Page 142 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

inca empire 961

For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but,
when separated from law and justice, he is the worst
of all. • ARISTOTLE (384–322 BCE)

next six years, there were a number of battles and stone blocks used in Saqsawaman without the use of
diplomatic overtures between the forces of the brothers mortar. This type of masonry was used in many of the
with little concrete results. Finally, Huascar was cap- important buildings of Cuzco; architectural embellish-
tured in battle when a small contingent of soldiers led ments included trapezoidal niches and double (and even
the emperor into a trap. Atahuallpa was in the midst of triple) jamb doors. Most Inca buildings in both the
his triumphant march to take over Cuzco when Pizzaro heartland and the provinces, however, were made of
captured him. fieldstones or mud bricks (or both).
While the Inca account of the later years of the em- Crowned from among the members of at least ten
pire may be largely accurate, archaeological evidence royal kin groups (called panacas), the Inca emperor was
contradicts aspects of their rise to power. For example, an absolute ruler. The Sapa Inca was divine—the
research suggests that the Incas were important region- descendent of the creator god Viracocha, and the son of
al players who controlled many valleys around Cuzco the sun god Inti.When the emperor died, all of his pos-
during the preceding Late Intermediate Period (1000– sessions were kept by his descendents. His mummy was
1438).While the Chancas attack may have occurred, the worshipped and continued to eat (burnt offerings),
Incas possessed a powerful state when the attack oc- visit friends (other mummies), and attend ceremonies.
curred. In another example, recent radiocarbon dates This system made it necessary for each successive ruler
place the ex960pansion of the empire twenty-five to fifty to build his own palaces, estates, and terraced fields.
years earlier than the dates provided by written sources. Through split inheritance, a new panaca was formed
each time a new emperor was crowned. The panaca of
the previous emperor maintained his holdings, but
The Heartland each new emperor needed to build his own estates be-
When the Spaniards entered Cuzco in 1533, the capital cause his new panaca had no previous holdings. Royal
housed more than 100,000 people and was the largest estates, usually made up of agricultural lands surround-
city in South America.The city, located in the same place ing a cluster of well-made residences, halls, and shrines,
as modern Cuzco, stood in a fertile mountain valley in controlled much of the land around Cuzco. Machu Pic-
central Peru at an elevation of 3,395 meters. At the time chu, the well-preserved ridgetop site located by Hiram
of the Inca expansion, Cuzco was probably a typical Bingham in 1911, was perhaps one of the estates built
mountain town of thatched huts that contained several by Pachakuti.
ethnic groups living in distinct districts. Around 1463, Besides the creator and the sun, the Inca pantheon
Pachakuti returned to the village from his conquests and included gods that symbolized other celestial bodies
removed all non-Inca ethnic groups from the city’s core and forces of nature, such as the moon, lightning, thun-
and resettled the groups into fringe enclaves. The Sapa der, and the rainbow.The Incas also worshipped several
Inca then rebuilt Cuzco as his capital. hundred sacred sites—often springs, rocks, lakes, and
The city’s center was divided into upper and lower sec- mountains—that were called huacas, as well as ances-
tors that abutted a large plaza divided into two parts. In tor mummies housed in aboveground sepulchers. Sup-
the middle of the plaza, a pointed stone covered in gold plicants offered gold, silver, cloth, ceramics, corn beer,
was the focal point for many state ceremonies.The large llamas, alpacas, and, more rarely, humans to these divine
halls surrounding these plazas were likely temples, beings, and many rituals were tied into a sacred calendar
palaces, and houses for women who served the emperor. of twelve lunar months. Around Cuzco, the huacas were
The city core may have been shaped in the form of a organized on a network of forty or forty-one lines radi-
puma, with the megalithic terraces of Saqsawaman form- ating from the Coricancha, Cuzco’s sun temple. Called
ing its head. Builders fitted together the massive fine-cut the ceque system, each line was assigned to a particular