A Sword Discovered in Preah Vihear Just Newly Copied
News reports early this week said several pieces of Cambodia’s ancient antiquitys and sculptures would be returned home after they were looted from this country decades ago. Then, a claim going viral on social media said Preah Khan Reach – an ancient royal sword – was discovered by a farmer in Preah Vihear province. The claim has been widely shared, commented on, and reacted by social media users. However, after getting clarification from officials from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, we found the claim is false.
SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIM
A claim that has gone viral on social media in recent days said Preah Khan Reach – Cambodia’s ancient royal sacred sword – was discovered by a farmer at a paddy field in Preah Vihear province this year. The claim added the sword was handed over to local police for preservation.
The claim was circulated with six photos showing a sword being handed over by a man to a group of policemen at a local police post.
The claim got a lot of shares, comments, and reactions from Khmer-speaking social media users, many of them believed the sword was an ancient royal sword lost for many years.
Below is the capture of the claim circulated on Facebook on December 17, 2023, with a caption saying “This is a good thing for 2023 after a farmer discovered a royal sword that was lost in Pol Pot regime. Now our Khmer ancestor’s soul is back. Luckily, it was not handed over to Thailand. I urged local authorities to support some donations to the farmer for his discovery. Preah Khan Reach (royal sword) is an antiquity from heaven given to Khmer ancestors a thousand years ago and now it is our nation’s treasure. All Cambodians congratulate!”
The same claim has been circulated on social media by other Facebook users in recent days. Then, it gets a lot of shares and comments from social media users.
Below is a capture of the same claim which was posted by another Facebook user and shared in a social media group on December 18, 2023.
The same claim has circulated on social media since October, and below is the capture of the claim posted on social media in October. The post got more than 6.5k shares.
The claim has gone viral, meaning it can be read through links here (Link 1 [archived], Link 2 [archived], Link 3 [archived])
FACT CHECK
Fact Crescendo Cambodia began debunking the claim above by interviewing officials from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. Then, we find out the facts below.
When contacted by Fact Crescendo Cambodia for comments, the ministry’s spokesperson Sum Mab referred questions to Ouk Sokha – Secretary-General of Antiquities.
Responding to Fact Crescendo Cambodia via Telegram on December 19, 2023, Mr. Ouk Sokha said the sword was transferred to the National Museum. Then, he referred all questions to the institution.
The National Museum’s Director Chhay Visut – also Director of the ministry’s Museum Department – clarified that the sword discovered by the farmer in Preah Vihear is not the ancient royal sword.
Visut added instead it was newly made in these days and can be easily bought at Tuol Tompoung market – a place where tourists can look for copied antiquitys and sculptures.
“Our team examined and then found out the sword is not an ancient one. It’s newly made, and it is widely available in the Tuol Tompoung market. In short, it is not the royal sacred sword as the rumors,” Chhay Visut told Fact Crescendo Cambodia via Telegram on December 19, 2023.
Being asked how old the sword is, the official said “It is newly made. You can see such a sword at Tuol Tompoung market. This sword could be made in last two years ago, and it depends on the market need.”
Listen to the clarification from Chhay Visut in an interview with Fact Crescendo Cambodia.
The sword was discovered by a farmer in Preah Vihear’s Rovieng district on June 10, 2023, and then it was handed over to local police, according to a local media outlet’s report. [archived]
According to another local media outlet’s report, it measures 0.86 meters in length, 0.60 centimeters in width, and weighs 2.6 kilograms. [archived]
The archaeologist Im Sokrithy was quoted in the report saying that he had never seen the carving on the sword, but he warned of fraudulent trick committed by antiquity smugglers. [archived]
In search for the information about Cambodia’s ancient royal sacred sword on the Google Search Engine, we found picture of the Cambodia’s royal sword dated back to 100 years ago. The picture of the royal sacred sword was published in an article titled “Preah Khan Reach”. The full article can be read in Yasothor – a network of Khmer cultural publications.
See the comparison between the sword claimed by social media users and the sword pictured and published in Art French journal et Archaeologies Khmers about 100 years ago.
In his article, Siyonn Sophearith, wrote that the royal sacred sword is not only used for Cambodian king coronation, but it is also worshiped.
The royal sacred sword represents three Gods in Brahmanism Siva, Visnu, and Brahman, according to Siyonn Sophearith’s explanation based on a publication 100 years ago. The full article is here [archived]
Below is Siyonn Sophearith’s explanation through an interview with Fact Crescendo Cambodia
CONCLUSION
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out the claim mentioned earlier is false. The sword is not an ancient antiquity as the claim said. Officials from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts clarified it is a newly made sword and widely available at markets.
