What features of the state of Cambodia bring it closer to Ancient Egypt?
What features of the state of Cambodia bring it closer to Ancient Egypt? What epochs in the history of Cambodia can be compared to the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms of Egypt?
The rivers of Egypt and Cambodia have a similar pattern: an alternation of long floods when most of the country is flooded with water, with long periods of low water when crops are ripe. Therefore, the agriculture of Cambodia is in many respects close to the economy of Egypt, with the difference that Cambodia does not have a “completely dry” season. Comparing the history of Cambodia with the history of Egypt, one can liken the first power of Funan to the Ancient Kingdom, the later state of Chenla (in the 9th-11th centuries, when Jayavarman II and his successors ruled) – the Middle Kingdom, and later the state of Cambodia (in the 12th-13th centuries, from Suryavarman II to Jayavar-mana VII) – the New Kingdom. The invasions of the Mongols, Thais and Burmese on weakened Cambodia in the 13th-16th centuries correspond to the invasions of Egypt by the “Sea Peoples”, which were followed by the invasions of the Libyans and Ethiopians and the loss of Egypt’s independence.
