The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. XLIV, Part 1-2, 1956 - Khamkoo

REVIEWS 49
unmistakable chthonic natnre of the cults associated wHh them when
set against the wealth of anthropological evidence now at hand,
leave no doubt in Dr. Wales' mind that these o1cler Meg!tlHhic
features of Southeast Asian culture can be traced in part at least to
ancient Sumer where the a rtifical monntrlin, the ;.~iggu rat, reprcsen tecl
the concentration of all the vital forces of the Ea.rt.h and serve-d as
the place where the king, as the deleg:tte of the gnd, had tlw flnty
of maintaining harmony between man and lltlity.
Through subsequent; Indian influences in Sonthenst. Asia the
Mountain of God lost much of: its tdnric significance ft)](l came to be
treated in terms of: the Hincln Men1. Likewise, under Indian
SivaHic influence the menhir was eon vortetl into the lingrt. 'l'hus,
as Dr. Wales concludes, when the Khmers established the diJl!ct'ra ja
cult with its stepped pyramid and its Unga, "they were merely
calling back into service a meaningful st1•uctnre wit l1 which t.lu;y
had been familiar for millennia."
It. is difficnH in a brief rf·viP.\V to evaluate properly this
challenging and stimnln.ting book. Dr. Wales has pushed tleeply into
t•~rritory which has as yet bc)Ctl inadequately explored, and it. is
significant that most of his views are based upon the rf'sn1ts 0f very
recent research in this new field.
Some of the opinions he has
advanced will undonbt.edly require modification in the same way
that Dr. Wales has so frankly modit1ed some or his earlier views.
Many of the points treated in this lJoo1< are certain, too, to be the
subject of consi fullest. mw of ttll
available research in the fiel