The mummy of Huayna Capac, who died in
Ecuador apparently of smallpox, is borne on a
litter to Cuzco along with the bodies of his wife
and son. Guaman Poma de Ayala, Felipe. El
primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno. Edited by
John V. Murra and Rolena Adorno, 350/377.
Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno, 1980 [1615].In fact, the mummies were viewed as oracles, and interceded and interfered—
through mediums—in the running of the empire, offering their opinions on
successions and other important matters of state. On especially solemn
occasions, attendants carried the mummies into Cuzco’s main square, seating the
five kings of upper (hanan) Cuzco on the right side of the plaza and the five
kings of lower (hurin) Cuzco on the left side. There, the attendants offered them
food and drink, “and the dead toasted each other and the living, and the living
toasted the dead” (Pedro Pizarro 1921 [1571]). Since each attendant had to drink
for two, these drinking binges became drunken affairs and the plaza’s drains “ran
with urine throughout the day” (Estete 1938 [ca. 1535–1540]). The mummies