Prasat Ak Yum
Encyclopedia
Prasat Ak Yum is temple in the Angkor
Angkor
Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara , meaning "city"...

 region of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

. The first structure on the site was a single-chamber brick sanctuary, probably constructed toward the end of the 8th Century, scholars believe. Later the temple was remade as a 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
Jayavarman II was a 9th century king of Cambodia, widely recognized as the founder of the Khmer Empire, which ruled much of the Southeast Asian mainland for more than six hundred years. Historians formerly dated his reign as running from 802 AD to 850 AD, but some scholars now have set it back to...

, who is widely recognized as the founder of the Khmer Empire
Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city...

. Although the ruins are today visually unimpressive compared to many others in the Angkor region, they are significant as a forerunner of the temple mountains that became a standard form of Khmer architecture.

When the eight-kilometer long West Baray
West Baray
The West Baray is a baray, or reservoir, at Angkor, Cambodia, oriented east-west and located just west of the walled city Angkor Thom. Rectangular in shape and measuring approximately 8 by 2.1 kilometers, the West Baray is the largest baray at Angkor. Its waters are contained by tall earthen dikes...

reservoir was constructed in the 11th Century, Ak Yum was partially buried by the southern dike. The temple was excavated in the 1930s under the direction of archaeologist George Trouvé.
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