Ankgor Civilization, the Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia

The Angkor Civilization (or Khmer Empire) is the name given to an important civilization of southeast Asia, including all of Cambodia and southeastern Thailand and northern Vietnam, with its classic period dated roughly between 800 to 1300 AD. It is also the name of one of the medieval Khmer capital cities, containing some of the most spectacular temples in the world, such as Angkor Wat. The ancestors of the Angkor civilization are thought to have migrated into Cambodia along the Mekong River during the 3rd millennium BC. Their original center, established by 1000 BC, was located on the shore of the large lake called Tonle Sap, but a truly sophisticated (and enormous) irrigation system allowed the spread of the civilization into the countryside away from the lake. Angkor (Khmer) Society During the classic period, the Khmer society was a cosmopolitan blend of Pali and Sanskrit rituals resulting from a fusion of Hindu and High Buddhist belief systems, probably the effects of Cambodias role in the extensive trade system connecting Rome, India, and China during the last few centuries BC. This fusion served as both the religious core of the society and as the political and economic basis on which the empire was built. The Khmer society was led by an extensive court system with both religious and secular nobles, artisans, fishermen and rice farmers, soldiers, and elephant keepers: Angkor was protected by an army using elephants. The elites collected and redistributed taxes, and temple inscriptions attest to a detailed barter system. A wide range of commodities was traded between Khmer cities and China, including rare woods, elephant tusks, cardamom and other spices, wax, gold, silver, and silk. Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) porcelain has been found at Angkor: Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) whitewares such as Qinghai boxes have been identified at several Angkor centers. The Khmer documented their religious and political tenets in Sanskrit inscribed on stelae and on temple walls throughout the empire. Bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat, Bayon and Banteay Chhmar describe great military expeditions to neighboring polities using elephants and horses, chariots and war canoes, although there doesnt seem to have been a standing army. The end of Angkor came in the mid-14th century  and was partly brought about by a change in religious belief in the region, from Hinduism and High Buddhism to more democratic Buddhist practices. At the same, an environmental collapse is seen by some scholars as having a role in the disappearance  of Angkor. Road Systems among the Khmer The immense Khmer empire was united by a series of roads, comprised of six main arteries extending out of Angkor for a total of ~1,000 kilometers (~620 miles). Secondary roads and causeways served local traffic in and around the Khmer cities. The roads which interconnected Angkor and Phimai, Vat Phu, Preah Khan, Sambor Prei Kuk and Sdok Kaka Thom (as plotted by the Living Angkor Road Project) were fairly straight  and constructed of earth piled from either side of the route in long flat strips. The road surfaces were up to 10 meters (~33 feet) wide and in some places were raised to as much as 5-6 m (16-20 ft) above the ground. The Hydraulic City Recent work conducted at Angkor by the Greater Angkor Project (GAP)  used advanced radar remote sensing applications to map the city and its environs. The project identified the urban complex of about 200-400 square kilometers, surrounded by a vast agricultural complex of farmlands, local villages, temples and ponds, all connected by a web of earthen-walled canals, part of a vast water control system. The GAP newly identified at least 74 structures as possible temples. The results of the survey suggest that the city of Angkor, including the temples, agricultural fields, residences (or occupation mounds), and hydraulic network, covered an area of nearly 3,000 square kilometers over the length of its occupation, making Angkor the largest low-density pre-industrial city on earth. Because of the enormous aerial spread of the city, and the clear emphasis on water catchment, storage, and redistribution, members of the GAP call Angkor a hydraulic city, in that villages within the greater Angkor area were set up with local temples, each surrounded by a shallow moat and traversed by earthen causeways. Large canals connected cities and rice fields, acting both as irrigation and roadway. Archaeology at Angkor