The Incredible Incas: Children of the Sun

The Incredible

Incas:Children of

the Sun

Who Were the Incas?The Incas were a small tribe of South

American Indians who lived in the city of Cuzco, high in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Around 1400 CE, a neighboring tribe attacked the Incas, but the Incas won. This was the beginning of the Inca Empire.

In only 100 years, the Inca Empire grew so big that it expanded into what are now the modern countries of Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.

Inca GovernmentOne thing that helped the Incas grow so rapidly was their system of a strong central government. Everybody worked for the state, and in turn the state looked after everybody.

Sapa Inca: The head of government was the Inca, sometimes called the “Sapa Inca” (“the Only Inca”). The Sapa Inca was all-powerful. Everything belonged to the Sapa Inca. He ruled his people by putting his relatives in positions of power. Since punishment was harsh and swift, almost no one broke the law.

Common People Had No FreedomThe Incas were very class conscious and were divided into nobles and common people. The nobles pretty much did what they wanted, while the common people were tightly controlled by the government.

Commoners could not own or run businesses. They could only do their assigned jobs. The law did not allow them to be idle. Even the amount of time they had to sleep and bathe was controlled by a government official.

Service TaxLocal officials kept an detailed census. A census is an official count of all the people in an area and how they each make a living.

Each common person was listed in the census. Each person listed had to pay a tax. The Incas loved gold and silver, but they had no use for money. The people paid their tax each year in physical labor—serving in the army, working in the mines, or building roads, temples, and palaces.

Harsh Government ControlsLaws dictated who should work where, and when.

Local officials had the power to make all decisions about the lives of the people they ruled. Inspectors visited frequently to check on things. Breaking the law usually meant the death penalty. Few people broke the law. Tight government controls kept the common people fed, clothed, and enslaved.

Government Questions1. What was the service tax?

2. Who decided how much service tax was due?

3. Who was the head of Inca government?

4. What freedoms did the common people enjoy?

GeographyAnother thing that helped the Inca Empire grow so rapidly was its geography. The empire had three main geographical regions:

Each was a natural barrier. The Incas made their home between the jungle and the desert, high in the Andes Mountains of South America.

1. The Andes Mountains

2. The Amazon jungle

3. The coastal desert

Andes MountainsThe snow-capped Andes Mountains run north to south. They have sharp ragged peaks and deep gorges.

The Incas built bridges across the gorges so they could reach all parts of their empire quickly and easily. If an enemy approached, the Incas could burn the bridges. They made suspension bridges from rope, pontoon bridges from reed boats, and pulley baskets from vines.

Inca RoadsHigh in the Andes Mountains, the Incas connected their empire with 14,000 miles of well-built roads. Some sections of road were over 24 feet wide. Some were even paved. Some roads were so steep that the Incas built stone walls along the edge to prevent people from falling off the cliff.

The roads belonged to the government. No one could travel the roads without special permission.

Who Used the Roads?The army used the roads to move quickly

and easily to any point in the Inca Empire. The army could quickly stop rebellions, protect people from intruders, and bring supplies to victims of natural disasters.

The Incas built hundreds of storehouses along the roads. These stored food, clothing, and weapons for the military. Some of the storehouses were so big that they could hold enough supplies and food for 25,000 men.

Who Used the Roads?Llama caravans used the roads. The

Incas never invented the wheel, so they did not use carts for transport. Llama caravans collected food from the farms and moved it to the city and to storerooms along the road.

Inns/rest houses: Rest houses were built every few miles. Travelers could spend the night, cook a meal, or feed their llamas.

Who Used the Roads?The Inca mailmen used the roads. Mailmen were

specially trained runners who worked in relay teams. As one runner approached a relay station, he would blow loudly on a conch shell until the next runner appeared. So it went from one end of the empire to the other. The Incas never created a written language. Each mailman had to tell the next runner the message he was carrying.

QuipuWhen messages were secret, runners carried a quipu, a secret message made of knots and colored string. The quipu would be handed from runner to runner until it reached its destination. There a special quipu reader would decipher the message.

The relay system of communication allowed the Sapa Inca and his assistants to run the empire effectively.

