Page 61 - A History of the World in 25 Cities

The Inca worshipped many different gods. Their religious practices included saying prayers, fasting and sacrificing both animals and sometimes humans, including children. Many sacrifices might be offered on one day. Human sacrifice was used to ward off things such as military defeats, famine and plagues. Animals and foods were used for daily rituals such as throwing corn onto a fire to welcome the return of the sun each morning.
The Inca believed that gold was the sweat of the sun god, Inti,
and were incredibly skilled at making fine gold jewellery,
statues and decorations.
When an emperor died, his body was mummified and kept at his palace. The mummies of old rulers were often brought to religious ceremonies dressed in their finest clothes so that offerings of food and drink could be made to them. The Inca believed that, after death, an emperor’s spirit stayed in his body. The current emperor would also visit the mummified remains of his ancestors to ask their advice on important problems.
in Numbers
Height above sea level:
Length of the Inca road system:
The mighty Inca Empire began to crumble in the 1530s when Spanish invaders began a violent and bloody campaign of conquest,
overthrowing the emperor. Further weakened by a civil war between the former emperor’s sons, around 90 per cent of the surviving Inca
population died from smallpox and other deadly diseases brought by the war-waging Europeans.
Population of Cuzco in 1510:
2OO OOO
Population of Cuzco today:
4OO
OOO
3 4OO