Archaeologists who have worked at Angkor Wat include Charles Higham, Michael Vickery, Michael Coe and Roland Fletcher; recent work by the GAP is based in part on the  mid-20th-century  mapping work of Bernard-Philippe Groslier of the École Franà §aise dExtrà ªme-Orient (EFEO). The photographer  Pierre Paris  took great strides with his photos of the region in the 1920s. Due in part to its enormous size, and in part to the political struggles of Cambodia in the latter half of the 19th century, excavation has been limited. Khmer Archaeological Sites Cambodia:  Angkor Wat, Preah Palilay, Baphuon, Preah Pithu, Koh Ker, Ta Keo,  Thmà ¢Ã‚  Anlong,  Sambor Prei Kuk, Phum Snay, Angkor BoreiVietnam:  Oc Eo,  Thailand:  Ban  Non Wat,  Ban Lum Khao, Prasat Hin Phimai, Prasat Phanom Wan Sources Coe MD. 2003.  Angkor and the Khmer Civilization. Thames and Hudson, London.Domett KM, OReilly DJW, and Buckley HR. 2011.  Bioarchaeological evidence for conflict in Iron Age north-west Cambodia.  Antiquity  86(328):441-458.Evans D, Pottier C, Fletcher R, Hensley S, Tapley I, Milne A, and Barbetti M. 2007.  A new archaeological map of the world’s largest preindustrial settlement complex at Angkor, Cambodia.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  104(36):14277-14282.Hendrickson M. 2011.  A transport geographic perspective on travel and communication in Angkorian Southeast Asia (ninth to fifteenth centuries AD).  World Archaeology  43(3):444-457.Higham C. 2001.  The Civilization of Angkor. Weidenfeld Nicolson, London.Penny D, Hua Q, Pottier C, Fletcher R, and Barbetti M. 2007.  The use of AMS 14C dating to explore issues of occupation and demise at the medieval city of Angkor, Cambodia.  Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Bà ‚  259:388–394.Sanderson DCW, Bishop P, Stark M, Alexander S, and Penny D. 2007.  Luminescence dating of canal sediments from Angkor Borei, Mekong Delta, Southern Cambodia.  Quaternary Geochronology  2:322–329.Siedel H, Pfefferkorn S, von Plehwe-Leisen E, and Leisen H. 2010.  Sandstone weathering in  tropical  climate: Results of low-destructive investigations at the temple of Angkor Wat, Cambodia.  Engineering Geology  115(3-4):182-192.Uchida E, Cunin O, Suda C, Ueno A, and Nakagawa T. 2007.  Consideration  on  the construction process and the sandstone quarries during the Angkor period based on the magnetic susceptibility.  Journal of Archaeological Science  34:924-935.

The Fall of the House of Usher, by Edgar Allan Poe

The Danish philosopher Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard begins his book, The Sickness Unto Death like this: â€Å"Man is spirit. But what is spirit? Spirit is the self. But what is the self? The self is a relation which relates itself to its own self.† I understand The Fall of the House of Usher in these terms; the story is a description of the sick self, the sick spirit, the mortally morbid human. The title provides a reasonable summary of the story: the subject is the House of Usher and what happens to the House is a fall. That would be simple enough, but matters are complicated by the fact that the phrase â€Å"House of Usher† has more than one meaning; the phrase can mean, â€Å"both the family and the family mansion.† However, when reading the story, it becomes†¦show more content†¦The main emphasis of the story is given to describing Roderick Usher, and the narrator especially emphasizes Roderick’s feelings. For example, Roderick’s problem is â€Å"a morbid acuteness of the senses,† i.e. he feels too strongly. This leads me to assume that Roderick is the raw, immediate emanation of the ill person’s humanity. One could label Roderick as the subjective component of the ill person’s humanity. The narrator is probably the objective, self-relating component of the ill person’s humanity. The narrator does not seem to possess many flaws but one at least is evident: he is subservient to Roderick’s feelings. This is clear in the way that the â€Å"heart that went with [Roderick’s] request†Ã¢â‚¬â€¢and the heart is the seat of one’s feelings―compels the narrator to comply with Roderick’s request. It is obviously dangerous for one’s faculties of reason to become subordinate to one’s faculties of emotion, and particularly when one’s faculties of emotion are dysfunctional, but that is precisely the case in the House of Usher. Finally, what does Madeline represent? Her identity is by far the most elusive. However, I think there are enough hints in the story to make a reasonable assumption. The first hint lies in the fact that Madeline is Roderick’s twin; therefore they share a common source (they are both of the House of Usher) and they bear â€Å"a striking similitude.