Crocodile Attack Bas-Relief

This bas-relief from Bayon Temple (late 12th–early 13th c. AD) shows crocodiles attacking sailors during a naval battle. The vivid carving reflects both the dangers of Cambodian waterways and the unpredictability of nature in times of war. At Angkor Thom, such scenes merged history, symbolism, and cosmology into a single narrative of human struggle.