French School of Asian Studies Donates Artifacts to APSARA National Authority

Phnom Penh, July 20, 2023 --

The French School of Asian Studies or The École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), a partner of the APSARA National Authority in the conservation and research work at the Angkor site, has handed over 31 boxes of artifact fragments including one Buddha statue, and one Bai Sema to the APSARA National Authority for preservation, research, and inventory.

The handover ceremony took place in Siem Reap provincial city on July 20, according to a news release of the APSARA National Authority.

Tin Tina, Deputy Director of the Department of Research, Training, and Communication, said that all the donated artifacts had been found by excavation at some research sites in Angkor, such as Kouk Ta Siem, Boeung Don Pa, Ung Mong, Baphuon and Prey Moni.

He added that these items comprise firstly, 27 boxes of ceramics from the Baphuon Temple, including hard pottery, fragile pottery belonging to Khmer as well as Chinese, Siamese, and Vietnamese ceramics; second, two boxes of sandstone pieces from Kok Ta Siam; third, there are two boxes of sandstone pieces from Boeung Don Pa, Kork Ta Siam, and the Ung Mong temple; and fourth, one Buddha statue from Ung Mong Temple and one Bai Sema from Prey Monti Temple.

After receiving all these items, he continued, the APSARA National Authority’s experts will prepare for the preservation in a technical manner, and the authority will organise a non-permanent exhibition in the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum to display to the national and international tourists to study and explore Cambodian art.

This is the third time that the French School of Asian Studies has handed over archeological artifacts from excavations at some research sites and temple restoration sites to the APSARA National Authority.