SEVERAL CIVILIZATIONS DEVELOPED IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA BETWEEN 1000BCE AND 1500CE. THE GREATEST OF THESE WERE THE MAYAS, THE INCAS, AND THE AZTECS. EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT FOR THESE PEOPLE, RELIGION WAS A POWERFUL FORCE THAT AFFECTED EVERYTHING THEY DID. IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, SPANISH EXPLORERS ARRIVED, BRINGING CHRISTIANITY WITH THEM. THE AMERICAN EMPIRES WERE DESTROYED THROUGH WARS WITH THE SPANIARDS AND BY THE DISEASES THE INVADERS BROUGHT WITH THEM. A FEW PEOPLE STILL FOLLOW RELIGIONS BASED ON SOME OF THESE ORIGINAL IDEAS.
THE INCAS
THE INCAS WERE A FARMING PEOPLE, SO THEIR RELIGION REVOLVED AROUND THE WORSHIP OF THE SUN. INTI, WHO GAVE WARMTH TO THEIR CROPS. OTHER IMPORTANT DEITIES WERE MAMQUILLA (THE MOON), PACHAMAMA (MOTHER EARTH), AND ILLAPA (THE THUNDER OR RAIN GIVER).
THE RULERS OF THE INCAS WERE KNOWN AS SAPA INCAS. EACH RULER CLAIMED TO BE THE SON OF THE SUN IN ORDER TO REINFORCE HIS POWER. WHEN A SAPA INCA DIED, IT WAS SAID THAT THE SUN HAD RECALLED HIM. PEOPLE WOULD WORSHIP THE DEAD RULERS AS ANCESTRAL GODS. ANCESTORS WERE VERY IMPORTANT AND THE INCAS REGULARLY VISITED TOMBS AND CONSULTED THE DEAD FOR HELP.
SACRED PLACES
INCA SACRED SITES WERE CALLED HUACUS. ONE OF THESE WAS THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN IN THE CITY OF CUZCO. INSIDE THE TEMPLE, THERE WERE GOLD IMAGES OF THE SUN, OFTEN SHOWN WITH A HUMAN FACE. MOUNTAINS WERE IMPORTANT HUACUS AS THEY REPRESENTED A WAY TO GET CLOSER TO INTI. THE INCAS ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE MADE SACRIFICES, USUALLY OF ANIMALS, ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS TO PLEASE THE GODS AND TO ENSURE RAIN, GOOD CROPS, AND PROTECTION. ARCHAEOLOGISTS RECENTLY FOUND THE FROZEN REMAINS OF SOME PEOPLE ON THE TOP OF SEVERAL MOUNTAINS. THEY WERE SPECIALLY CHOSEN INCA CHILDREN, WHO WERE SACRIFICED TO BE MESSENGERS BETWEEN THE INCAS AND INTI.
SOME PEOPLE IN PERU STILL FOLLOW THE RELIGION OF THE INCAS. THIS WOMAN IS MAKING AN OFFERING DURING A MODERN-DAY CELEBRATION OF INTI RAYMI, THE FESTIVAL OF THE SUN, IN CUZCO, PERU.
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FROM THE BOOK "THE USBOURNE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD RELIGIONS"
04/08/2022
HOPE ALL ENJOY A BIT OF HISTORY