Khmer Empire's West Baray Reservoir Functions

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The massive West Baray - an artificial reservoir stretching eight kilometers long and two wide - continued to anchor the hydraulic system that sustained the Khmer empire's agricultural surplus. Fed by diverted rivers and monsoon rainfall, it irrigated the rice paddies that fed Angkor's enormous population. The engineering was invisible to most who benefited from it: water simply appeared in the paddies when needed, as if the gods themselves managed the plumbing.