The early Peruvians commonly acknowledged a supreme Lord and Author of all things, which they called Viracocha (Uira-ccocha), and gave him names of great excellence, as Pachacamac (Creator of the World), Pachayachachic (Creator of Heaven and Earth; also Teacher of the World), Tecsi-viracocha, "the incomprehensible God," and Vsapu, which is admirable, and other like names. In Peru they made him a rich temple, which they called Pachacamac (just south of present-day Lima), which was the principal sanctuary of the realm, in which they made sacrifices and offerings to Viracocha.
According to Polo de Ondegardo, when the Spanish first came, the Incas called them Virocochas, for they thought them the sons of heaven (1608 Manuscript in the National Library at Madrid. 4, on parchment, B. 135, p 151).
Garcilasso de la Vega, wrote that the Yncas (Incas) held the Supreme Being, or Creator, in the highest order of their religion. De la Vega, also tells us that, besides the Sun, the Yncas worshipped the true supreme God and Creator; whom they called him Pachacamac, a name signifying "He who gives animation to the universe," or "He who does to the universe what the soul does to the body,” and that they held Him in much greater inward veneration than the Sun; but that they did not build temples to him, nor offer him sacrifices.
Blas Valera, wrote that all subjugated tribes were ordered to worship the most powerful god Ticci-Uira-ccocha, otherwise called Pachacamac; and in another place, he says that the ancient temple of Pachacamac, on the seacoast, was the only one to the Supreme Being throughout the whole of Peru.
Did the incas have a writen language? How was the storys of their God, and sun God passed on?
ReplyDeleteThe Incas did not have a written language, though they had quippos, a type of mnemonic recording with a series of knots on strings. While this was mostly inventory-oriented, it was a form of record keeping. However, the early Peruvians had a written language that made its way to Easter Island and elsewhere before the 400 A.D. This is covered extensively in my book, "Lehi Never Saw Mesoamerica." As for passing on stories, what many later called legends, the Inca and the middle Peruvian people before them (400 A.D. to 1400 A.D.) used story-telling to memorize and recount their history, genealogy, their Gods and all things that were important.
ReplyDeleteI find this all very interesting. You hear so much about Central America, but almost nothing about Peru. If I am not mistaken, Viracocha can also be translated into con-ticci, or Kon-Tiki, which was the name Heyerdahl gave his reed boat that sailed from Peru to Polynesia.
ReplyDeleteI love your site, and especially your daily posts. A lot of information here.
ReplyDeleteI visited Pachacamac a couple of years ago. Very impressive. The Inca added some areas to it in the 1400s, but the old site that overlooks the ocean is huge. Unfortunately, the Peruvian government for many many years did nothing to preserve it and it is now almost being overrun by commercial construction. Hopefully something can be done to preserve what is left of this ancient site.
ReplyDeleteHow do you justify the fact that the early peoples of Peru down thru to the Incas worshipped the Sun and sacrificed people?
ReplyDeleteJennifer: The early Peruvians (Nephites) worshipped the True God, and down through the ages, that true God, by varius names in subsequent peoples (Lamanites) were still known, Pachacamac, Viroccha, etc. There were also Lamanites who sacrificed humanity to their dumb idols as stated in Mormon, and many of those groups, or different tribes, etc., fell into such debauchery. However, it is notable that some of Lehi's posterity worshipped his God, Elohim, and Christ, by other names (as we interpret the language today). In addition, it is most likely that temples to the Sun were actually temples to the Son, which deterioriated in meaning down through the ages from 400 A.D to 1400 A.D.
ReplyDelete