1. Roads were built to connect the new province to the rest of the empire.

2. A detailed count was made of every item in the conquered territory. Government officials counted the number of people, the amount of gold and silver, the number of vases, and so on. Everything was now the property of the Sapa Inca.

3. A governor was appointed to run the new territory.

Expansion and GrowthAs soon as the Incas conquered a new tribe:

The Sapa IncaExpansion was critical to the Inca way of life. The Incas believed that their ruler had to live in splendor. Their ruler was a god, a direct descendant of the sun god Inti.

The Inca lived in a palace. He ate from plates and drank from cups made of gold. He wore a gold fringe around his forehead as the emblem of his office. He wore a royal shield on his chest engraved with a picture of the sun god.

The Sapa IncaWhat happened to the Inca after he died?

On parade days, his mummy was carried through the streets.

When a former Inca died, he was not buried. His body was mummified and returned to his palace, where his family and servants waited on him as if he were still alive. Servants brought him things. His family consulted him for advice on daily affairs.

The New RulerThe new ruler inherited the Inca’s power, but had to find his own wealth. The new Sapa Inca would send his army off to conquer neighboring tribes in search of workers and resources.

The Inca Empire expanded rapidly. In a mere 100 years, it grew to be 2500 miles long, 500 miles wide, and was home to about 12,000,000 people.

Terrace FarmingTerrace farming: To feed the millions of people in the Inca Empire, the Incas invented terrace farming so they could grow crops on the steep mountain slopes.

Irrigation: They used systems of irrigation to catch the rainfall and the spring runoff from the snow-capped Andes mountaintops.

FoodFarmers: The three staple crops were corn, potatoes, and quinoa, used to make cereal, flour, and soups. They grew tomatoes, avocados, peppers, strawberries, peanuts, squash, sweet potatoes, beans, pineapples, bananas, peanuts, spices, and cocoa beans to make chocolate. They also kept honeybees.

Herders: The Incas did not have sheep, oxen, horses, chickens, goats, or pigs. They had llamas and alpacas for transportation, meat, and wool.

Food StorageThe Incas invented the first freeze-dried method of storage. They stamped on the frozen food to squeeze out the water. Then they left the stamped food in the sun to dry. When they wanted to prepare the dehydrated foods, they simply added water.

The Inca farmers grew more food than was needed. Some of their food was dried and stored in royal warehouses for times of war or famine.

Expansion Questions1. What three geographic features acted as

natural barriers to the Inca Empire?

2. What three things did the Inca government do when they conquered a new tribe?

3. Why did each new Sapa Inca find it important to expand the Inca Empire?

4. What crops did the Incas grow?

5. How did the Inca freeze-dry their food?

6. What was the purpose of terrace farming?

Inca CalendarThe Inca calendar was important for religious reasons. Each calendar month hosted a different religious festival. The calendar was divided into 12 months. Months were divided into three weeks of ten days each.

The Incas used towers called "time makers" that told them when a new month was beginning. Time makers used the position of the sun to mark the passage of time.

Inca ReligionGods and goddesses: The Incas worshipped the gods of nature. The sun god Inti was one of their most powerful gods. In a farming community, sunshine was an important element.

Signs: The Incas believed that their gods and their ancestors could communicate with them through dreams, omens, and other signs, to give them advice and help. Priests were powerful because they could read signs in just about anything.

Mummies and the Afterlife

The Incas believed in an afterlife. They mummified their dead, and priests held funeral ceremonies. The bodies and tombs of the dead were carefully tended.

Even the very poor could mummify their dead. They simply set the corpse out in the cold in aboveground tombs. The Incas could enter and reenter these tombs, leaving gifts of food and belongings. They could also retrieve these gifts if needed.

Daily Life: The NoblesMembers of the nobility led a life of

luxury: • They were exempt from taxation • They could own land and llamas • They decorated their homes with

paintings and gold and silver statues • They wore fine woven tunics • They were carried around on litters • Boys went to school• Some were given important

government jobs

Daily Life: The NoblesHairstyles: Each noble family had a distinctive

hairstyle that signified their social position. Since the Incas were class conscious, hairstyles for the men were most important.

