Stonework at Sacsayshuaman—The City Nephi Built – Part VI

Continued from the previous post regarding the fortress and more specifically the tiered terraces at the back and tunnels, esplanade and the Rodadero behind Sacsayhuaman.
    The west side of Rodadero Hill was covered with terraces and canals found in 1968. An area called the Rodadero Slide, which was formed by “intrusion of igneous diorite into limestone, with some form of faulting before the igneous rocks cooled.”

Muyukancha or Round Plaza; however most guides and local people call it the Qocha or Lagoon in Quechua

There is an amphitheater of niches around a pool or altar at the base of the slides, and an area resembling a throne where seats were carved into the rock. On the south side are the foundations of several structures which look like buttresses, or projecting support stones. It is built in layers: cut stones, fieldstones, and compressed earth. There are 14 excellent niches and 20 additional. There is a canal entering at the second niche, the other at niche 20, and an outlet canal at niche 32, which runs to Chingana Chica. 
    A chincanas is a labyrinths of caves formed by the erosion of water on limestone; of all the existing Chincanas, the best known are of the city of Cusco being these located 150 meters from the rodadero or Suchuna and the large chinkana or also called the “Tired Stone,” a name given to a huge rock that, according to legend when the Incas wanted to move the stone, it did not want tomove and was left where it stopped its movement.
    On the north side are rectangular buildings obstructing any flow into the main circular depression. If a reservoir, these buildings would be in the water. Canals from the North side go the extra length to bring water to the South wall. It is believed that important people sat in the seats while people danced with famous golden chain in the amphitheater.
    For whatever reason, the Spanish found it important to destroy and bury this site. It was unknown until excavated and uncovered in 1985. Nearby a series of claustrophobia-inducing tunnels was also found.
    In addition, adjacent to the carvings at Suchuna (meaning “the slide”), there were several niches carved into the walls

Suchuna slide, across the esplanade from the tiered level walls of Sacsayhuaman

These smooth well-polished rock channels—most likely the long grooves formed when blocks of rock moved past each other along a fault, leaving the hill with a polished surface of an almost flat fault. Garcilaso de la Vega wrote in the 16^th-century, that he and other young boys used to slide down the polished grooves on their panchos much like today’s visitors do. These slides run down one section of the hill, and are an incongruous sight among the straight lines of monumental architecture.

There were carved niches in the walls at both Sacsayhuaman and Ollantaytambo

In addition, there were numerous niches in the walls of Sacsayhuamn, as well as nearby Ollantaytambo. While their purpose is unknown to archaeologists, they might have served a similar purpose to the Jewish Meuzah (door post), which was a piece of parchment called a klaf or Qelaf (tanned skin) contained in a decorative case in a niche or on the wall near the door and inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah. These verses consisted of the Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael, beginning with the phrase: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”

A Hebrew Meuzah near the entrance door of a modern Jewish home

Some interpret Jewish law to require a mezuzah in every doorway in the home except bathrooms (which are not a living space), laundry rooms and closets, if they are too small to qualify as rooms. The klaf parchment is prepared by a qualified scribe (a sofer stam) who has undergone training, both in studying the relevant religious laws, and in the more practical parts—carving the quill and practicing writing.
    As a commandment of the Hebrew faith, it brings to mind that comment Nephi made: “we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things according to the law of Moses” (2 Nephi 5:10). There can be no question that the righteous Nephites lived and practiced the Law and Commandments set down by the Lord through the prophet Moses.
    In addition, a short distance north of the fortress are the impressive remains which are covered with mystery. The 16^th and 17^th century chroniclers barely describe them and archaeology has to deal with a lot of uncertainty and scholars do not agree on the purpose of these buildings. One of these is the Muyukancha or Round Plaza (most guides today call it the Qocha or Lagoon). 

Water channels that run from the amphitheater or lagoon westward

Two names in Quechua that describe the purpose of the site, meaning a pool of water, a lagoon. Some scholars claim this site was an amphitheater while others think it was a water reservoir because two water cannels snake off to other buildings. However, the Spanish conquistador, Pedro Pizarro, wrote there was no water there. 
    Yet there is plenty of water that flows into Sacsayhuman and housed at the tower sites of Muyucmarca, Paucamarca and Sallaqmarca—the later term meaning “Water Enclosure.” In fact, there are several places on the hill where water was stored, even now aqueducts can be seen.
    Sacsayhuamsn had an extensive subterranean water system, however, extensive water channels on the surface were also built to control water flow at the surface.

The Chinkanas and tunnels north of the Rodadero

On the far north is the Chinkana or Maze,which is a series of underground tunnels that were carved by water and then expanded by human hands that built niches and seats.
Chinkana Grande. A finely carved stone with stairs, seats, niches and altars. To the northeast of the boulder there was an entrance to an underground tunnel which now is closed because there is a story that a couple entered and never found the way out. The chronicler Cristóbal de Albornoz called this boulder Qollo Qoncho due to the shape of this sacred place and the presence of springs and water canals.
    It is interesting that one of the things Nephi wrote about was his teaching his people how to do many things, including “being industrious, and to labor with their hands“ (2 Nephi 5:17). Sacsayhuaman and the surrounding areas was a masterpiece of ancient handiwork, and obviously came about from the Lord’s hand, for no other ancient construction can equal the stonework at Sacsayhuaman. Nephi tells us that the Lord taught him man things in addition to showing him how to build a ship unlike anything man had done (1 Nephi 18:1-3).
(See the next post, “Stonework at Sacsayhuaman—The City Nephi Built – Part VII,” for more regarding the magnificent building at Sacsayhuaman and surrounding constructions)