MANCO CAPAC AND MAMA OCLLO

MANCO CAPAC AND MAMA OCLLO (probably thirteenth century), first Inca ruler, demigod ancestor of succeeding Inca rulers, and the founder, possibly legendary, of the Inca capital city of Cuzco, in the southern highlands of Peru. Early Spanish chroniclers reported various Inca creation myths. In one version, the Sun, taking pity on the miserable world, sent down his own son—presumably Manco Capac—and daughter to govern the people. According to another version, after the creation of the world the Sun summoned Manco Capac and, "speaking like an older brother," told him that the Inca would rule the world and that they must proudly regard the Sun as their father and worship him appropriately. In the most frequent variation, four brothers and four sisters emerged from a "window," or cave, in a rock at Pacaritambo ("inn of origin"), not far from Cuzco. After a period of wandering, one brother, Ayar Manco (later Manco Capac), having sent word that his father was the Sun, went to a hill above what is now Cuzco. The people of the valley looked up to see him dressed in gold ornaments that reflected dazzling sunlight. He founded Cuzco with a simple shrine on what would be the site of the great Temple of the Sun. He is said to have taught the people not only social and religious structure and ritual but also irrigation, planting, and harvesting.

When he was about to die, Manco Capac told his people that he must return to the sky, for his father had summoned him. His body was adored as a huaca, a sacred object. The Spaniards, seeking to destroy idolatry, removed the mummified bodies of other Inca rulers, but they could not find that of Manco Capac, which was kept in a village outside Cuzco. It was said to have turned into a stone (stone was particularly sacred to the Inca). This stone, elaborately dressed and adorned, was one of the most holy Inca objects, and ceremonies and sacrifices were held before it.

See Also

Atahuallpa.

Bibliography

Bernabé Cobo's mid-seventeenth-century History of the Inca Empire (Austin, 1979) is a rich source of lore about Manco Capac. Harold Osborne's South American Mythology (London, 1968) contains a number of Inca origin myths. J. H. Rowe's "Inca Culture at the Time of the Spanish Conquest," in the Handbook of South American Indians, edited by Julian H. Steward, vol. 2 (Washington, D.C., 1946), presents the legends in their general cultural context.

Elizabeth P. Benson (1987)