Role Of Religion In The Inca Civilization

The Inca were South American Indian people who ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the America's. The Inca Empire began to expand about 1438 and occupied a vast region that centered on the capital, Cusco, in southern Peru. The Empire extended more than 2,500 miles (4,020 kilometers) along the western coast of South America. It included parts of Present - Day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Inca Empire was conquered by Spanish Forces soon after their arrival in 1532.

The Incas were an amazing culture which existed from about 1300 CE to 1600 CE. In a well-developed paragraph, discuss the Inca’s society, religion, and their most incredible/architectural feat.

The Inca Empire, the massive nation that extended 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America and had a population of over 7 million at its peak. It included all of what is now Ecuador and Peru and most of Chile. Known as “The Children of the Sun”, they excelled at craftsmanship, weaving, and culture (“Children of the Sun”). A very religious people, they worshiped the Sun as their supreme god and held religious festivals monthly to appease these gods. Although they did not value it aside from its beautiful appearance, the Inca Empire was home to millions of pounds of solid gold and silver. The Inca had no use for it except to use it to craft decorations and statues. In fact, an Inca citizen valued cloth more than they valued gold

Religion played a very important role in the Aztec and Inca culture. Religious rituals consisted of human sacrifice and polytheism. Their deities were inspired by nature and the earth’s physical makeup. Both appear to be similar but peel back the onion and notable differences reveal themselves. It is difficult for modern day society to understand how human sacrifice can exist in such advanced civilizations.

Elialde author of The Sacred and the Profane introduces a new model of the sacred and the profane. Elialde’s model is meant to be universal, therefore meant to be appropriate for any recognized religion. David Carrasco author of Religions of Mesoamerica and Kay Almere Read and Jason J. González authors of Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America, discuss their interpretation of the Mesoamerican religion although their views on the Mesoamerican religion differs in some aspects when compared to Eliade’s model of the sacred and the profane there are a few noticeable similarities between both views.

In Jared Diamond’s Collision at Cajamarca and Hemispheres Colliding from his book Guns, Germs, and Steel he addresses the factors relating to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. This is seen in their differences in development, warfare, disease and politics. Firstly, it is important to start by taking a looking at the Empire’s themselves. The Spanish Empire, like many in Europe, developed sooner than their Native American counterparts in agriculture and industries.

What would happen if more than 2,000 people were brutally killed by one nation every day? The world would be outraged and aghast. What if the killing continued for 150 years? This is what happened in Aztec society about 497 years ago.The Aztecs lived in the valley of Mexico from 1350 to 1519. They first migrated to the shores of Lake Texcoco around 1100 CE. Their religious beliefs led them to practicing brutal human sacrifice, which explains why they were distrusted and disliked by many groups living in that area. Historians should emphasize human sacrifice when talking about Aztecs because it was brutal and on such a large scale. It also showed the power of religion in Aztec society.

The incas rose in 1438, they fell in 1533. They suffered the attacks of Spanish conquerors such as Spaniard Francisco Pizarro (1475-1541) and the spread of small box. At the peak of power the civilization extended 4,000 km (2,500 miles) and included 16 million people. They were extremely advanced, had an army, laws, roads, bridges, and tunnels. Inca’s were the most advanced civilization because of their government, agriculture, architecture and technology compared to the Aztecs and Mayans.

The Aztec religion held a major influence on the Aztec society, whether it was cultural or political. The Aztec religion also held great significance to one’s life through the religious rituals which punctuated people’s lives. Due to this, the economy was well organised, due to the fact that they had a ruling class system system which was based on human ability and birth. The Aztec legal system and a strong moral code, which held great importance to families and community life within the Aztec empire.

For the Inca in South America their religious beliefs were interconnected to agricultural, personal and political outcomes. A strong connection to astrology is very prevalent in the religious underpinnings of the Inca. According to Cartwright,

The Incas went to heaven if they were good but they went to the underworld if they lived a bad life. Mummies are sacred to the Incas. The Incas said corichaanh means golden temples. The Incas believed in an afterlife for their whole life. The Incas wrapped material around the dead people to make them mummies. The Incas brought gifts to the dead people so they can use the gift in the afterlife. When you went to the underworld for living a bad life you had to eat rocks. The Incas makes ahuaca man made. The Incas done and made sacrifices in the church rooms. Where they make the sacrifices the room is gold. The Incas temple rooms are made out of cuzco. Sapu acted like himself was a god. The gods believed in innaha pacha. The rest of the temple rooms were for the gods to use. Coricancha used to be the most important temple of them all. Most of the Incas worshiped their own gods. Inti was the most important god of all the gods. There was one more important god but she was the most important from the moon her name is mama quilla. The spanish tore down the coricancha temple. The priest of the temples were the most important to the Incas. The Incas thought that mountains were sacred to them. They had parades for the dead emperors. They keep servant to look out for the dead emperor's body. The incas celebrated every month and every

The only written accounts of the Inca were composed by outsiders, its myths and culture passed to generations by storytellers. Little bits and pieces of its existence were mainly found in the ruins of cities and Temples. In 1911 archaeologist Hiram Bingham discovered the 15th century mountaintop citadel of Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu’s magnificent stone structures reflecting the power of this Pre-Colombian

Religion was the foundation and the core factor for developing all elements of the Aztec society. War itself was considered an element of their faith, as it was seen an act that honored their Gods, and contributed to the honor and wealth of their community. Additionally, the Aztecs were polytheistic and believed in feeding the sun through that human sacrifice. In fact, they believed that human sacrifice was essential to the survival of their kind. Typically the Aztecs would obtain an individual for sacrifice through battle or capture a prisoner of war to fulfil this sacred duty.

The Aztec people were certain kinds of ethnic groups of central Mexico. The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance began as an alliance of three city-states: Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. These three city-states ruled the area in and around the Valley of Mexico from 1428 until they were defeated by the combined forces of the Spanish conquistadores and their native allies under Hernán Cortés in 1521. As in modern societies, religion and education were important parts of Aztec culture. Large portions of these groups spoke the Nahuatl language.

Even though Viracocha was named the creator of the Incas and the important god of the Inca religion, the Incas provided a lot of other layers