PHÚ YÊN — Archaeologists from the Việt Nam Archaeology Institute have excavated a 4th century Chăm tower in the central province of Phú Yên.

Objects found by archaeologists indicate that the temple was dedicated to God Shiva with typical architectural decorations used by the Chămpa civilisation. — Photo tuoitre.vn

The tower’s date was identified by examining bricks at the site.

Nguyễn Tiến Đông, head of the urban archaeology department at the institute, who is also head of the excavation team, said experts discovered remnants of a Chămpa Worship Temple eight days after working at the Đồng Miễu site, located in the Định Thọ 1 Street Area in Phú Hòa Town in Phú Hòa District

The objects that were found indicated that the temple was dedicated to God Shiva with typical architectural decorations used by the Chămpa civilisation.

“We found bricks from the 4th to the 5th century,” he said. “In the central region, from Quảng Nam to Bình Thuận, many relics of the Chăm have been discovered, but none of them have had bricks from so long time ago.”

“That’s why this excavation result at Đồng Miễu site is extremely valuable,”  Đông said.

Phan Đình Phùng, vice chairman of Phú Yên People’s Committee, also visited the site and asked the team to make a detailed report on the results to submit to high-ranking authorities to protect the site and complete further research in the future.

Phú Yên is home to various sites of the Chăm civilisation, including the Nhạn Tower, Đà Diễn Port and Hồ Citadel.

The term Chămpa refers to a collection of independent Chăm polities that extended across the coast of what is today’s central and southern Việt Nam, from approximately the 2nd century (192) through the 19th century (1832).

The kingdom was also known as the Chăm Pa in Vietnamese and Chiêm Thành in Sino-Vietnamese. — VNS