All about history book of myths and legends. ( PDFDrive )

THE INCAS

Although they did not develop the wheel or a conventional

system of writing, the Incas had a sophisticated civilization.

Their craftsmen excelled in textiles and pottery, and the Incas

were master builders too, constructing stone buildings with walls that fitted together

without mortar. The long network of roads built across their Andean territories

ensured that the Incas could develop a system of communication to hold the empire

together. Their myths acknowledge both their humble beginnings at Lake Titicaca

and their aspiration to create a vast empire beneath the rays of the sun god Inti.

VIRACOCHA
The Incas believed that after creating humans,
Viracocha stayed back to watch over them.
The deity disguised himself as a beggar and
wandered among the Incas to work miracles,
and to teach his people how to live. But most
humans did not listen to what the god had
told them, and he returned from his trip to
Earth in tears. He thought that one day his
tears would cause another flood that would
destroy all of humanity. This is why masks
depicting Viracocha often show tears
descending from the god’s eyes.

DEITIES OF THE SEA AND THE EARTH
In Incan mythology, the sea and the Earth were actually two goddesses. The
sea was Mama Cocha (Sea Mother), who was the patron of fishermen and
sailors. The Earth was Paca Mama (Earth Mother), who was a very important
Incan deity; she was the consort of the sun god Inti, and the people sacrificed
llamas in her honour. Some stories in later Incan
mythology describe how Paca Mama was
married to Pachacamac, the god of fire and
rain, and together they created the stars,
the sun, the moon, and the world.

GARCILASO DE LA VEGA

The son of a Spanish conquistador and an Incan

princess, Garcilaso de la Vega (1539–1616) spent

most of his adult life in Spain, but staunchly

defended the culture of his mother’s people. In

1609, he published the Royal Commentaries, in

which he described the Incan culture and way

of life; a second volume eight years later told

the story of the Spanish conquest of the Incas.

His portrayal of Incan life is invaluable because

it comes from first-hand knowledge, though his

account of the

Incan religious

beliefs and

practices seems

to have been

distorted by his

Christian outlook.

Garcilaso de la Vega

Viracocha gold mask

Machu Picchu

This mountaintop city is an impressive Incan site. It

has a temple with three windows, perhaps recalling

the Incan emergence from a three-mouthed cave.

Incan pot

Anthropomorphic pots, brightly glazed

and sometimes depicting the heads of

deities, were common in Incan pottery.

Paca Mama

The Earth goddess was seen as a fertility figure

and portrayed as a naked woman. A ritualistic

sacrifice of her creature, the llama, was made

before the Incas first entered Cuzco.

Quipu

The Incas used a device called

a quipu, made of lengths of

knotted string or leather, to

keep records and accounts.

INCA BEGINNINGS

PACA MAMA IS MOTHER

EARTH, TO WHOM WE ALL

MUST RETURN SOME DAY.

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