Both Christians, Aztecs and Incas envisioned a divine creation, but they had different notions of the time for the creation. From the Bible, Christians knew that the creation had lasted six days. Irish Archbishop James Ussher would argue rationally for the Bible and calculated the first day of creation to have been on Sunday, October…
Tag: Sun
PERU: COMMON PEOPLES FAITH
Most people in the Inca Empire did not worship the religion you get impression of in Coricancha. The gods there were predominantly reserved for the powerful and were explained to foreign chiefs when they had to be convinced of the excellence of Tawantinsuyu. It was thus rulers and captive, former rulers who where conveyed the…
PERU: PACHACÚTECS PANACA AND THE SPLIT INHERITANCE
From his palace on the north-west side of the site, Pachacútec ruled when he was in Cusco. Also that was four-folded, delimited by the streets and with a single, small door opening so the access easily could be controlled. It was both his home and administrative headquarter. It was his panaca, and the residents were…
PERU: THE INCAS DEFENCE FOR ATTACKS
Sitting in Spain, Garcilaso wrote about his Indian ancestors: Since their earliest kings, who were imitated by their successors, they never waged war unless moved by causes that seemed to them sufficient, such as the need that the barbarians should be reduced to a human and civilized existence, or offences and injuries inflicted on their…
PERU: ACLLAHUASI
Aclla is Quechua for a Sundaughter. Acllakuna is often translated the chosen women; huasi means house. We are at the remains of the acllahuasi, which Garcilaso described: A quarter of the city of Cusco was called Acllahuasi, House of the Chosen Women. The quarter is between two streets that run from the main square to…
PERU: CHANGE OF RELIGION AS A FACTOR OF CONSISTENCY
Americas original inhabitants had for thousands of years worshipped their ancestors. As their descendants became more resident, they also worshipped Mother Earth and got a more dualistic world view. As early farmers their heirs developed a trinity represented by the snake, the puma and the condor. And much later, the Incas proclaimed themselves as Children…
MEXICO: WHERE GODS ARE BORN
Teotihuacán was a civilization that became crucial to the development in Mexico. People not only built the Pyramid of the Sun – which you may have long dreamed of after you started planning your trip to Mexico – but established two thousand years ago a vast empire with the largest capital of America before the…
MIKAEL WITTE 