Idea Of Inca Death

The Inca Ideas of Death The Inca Empire was a large empire native to South America from 1438 to 1533 C.E. Until Spaniards arrived in the 1500s, the Inca were polytheistic and very religious. Their idea of heaven was the warmth of the sun, opposite of the cold earth. After death, the common people were buried, whereas the respected were mummified. Sacrifices were often made after natural disasters in hopes to appease angry gods. With Spanish conquest came the end of Inca religion and the start of Peru Catholicism. Much like the Day of the Dead celebrated by Mexico, the Inca believe in two kinds of deaths (Incan Religion). The death of your body is your biological death in which you leave the vessel that will be buried. The other death is spiritual
They were not just included in festivities and celebrations; they were oracles in time of conflict. By using offerings of food and gifts, they established communication with the dead. This is how the nobles believed they reached their loved ones after death to ask for their wisdom. The mummies not only preserved the memory of the past but also made death less fearsome. They didn’t think they were completely detached from their ancestors after death.
These mummies were very important to the Inca. The religious Spaniards that sought to convert the Inca did not like the worship of anyone other than their God and tried to destroy the mummies. The Inca spent years relocating the corpses until the Spanish succeeded in 1559. The Spanish conquistadors forced the Inca into Christianity by killing all those who opposed (New World Encyclopedia). They did not do very well, however. Peru today is Catholic and it is possible to discover magical
They brought to the people a strong faith in the rule of their emperor, then were taken to their burial site. Priests led the child to the base of a mountain, where they would begin the ritual. The child would be given a maize alcohol, during the celebration, then clothed in ceremonial attire and put into a tomb of artifacts. They believed the child and sacred offerings would reach the Other World and gratify their mountain gods. After the child died, priests would regularly bring offerings to the sacred site. This was a difficult decision to make for the Inca because they valued their young, thus it was deemed their greatest