Earplugs: Men wore earplugs of shell or metal. At the coming-of-age ceremony (held at age 14), a golden disk would be inserted in their newly pierced earlobes. Bigger disks, called earplugs, were continually added. Earplugs were so heavy that their earlobes stretched over time until they rested on their shoulders. This was considered stylish.

Daily Life: The Common People

The common people lived a life of work and obedience:• They paid taxes in labor hours • They could not own land or their home • They could not decorate their homes • They wore coarse tunics • They could not use the roads without special

permission• They were not allowed to learn anything

specialized other than how to do their assigned job• They had no voice in government

Daily Life: The Common People

Common people ate well: They ate two or three meals a day. They ate corn seasoned with herbs and chili peppers, thick vegetable soups, and hot bread made with cornmeal.

Children: No one looked after the children while the parents were in the fields. Children were left alone in cradles all day. Many Inca children died from neglect at a very young age.

Daily Life: The Common People

Homes: Commoners’ homes were made of sun-baked brick with thatched roofs. There were no windows. The doorway was covered with a hanging strip of leather or woven cloth.

Goods were stored in baskets: The common people did not have many goods to store. They could only own practical things. It was against the law for them to decorate their homes.

Daily Life: The Common People

Religious festivals: Life was not all work in the Inca Empire. There were many religious festivals, some of which continued for days. At the major festivals, there was singing, dancing, games, parades, and food.

The Incas were deeply religious. The joy they experienced at festival time was part of their religion.

Specialized ProfessionsSome people did escape life on the

farm to work in specialized professions. Some boys received training as craftsmen, storytellers, musicians, weavers, stonemasons, and builders. Others were trained to be the servants and temple assistants of the royals, nobles, and priests.

Some actually rose to rather high positions in governmental service, but they were the exceptions.

Daily Life Questions1. Why did the Incas wish to communicate

with their ancestors?

2. Who looked after children while their parents worked in the fields?

3. Did the children of the common people go to school?

4. What were two specialized professions?

5. Why was a man’s hairstyle important?

6. What was the purpose of Inca earplugs?

Cuzco, the Capital CityCuzco: The capital city of Cuzco was the

heart of the empire. It had palaces, temples, schools, houses, gardens, and a huge public square for ceremonies and gatherings. The streets were paved. Water was brought in by aqueducts.

The Temple of the Sun was in the center of the city. The temple had six chapels built around a central courtyard. The walls were made of stone covered with sheets of gold.

Cuzco, a Busy PlaceCuzco, like all Inca cities, was a busy place.

Messengers traveled back and forth with news from across the empire.

Soldiers, engineers, priests, and administrators arrived and left again, traveling to wherever in the empire they were needed. Llama trains arrived with loads of food and goods. There were religious celebrations every month.

The Forgotten City: Machu Picchu Since the Incas never developed a system of writing, archaeologists muststudy myths, legends, and the artifactsthey left behind for clues about the Inca people.

Archaeologists were excited when they found the Inca city of Machu Picchu in 1911. The city had never been destroyed by war. Explorers found ruins of temples, palaces, fortresses, a royal tomb, pottery, and terrace gardens. Today, Machu Picchu is Peru's top tourist attraction.

Fall of the Inca EmpireWhen the Spanish heard about the fabled cities of

gold from the people who lived along the fertile strips of the coastal desert, Francisco Pizarro led his men into the Andes Mountains. The Spanish wanted three things:

• To spread their religion (Christianity)

• To conquer new lands for the King of Spain

• To line their own pockets with gold

After many fierce battles, the Spanish defeated the Incas in 1531. Descendants of the incredible Incas still live in the modern-day country of Peru.

Recap of Inventions• Terrace Farming

• Freeze Dried Foods • Use of Gold and Silver • Marvelous Stonework • Wonderful Textiles • Aqueducts (the Incas were

frequent bathers) • Hanging Bridges • Panpipes • Systems of Measurement (calendar, quipu)The Incas did NOT invent the wheel or a writing system.

Achievements Important to the Success of the Inca Empire1. Communication (roads, message runners)

2. Specialized professions (engineers, metal workers, stonemasons, other artisans)

3. Service tax (huge free labor force)

4. Technology (terrace farming, surplus crops, irrigation systems)

5. Strong central government (all-powerful Sapa Inca, strict laws, basic needs satisfied)