Angkor Falls

My book design research marches ever onward, and the story, I hope, continues to weave itself together, under the guidance of my pen. Since my brain is tuned onto the Cambodian channel, this article caught my eye. It is about the fall of Angkor Wat, and why it fell. However, the article is very short, so I am left with everal questions, including; "It fell? Oh! When?!?!"

Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire way back when (9th to 16th centuries) fell in the 16th century. In it's place, or should I say, surrounding Angkor is now Cambodia, the capital of which is Phnom Penh. Archaeologists are now attempting to reconstruct that city, not in actuality, but through satellite images. How big was Angkor? Why did it fall? How big is it now? How big were / are its temples? What are its current and past population?

To answer one of the questions, archaeologists believe Angkor fell because it deforested the north in order to accomodate rice farming, and because of this deforestation, soil erosion wore away at the land's ability to support the crop. Also, their extensive irrigation system, designed to store the water during the rainy season for the dry season, may have become too extensive and complicated, to the point where irrigation was no longer possible ...(?) I don't understand that, and the article in the Discover magazine is quite short, but still very interesting.

I do know a bit about their irrigation system, and their rainy season. I would like to tie this in with my research, and my knowledge of Buddhism's Lent. More to come on that later.