† Secondly, her sickliness is the reason for Roderick’s sickness.Show MoreRelatedThe Fall Of The House Of Usher By Edgar Allan Poe1570 Words   |  7 Pagesingenious Edgar Allan Poe. A prime example of Poe’s spectacular work with single effect would be in the classic short story â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† which was published in 1839 and holds much critical acclaim. In the story, the narrator visits an old, mentally disintegrating friend and his dying sister in a house that invokes anxiety with mere proximity. While the whole tale is wrought with single effect, the most defining creepiness of the story was brought to life through Roderick Usher. ThroughRead MoreThe Fall Of The House Of Usher By Edgar Allan Poe Essay1333 Words   |  6 PagesEdgar Allan Poe is known for his poetry and short stories especially his tales of mystery and morbidity he was one of the countries first practitioners of short stories such as the Fall in the House of Usher many of his poems and short stories is said to have been inspired by Poe’s real and tumultuous life, in â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† Edgar Allan Poe uses sound, feeling and sight imagery to create and explore an atmosphere of horror and to convey to the reader the idea that fear coalescedRead MoreThe Fall Of House Of Usher, By Edgar Allan Poe1603 Words   |  7 Pagesshown in the previous paragraphs of Cole and Poe, they are very different people who have had contrary life experiences . Yet their works are still very similar. To further prove my case I shall use some of their works as examples. Edgar Allan Poe s â€Å"The Fall of House of Usher† and Thomas Cole s â€Å"Vesper Hymn† will be the first two works of art that are comparable. Poe s â€Å"The Fall of House of Usher† possesses all of the Gothic elements like a haunted house, dreary landscape, unknown sickness, andRead MoreThe Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe1438 Words   |  6 PagesThe Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe The mind is a complicated thing. Not many stories are able to portray this in such an interesting manner as in Edgar Allan Poes The Fall of the House of Usher. The haunting story of a man and his sister, living in the old family mansion. But as all should know, much symbolism can be found in most of Poes works. The Fall of the House of Usher is no exception. First of all, we have the symbolisme of Roderick Ushers mind and the House ofRead MoreThe Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe668 Words   |  3 PagesThe Fall of the house of Usher Literary Analysis A â€Å"Royal house† refers to the Royal family’s members. The house becomes a representation of the family as the reputation of the house relies on the family’s actions and status. The Usher family was at one time a great family in the upper tier of society which is why they titled their family and home â€Å"the house of Usher.† Edgar Allan Poe uses this symbol to draw in the reader by giving the house of Usher human like characteristics similar to Lady MadelineRead MoreThe Fall Of The House Of Usher By Edgar Allan Poe1216 Words   |  5 PagesEdgar Allan Poe is a famous short story writer who writes many short stories, novels, and poems in the 19th century. Although he is obviously a very prolific writer, he is most famous for his macabre literature. This literature of his is best known for its melancholy descriptions that establish a setting and mood that contribute to the overall tale. Poe’s goal through his literature is to evoke horror into the reader’s mind. In â€Å"The Fall of The House of Usher,† Poe presents the demise of a distinguishedRead MoreThe Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe946 Words   |  4 PagesEdgar Allan Poe is known for the suspenseful and mysterious nature in his short stories, and to achieve this he uses repetitive symbolism. In the â€Å"Fall of the House of Usher†, the narrator gets a letter from an old friend saying that he needs his help. When he arrives he starts to hear voices that eventually cause the house to fall and results in the death of usher and Madeline. Poes â€Å"The fall of the House of Usher† portrays a melancholy setting and utilizes a motif of the supernatural, howeverRead MoreThe Fall Of The House Of Usher By Edgar Allan Poe896 Words   |  4 PagesEdgar Allen Poe is well-known for his frightening and disturbing short stories. He portrays his characters in unforeseen circumstances that create an eerie atmosphere, and this then leads t