offer sacrifices to ancestors
Mummy is only a funeral way adopted by Incas, and it is a manifestation of ancestor worship in the ancient Andes, which reflects the deep reverence for the older generation (ayllu) and the blood relationship in the community. These mummies are regarded as the connection between the living and the gods, and they can also go from their resting place and "consult" on important occasions so that their knowledge can serve the living community. Mummies give honor to places and provide food and drinks, attend weddings, sowing and harvesting ceremonies, or when individuals in the community have to travel long distances.
The preservation of corpses is achieved by drying or freeze-drying, which benefits from the natural climatic conditions in some areas, such as deserts and mountains. Corpses can also be treated and preserved with alcohol (from Chicha corn beer). Early Andean cultures used salt as a preservative and often removed meat and body fluids from corpses before detention. Mummies are placed in the fetal position, wrapped in bundles with several layers of textiles, tied with ropes, and sometimes covered with cloth. Mummies can be buried in caves or special rooms in communities, usually in groups, and these rooms will be reopened every once in a while to add new mummies. People in high positions will wear particularly fine textiles and jewelry. The property of the deceased was buried with its owner, and sometimes with the tools of its specific occupation.
Victims of sacrifice, including children (capacocha), can also be mummified and placed in sacred places and other sacred places (huaca) on the mountain. These are usually freeze-dried, and their main function may be to strengthen the control of the Incas over the conquered provinces.
One of the most striking remains of mummies is the area around Cahatambo, a highland in central Peru. The Spanish recorded no less than 1825 ancient mummies in the17th century. Here, mummies are stored in a sacred cave called machay, dressed in gorgeous clothes and provided with food and drinks regularly, making themselves a part of the landscape, and their consultation will ensure a bumper harvest.
In Cuzco, there is a special space to store the mummy remains of the former Inca emperor and his wife.
Royal mummy
Due to the plunder of conquerors and subsequent grave robbers, few intact noble tombs were found, but we do know the royal mummy of Cuzco, the capital of the Inca, from written records. In the religious complex of Coricancha in Cuzco, there is a space dedicated to storing the mummy remains of the former Inca emperor and his wife, which is called mallquis. In these rooms, the mummy ruler was surrounded by their weapons and artistic treasures, because the Incas believed that the dead ruler was still the owner of the property accumulated in his life.
The royal mummy is not a simple drying method, but a luxurious treatment of internal organs and organs removal, anti-corrosion and skin tanning; They can even be eternal with a lifelike posture. These mummies were taken out of the warehouse during special ceremonies (such as the ceremony to celebrate the winter solstice) and arranged in chronological order in the open space of Awkaypata or "rest platform" in the main square. Everyone has a special waiter who explains their wishes and holds a flying brush beside them. These luxurious mummies are dressed in exquisite clothes, gold ornaments and strange feathers. It seems that they are still alive, food and drinks are ready for them, and their great achievements during their reign are also read to everyone. Therefore, a connection has been established between the present and past generations.
These royal mummies were so respected that when the Spanish arrived, they moved around Cuzco repeatedly to avoid being captured and destroyed by Europeans, who regarded their reverence as idolatry. But it was finally discovered and destroyed in AD 1559. A Spaniard, garcilaso de la vega, described them like this:
Their bodies are perfect, without hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. They wore the clothes they wore when they were alive ... they sat in the way Indian men and women usually sit, with their arms crossed on their chests and their eyes drooping on their left ... I remember touching Huayna-Capac's fingers. It is hard and hard, just like a wooden statue. These bodies are so light that any Indian can move them from one house to another with his arms or shoulders. They walked through the streets and squares in clothes wrapped in white sheets, and Indians knelt on the ground and paid tribute with tears ... (da troy, 97-99).