indian arts of Gupta and Post-Gupta period, and the style has a strong relationship with the Indo-Greek Mathura school.