o unsettling actions. In his famous short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe utilizes dark mood, dreary allegory, and mysterious symbolism to create the thrill and suspense. The mood of the characters set the intensity of fear and gloom, while the story of the Ushers follows psychologicalRead MoreThe Fall Of The House Of Usher By Edgar Allan Poe1159 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† by Edgar Allan Poe is an ominous tale, told in retrospect, of a man who visited an old friend, Roderick Usher, who was dying of a mental illness. This visit was quite different then how the narrator believed it would be. The narrator explained the â€Å"insufferable gloom† he felt when he saw the mansion, and this dreary feeling only grew stronger the longer he stayed (Poe 1265). The narrator endured the bleak time with his old friend whoseRead MoreThe Fall Of The House Of Usher By Edgar Allan Poe1104 Words   |  5 PagesThe Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his unnerving and suspenseful writings, and â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† is no exception. Just like Poe’s other clever writings, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† portrays a sense of fear and paranoia yet also a touch of curiosity with his extraordinary descriptions about the setting and characters, along with the tone. Poe does a magnificent job creating an eerie tone while describing the setting. Even in the first paragraph of

Killing the Bear Free Essays

Judith Minty’s story, â€Å"Killing the Bear,† is the about a woman who commits murder against her sexual self. Although, she wants to move on with life, she realizes that she must kill this bear in order to be a peace with herself. While I was reading, I chose to focus on the two aspects of the psyche, specifically id and the ego. We will write a custom essay sample on Killing the Bear or any similar topic only for you Order Now The id, the bestial nature of the bear, in the woman’s life, and the ego, the real world, represented by the woman’s cabin. It is always hot for this woman. The summer heat was an all-consuming, sexual tension inside her. She lives only for the summer, marking each day, but the rest of the year, and even the rest of her life, it means nothing to her. At the end of the summer, she immediately plans for the next summer. Although in denial of her own heat, her sexuality, she seems, at the same time, to live for it. I noticed that during the summer, she lived in an isolated cabin, the woman builds herself a rational world, hammering and painting on her space. This real world is disturbed by the presence of a wild bear. When she first sees the bear, he is distant, frightening, like the awakening of sensuality in a young woman. He scares her a little and â€Å"her hands lift to cover her breasts,† a somewhat sexual response to the bear’s presence, suggesting displacement of her sensual urges on the bear. Downplaying her fear of the bear, she intellectualizes the bear, recounting facts and stories she has heard about bears. However, even during this intellectualization, she reflects on her animal nature and its destruction. Her memory of her mother burning her stuffed bear mirrors, in a roundabout way, her current situation and her ultimate solution to the live bear’s presence. At the end of the stuffed bear story, she observes that her mother misspoke when she said, â€Å"I’m sorry for burning the animal in you.† Although, the mother â€Å"killed† the woman’s childhood beast, the adult woman is facing the same animal, the living beast in herself, again. When I was reading, I could tell that her sexuality, the bear, grows bold and more insistent, threatening her rational world, the woman’s fear grows. She buys a gun for protection, snapping at the flirting clerk that â€Å"she didn’t need a man† as she pays for it. She denies her baser needs and desires, yet at the same time, she wants to seek out and dominate her sensuality, to go â€Å"hunting† for her beast. Ironically, she chooses to use a gun, a violent phallic symbol, to kill her sexuality. â€Å"Killing the Bear† is a great example of how an author can use the real world symbolically to mirror the inner psychological world of human beings. In the story, the natural world which threatens the woman reflects all the baser elements that people usually try to internalize, control, or sometimes reject. However, in the story, the woman’s barriers against her nature, her â€Å"civilization†, are not enough. She can never quite tame the beast within. How to cite Killing the Bear, Essay examples