Unexpected Find of Impressive Ancient Statue at Cambodia’s Angkor Complex

A team of archaeologists has uncovered a large ancient statue that is thought to have once stood as a guard over an ancient hospital to the north of Cambodia’s Angkor Thom city complex.
The almost two-meter tall statue, which is believed to be from the late 12th to the early 13th century, was spotted during a dig in Siem Reap province last Saturday, as Im Sokrithy, an archaeologist with the Apsara Authority, the government organization managing Angkor Park, and the dig’s scientific supervisor stated.
The Angkor Archaeological Park is Cambodia’s most popular tourist attraction and a world heritage site due to the many remains it boasts from the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, dating from the 9th to the 15th centuries. During the peak of its power, the city hosted hundreds of temples and more than a million citizens, making it one of the planet’s most populous pre-industrial cities.
The statue was found next to one of four hospitals that were discovered in Angkor Thom a century ago. It is one of 102 that King Jayavarman VII had constructed in the Angkor empire.