via Phnom Penh Post, 11 April 2022: Reports of two discoveries, a 10th century inscription at Preah Vihear province and an engraved lintel in Stung Treng province.
Inscription experts at the National Museum are researching and translating the words on an engraved stone that was recently discovered in Preah Vihear province, while Stung Treng provincial Department of Culture and Fine Arts’s officials found fragments of the ruined Phu Chong temple – also known as Bachong Temple – that has been buried in the Mekong River for centuries.
Chea Socheat, chief of the Conservation Office of the Department of Museums at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, told The Post that the stone – which is more than 1,000 years old – was found by residents of Preah Khlaing commune’s Kraing Dong village of Preah Vihear province’s Tbeng Meanchey district on March 28. It was brought to the National Museum on April 5.
He added that officials were currently cleaning it with disinfectant to strengthen the stone and prevent it from decaying.
“According to a brief interpretation by professor Hun Chhunteng – a Khmer linguistic expert at the Royal University of Phnom Penh – the inscription is in Sanskrit and ancient Khmer, and is dated 953 AD. It commemorates the merits of the former Khmer emperors of the Chenla period, including King Indravarman, Mahindravarman, Isanvarman and many other kings,” he said.
Source: ‘Millennium-old’ engraving studied | Phnom Penh Post
