The Empire of the Sun Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lake Titicaca

According to the myth, Viracocha rose from lake Titicaca during the time of darkness to bring light. He created the sun, moon, the stars and also mankind by blowing air into stones. There are several versions of the Inca creation myth. The only thing we know for sure is that the Inca migrated to the Cuzco area around about 1200 AD.

Lake Titicaca is located on the border of Peru and Bolivia, 3,811 meter (12,500 ft) above sea level. It is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world.

Lake Viedma is in Argentina, Lake Poopo in Bolivia and Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.

Answer: Pachacuti Inca

What happened between 1200 and 1438 AD is clouded in mystery. In 1438 AD Pachacuti Inca became the new Sapa Inca (great leader). He managed to defeat the neighbouring Chanca tribe and by doing so he laid the foundations of the emerging Inca empire. Through warfare and peaceful persuasion Pachacuti and his son and successor Topa Inca Yupanqui conquered an empire stretching from south Colombia to central Chile.

The Inca treated the conquered tribes well. They were allowed to continue their way of life and the worship of their gods, with the sole condition that they would accept the sun god as their main god. Local elite was assimilated into Inca elite and the local population could enjoy the high level of prosperity of the Inca empire.

Huayna Capac was Topa Inca's son and successor. He only added a small portion of land to the empire. Although he never met a European he may have died of a European disease, possibly smallpox. The diseases the Europeans introduced in America had already begun to spread in the Inca empire before the conquistadors had arrived there themselves.

After Huayna Capac's death, civil war erupted in the Inca empire. His eldest son had also died of the smallpox epidemic, leaving the two remaining half brothers Huascar and Atahualpa to fight for the empire. After three years of civil war Atahualpa managed to defeat Huascar, but by then the Spanish conquistadors had already landed in the Inca empire. Their leader Francisco Pizarro captured Atahualpa and demanded a huge ransom for his release. Atahualpa had Huascar killed out of fear he might offer the Spanish a bigger ransom. After the conquistadors received enough gold to fill a big room and enough silver to fill two rooms they killed Atahualpa anyway. This proved to be the downfall of the Inca empire. Already weakened by the smallpox epidemic and years of civil war they were no match for European steel and gunpowder.

Answer: Quechua

Quechua was already spoken in the Andean area before the Inca had conquered their empire. The Inca were just one of the many groups who spoke a form of quechua.

Today quechua is an official language in Peru and Bolivia. There are approximately 10,000,000 native speakers.

Xhosa is a South-African language, Urdu an Indian language and Nahuatl the language of the Aztec people.

Answer: Tahuantinsuyu

After Pachacuti had conquered most of his empire he divided it into four parts to allow better government. These parts were Chinsaysuyu (north-west), Antisuyu (north-east), Kuntisuyu (south-west) and Qullasuyu (south-east). Together they formed Tahuantinsuyu ('four parts together' in quechua). The four subdivisions are comparable with provinces and had strong local leadership.

Peru is the name given to the heartland of the Inca empire by Francisco Pizarro (now the modern country of Peru). The origin of the name Peru is uncertain. The main theory states that Peru is derived from 'Biru', a tribesman whose lands were visited by Pizarro prior to his conquest of the Inca empire.

Vilcabamba is a remote Inca village that served as the last place of resistance against the Spanish conquistadors. It was conquered by the Spanish in 1572 AD.

Incanesia is made up.

Answer: Runners

The Inca had an elaborate road network. The two main arteries ran from north to south, connected by several east-west running branches. The system is known as the Inca trail.

Chasquis were runners who worked in a relay system which allowed them to convey information over very long distances in a short period of time. Backpackers in Peru often walk parts of the Inca trail with Machu Picchu as their final destination.

Answer: Relay stations

Tambos are relay stations constructed at key points along the Inca trail where the chasquis could recuperate after they had run a part of the Inca trail to deliver a message and where they were waiting for the next message to be delivered. The tambos offered chasquis food, water and a shelter for the night.

The best preserved tambo lies in the village of Ollantaytambo which is the starting point for many tourist who want to visit Machu Picchu.

Answer: Granary

Qollqas are granaries. Most of them were built along mountain flanks in order to keep the food cold and dry by the mountain winds.

Answer: Guinea pig

There are 4,000 varieties of potato in the Andean area. The Inca also ate maize, tomatoes, chili peppers and several local vegetables.

For meat they ate mostly guinea pig, but also game and dried fish. Guinea pig is still eaten today in the Andean region, mostly by poor people. It tastes like a combination of rabbit and chicken wings. If you're ever in the region you might want to try it!

Answer: Coloured strings with knots

Quipu comes from the quechua word 'khipu' which means 'knot'. Most quipus were made from llama or alpaca hair. It is unsure whether quipus merely represent numbers or if they also represent non-numerical information. Some specialists argue that the knots represent numbers and the type of knot together with the colour of the strings represent some other form of data yet undeciphered. Others think that quipus are a writing system.

The quipucamayocs were officials who could decipher the quipus. They were the accountants of the Inca empire. One of the probable purposes was to keep track of the mit'a (labour service). The chasquis used quipus to transfer data all over the Inca empire.

The Inca didn't know any traditional form of writing so clay tablets or scrolls are out of the question.

Answer: A stone for sun worshipping

The intihuatana is a ritual stone to worship the sun. 'Inti' means sun in quechua, 'huata' means 'to tie' and 'na' means 'tool' or 'place'. Thus intihuatana was a ritual tool to 'tie up the sun' to insure that it would rise again in the morning. Some researchers believe that the intihuatana is also an astronomical clock or calender.

Every Inca village used to have its own intihuatana but when Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism in the region they considered it sacrilege and smashed all but one. The only surviving intihuatana is in the undiscovered (by the Spanish) city of Machu Picchu.

Unlike the Aztecs the Inca didn't sacrifice humans by cutting their heart out on a sacrificial altar. Their rituals didn't involve bloodletting or drinking blood either, unlike e.g. the Moche people (northern Peru 100 - 800 AD). However there are known cases of human sacrifice in the Inca empire. In 1995 a well-preserved frozen body of an Inca girl was found high up in the Andes mountains. Juanita, as she was soon called, was between 11 and 15 years old when she was sacrificed to the mountain gods during the reign of Pachacuti. She was a member of the elite who considered it an honour if one of their children was chosen to be sacrificed. She died of a blunt trauma to the head.