Mythical 'lost city of Gods' discovered in dense Cambodian jungle
A lost city that experts have spent years searching for has been uncovered in a jungle in Cambodia
Rachel O'DonoghueAssistant News Editor
A city that experts have spent years searching for has been uncovered in a jungle in Cambodia.
The ancient city of Mahendraparvata, which means Mountain of Indra (King of Gods), was thriving well over a thousand years ago and is thought to have been the first capital city of the Khmer Empire.
But efforts to locate the remains of the mysterious city have been unsuccessful, with scientists even disagreeing on where they should be looking for it.
Scientists used new technology to find the city in the jungle (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The team used state-of-the-art Lidar laser scanning techniques to pinpoint the location of the city, which dates back to the 9th Century and is located to the north-east of the city of Angkor.
Discussing the amazing find, archaeologist Jean-Baptiste Chevance, of the Archaeology and Development Foundation in the UK, wrote in a paper: "The mountainous region of Phnom Kulen has, to date, received strikingly little attention.
"It is almost entirely missing from archaeological maps, except as a scatter of points denoting the remains of some brick temples."
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He added: "The Ancient Khmer modified the landscape, shaping features on a very large scale – ponds, reservoirs, canals, roads, temples, rice fields, etc.
"However, the dense forest often covering the areas of interest is a main constraint to investigating them."
The team said it was not inhabited for very long despite how vast it was (Image: Getty Images/500px)
The laser technology the team used meant they were able to look past hundreds of years of dirt and vegetation that now covers the remains of the city.
They could then see a huge urban network that spanned 50km-squared across the jungle.
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"Numerous other elements of the anthropogenic landscape connect to this broader network, suggesting the elaboration of an overall urban plan," the team explained.
"Dams, reservoir walls and the enclosure walls of temples, neighbourhoods and even the royal palace abut or coincide with the embanked linear features."
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But despite its size, the city was not inhabited for very long, with people migrating to terrains that were easier to live in.
Damian Evans, of the French School of the Far East, told the New Scientist: "The city may not have lasted for centuries, or perhaps even decades.
"But the cultural and religious significance of the place has lasted right up until the present day."