The tumi was adopted by the government of Peru as a symbol to promote tourism. Many people in Peru hang a tumi on their walls for good luck.
The Tumi is a ceremonial knife made of bronze, gold, silver or copper and usually made of one piece. Its handle has a rectangular or trapezoidal shape, its length varies but it always exceeded the width of a hand. At the bottom there is a sharp semicircular blade. Tumis were used during ceremonies to sacrifice an animal to honor the . In the …

Indeed, there must have been a good reason to justify the laborious construction of this magic city in such a challenging land. Since did not have a written language the real purpose for the building of Machu Picchu is not clear, it remains a mystery and is open to speculation. There are many theories but few among the most plausible. The most common conclusion from experts on Inca history and archeologists is that it was built first and foremost as a sacred center to worship natural resources, deities and …

The Temple of the Sun also known as the Torreon may have served as a primitive solar observatory. It was dedicated to their . Enclosed by a semicircular wall, the only one in , the room contains a stone altar and windows strategically placed to observe astronomical events. Two windows are aligned to the stone altar, which is located at the center of the room. According to how it catches the sun’s rays it signals the winter and summer solstices, the longest and shortest days of the year.
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Temple of the …

The name Cusco comes from the Aymara language qusqu wanka that means “rock of the owl”. According to one the , the myth of the Ayar brothers, Ayar Auca became an owl and flew to the location where they would settle to create the capital of the new empire, he converted into a rock to mark the chosen site.
Inca Manco Capac was the founder of the . The inner city of Cusco was laid out in the shape of a puma whose head was the fortress of Sacsahuaman. His body …

Inca religion was one of the main concerns of the Spanish Conquerors since their arrival to the new world, understanding it was vital  to successfully convert the population into Catholicism. However, despite of their genuine interest they created an impartial view of Andean religion since they tried to understand it from the Catholic point of view. They identified Inca religion as heretic and as the work of the devil. From Inca mythical stories they selected those Inca divinities closer to the Catholic god and those unnecessary gods that were going …