Kindle Notes & Highlights
The largest quipus ever found have as many as 1,500 strings of different colours, containing a number of knots that each held its specific meaning. As the method developed, a group of quipu masters or quipucamayos emerged. Their task was to memorise and keep an oral account that explained a particular quipu.
The method was based on a decimal positional system, counting as far as 10,000. Remarkably, this decimal system closely resembles that which we use in mathematics today. A
Viracocha Pachayachachi, which means ‘The Creator of all things.'
uñu pachacuti or ‘water that overturns the land.’
Some of the giants that were turned back to stone could be seen at sites like Tiahuanaco (or Tiwanaku) and Pukará
first people (known as Vari Viracocharuna)
sun god Inti.
This is where the name ‘Inca’ comes from - they considered themselves to be ‘children of the Sun.'
The very first Inca ruler and human, according to their mythology, was Manco Capac. Although he founded the city of Cuzco, he was not originally from there.
This period is known as Killke or the pre-imperial Inca era.
god of Sun, known as Inti.
This lineage began with their very first ruler Manco Cápac.
The Inca rulers who succeeded him wore mascapaycha, a ceremonial band of red wool on their foreheads, with fringed tassels of gold thread.
This headware had a symbolic meaning - whoever was wearing it held the most power in all the Inca kingdom.
educational institution, Acllahuasi. Translated, it means ‘the house of the chosen ones.'
Now we finally come to the Inca Empire or Tawantinsuyu (meaning ‘four parts together’) that was established by Pachacuti.
The Secret of the Incas: Myth, Astronomy, and the War Against Time
Timeline’s Ancient Civilization Documentary The Secrets of the Incas,
Mach'acuay - the Serpent
Hanp'atu - the Toad
Yutu - the Tinamous birds
Urcuchillay - the Llama
Atoq - the Fox
According to Gary Urton, Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Pre-Columbian Studies at Harvard University: "The universe of the Quechuas is not composed of a series of discrete phenomena and events, but rather there is a powerful synthetic principle underlying the perception and ordering of objects and events in the physical environment."
The Incas called their large empire by the name of Tawantinsuyu. Translated from their language Quechua, it means 'The Four Parts Together.' These four parts were called the Suyu, and each one was governed by Apu who was a great lord. These suyus were split into two sectors - the upper sector and the lower sector, in line with the Inca notion of duality.
The upper sector: ● Chinchaysuyu This area occupied most of highland Peru and Ecuador in the north, as well as the coastal areas. This was the most prestigious part and the most populous one. ● Antisuyu Spreading northeast, this area contained the eastern jungles and the slopes of the Andean mountains. The lower sector: ● Kollasuyu This was the largest yet least densely populated part of the empire, spreading across the south-east. This area included southeastern Peru, highland Bolivia and the northern part of Chile, as well as some of the northwest Argentina. This region was named
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Quilla or Mother Moon
Apu Illapu He was the god of rain
Pachamama She was the wife of the Creator God Viracocha (also known as Pachacamac). She was worshipped as the earth goddess or earth mother,
Sach'amama and K'uychi These two deities form another illustration of the Inca notion of duality and complimentary natures of the male and female roles.
Sach'amama was a feminine deity, also known as Mother Tree.
K'uychi was the masculine expression of Sach'amama. He was the rainbow god, associated with fertility.
Choquequirao means 'the Cradle of Gold'
Pisac means 'partridge'
Coricancha (or the Temple of the Sun)
According to Drew Reed who writes for The Guardian: "Shadows cast by stones placed on the foothills could be seen from the temple, marking out the solstice and equinoxes observed by the Incan empire.
The most lethal weapon employed by the natives was a ‘macuahuitl’.
filled an entire room (about 7m wide and 5m tall) with gold and two more rooms with silver. Since they now had a fortune of about $50 million,
The Spanish now needed a 'puppet' to rule on their behalf, and they installed the younger brother of Huáscar and Atahualpa, called Túpac Huallpa. Along the way from Cajamarca to Cuzco, this new ruler died of a disease.
The local Andeans began to talk about the 'good old times,' omitting details of the oppressive nature of the Inca rule.
A whole series of myths emerged, surrounding the return of Inkarrí, an Inca Emperor who would free them of their bonds. This myth is still present today.
During the 1980s, the Peruvian national currency was called Inti (after the Inca sun god), and today's currency is called Sol, the Spanish name for 'sun.'
The Archaic Period: 7000 to 2000 BC The Preclassic Period: Early Preclassic – 2000 to 1000 BC Middle Preclassic – 1000 to 300 BC Late Preclassic – 300 BC to AD 250 The Classic Period: Early Classic – AD 250 to 600 Late Classic – AD 600 to 900 Terminal Classic – AD 900 to 1000 The Postclassic Period: Early Postclassic – AD 1000 to 1250 Late Postclassic – AD 1250 to 1521 The Spanish Invasion – AD 1521
Incidents of Travel in Central America
Maya To Aztec: Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed
Florentine Codex,
Journey to Aztlán, the Mythical Homeland of the Aztecs.
Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war,
