Inca Religion and Customs

by Cobo, Bernabe; Hamilton, Roland; Hamilton, Roland

• ISBN13: 9780292738614
• ISBN10: 0292738617
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1990-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

"While Cobo's Historia is not a pristine account, it is hard to imagine what our knowledge of Andean societies would be without it. Four hundred years after Cobo landed in Lima, Roland Hamilton should be congratulated on his translations of the Historia del Nuevo Mundo, which remains a monument to the breadth of vision and intellectual energy of its author." --American Antiquity Completed in 1653, Father Bernabe Cobo's Historia del Nuevo Mundo is an important source of information on pre-conquest and colonial Spanish America. Though parts of the work are now lost, the remaining sections which have been translated offer valuable insights into Inca culture and Peruvian history. Inca Religion and Customs is the second translation by Roland Hamilton from Cobo's massive work. Beginning where History of the Inca Empire left off, it provides a vast amount of data on the religion and lifeways of the Incas and their subject peoples. Despite his obvious Christian bias as a Jesuit priest, Cobo objectively and thoroughly describes many of the religious practices of the Incas. He catalogs their origin myths, beliefs about the afterlife, shrines and objects of worship, sacrifices, sins, festivals, and the roles of priests, sorcerers, and doctors. The section on Inca customs is equally inclusive. Cobo covers such topics as language, food and shelter, marriage and childrearing, agriculture, warfare, medicine, practical crafts, games, and burial rituals. Because the Incas apparently had no written language, such postconquest documents are an important source of information about Inca life and culture. Cobo's work, written by one who wanted to preserve something of the indigenous culture that his fellow Spaniards were fast destroying, is one of the most accurate and highly respected.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
John Howland Rowe
Introduction: Father Cobo and the Incas	xi
A Note on the Translation	xxi
Measurements	xxii
BOOK I: RELIGION
Paganism of Inca Religion	3	(8)
Origin Fables	11	(8)
Afterlife	19	(3)
Viracocha the Creator	22	(3)
Sun Worship	25	(4)
Moon and Star Deities	29	(3)
Worship of the Thunder, the Sea, and the Earth	32	(3)
Pururauca Deities	35	(2)
Guauque Idols	37	(2)
Idolatry of the Deceased	39	(5)
Other Deities	44	(3)
Temple of the Sun at Cuzco	47	(4)
Chinchaysuyu Road	51	(12)
Antisuyu Road	63	(7)
Collasuyu Road	70	(8)
Cuntisuyu Road	78	(7)
Temple of Pachacama	85	(6)
Temple of Copacabana	91	(9)
Temple of Tiaguanaco	100	(8)
Temple of Apurima	108	(1)
Sacrifices	109	(6)
Additional Sacrifices	115	(3)
Acts of Worship and Prayers	118	(4)
Sins	122	(4)
Raymi Festival	126	(9)
Festivals of the Second Month	135	(4)
Festivals of the Third, Fifth, and Sixth Months	139	(3)
Festivals of the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Months	142	(3)
Festivals of the Tenth Month	145	(4)
Festivals of the Eleventh and Twelfth Months	149	(2)
Itu Festival	151	(3)
Coronation of the Inca	154	(4)
Functions of the Priests	158	(2)
Sortilegos	160	(4)
Curing	164	(4)
Diviners	168	(4)
Cloistered Women	172	(3)
Omens and Superstitions	175	(6)
BOOK II: CUSTOMS
Quichua and Aymara	181	(4)
Garments	185	(5)
Towns and Houses	190	(4)
Home Furnishings	194	(4)
Food and Drink	198	(2)
Education	200	(4)
Marriage	204	(7)
Agriculture	211	(4)
Warfare	215	(5)
Medicine	220	(3)
Weaving	223	(4)
Building and Stone Work	227	(4)
Bridges	231	(3)
Boats	234	(5)
Silverwork and Metallurgy	239	(2)
Hunting	241	(2)
Games and Music	243	(3)
Tombs	246	(4)
Burial	250	(3)
Notes	253	(8)
Glossary	261	(8)
Index	269	(4)
Indexes for the Shrines of Cuzco	273