103 / 1060
BooK
Ill.
-
Royal
Commentaries.
CH AP.
xx.
The Defcription of the Te11iple of the Sun, and of its
great
Riches.
T
H E
principal Idol
in
efieem both
with
the
Inca
and his Subje&,
was
the
Imperial City of
Couo
it
felf, which the
Indian1
adored as a facred Relique,,
both
becaufe
it
was
founded
by the
firfi
Inca,
Manco
Capac,
and
becaufe
it
was
the Repofitory of innumerable Trophies acquired by Vitl:ory, and was the Seat
and Tnrone of the
InctU,
who were efieemed for Gods.
This fuperfHtion ap–
peared
in
every
little infiance ; for
in
cafe two
Indian1
of equal
9uali~
did
but
meet on the way one coming from
Couo,
and the other travelling thither;
he
that came from thence, gave alwars the firll: falutation,
an~ th~
upper hand to
him
who was going thither; and
1f
he) who had been at this
City,
~as
ever af–
ter efteemed by hls Neighbours as a Pilgrim or a Holy Man, how much more
was he to
be
reverenced, who was a Citizen, or Native of the place : And in ,
~urfuance
of this humour
and
opinion, whatfoever
was faid
to come
from
Couo,
though
it
were but Lentils or Seeds, and did
not furpafs others of
like
kind
in
its
Excellency,
yec
it
had
always
the pre-eminence, and was thought an
impiety
to think or judge otherwife.
To
keep up this
fancy
and belief in the
people,
th~
Incas
laboured to adorn and enoble the
City
with many Sumptuous Edifices and
Royal Palaces, many of which they built for their own ufe, as we /hall hereafier
declare, when we come
to
defcribe the publick Buildings, amongfr which there
is
none comparable
to
the Temple of the Sun,
which
was
enridied
with
incre-:
dible ,W ealdi ; to which every
Inca
particularly aqded fomerhing, and improved
and perfelted that which his Predeceifour had left deficient.
The
Riches of that
Tem~le
were
fo
irnmenfe,
that
I
fbould
not
adventure
to
defcribe
them,
did
I
not
find
them mentioned
in
all the
Spanifh
Hifiories of
Peru;
but neither vhac
they have wrote, nor I delivered, are able to reach the vafl:nefs
of
that real Wealth.
The Building of this Tenwle
is
efieemed the Work of the
King
Yupanqui,
the
Great Grandfather of
Huayna
Capac
;
not that he was the Founder of
it,
having
received
its
beginning from the firft
Inca ,
b
t
becau[e he completed the Adorn–
ment of
it,
and exalted it to thofe
immenfe
Riches and Majefiy
in
which the
Spaniards
found
it.
Now to defcribe this Temple;
it
is to be noted, that that place which
was
the
Chamber of the Sun, is now the Church of the
Divine
St.
Dominick.,.;
but be–
caufe I have not
the
exaet meafures of the
length
and breadth of
ic
,
I
omit to
mention
it
at guefs ; onely that how large foever
it
be,
it
is all made of Freeze ...
fione well polithed.
Tbe High Altar (
whid1
for our better underfianding we tall
by
that Name
thoubh
the
Indians
knew not
how to
erea: an
Altar)
is placed at the Eall:-fide
~
the Roof was
flat,
made of lofty Timber; but the Covering was thatched with
Straw, becaufe their Art arrived not co make other. All die four Walls of the
Temple were Wainfcoated from the top
to
the bottom, with Panes and Frames
of Wood. all over
guilded :
In
the
upper
place,
where we
feat
the High
Altar,
was the
Figure
of
t~e
Sun
drawn
upon a
Plate
ofGold, much broader and thicker
than the.
Boards \
hKh
covered
the
Walls ; this
Figure
reprefented the Face of
the
~un
ma
ro~nd
fhape,. with all his Rays and Emifftons ofFire, and Light pro–
ceed10g
from
him
much m the fame manner as our Painters draw him: Tne Fi–
gure was
fo
great and large, that
it
took up all the
Qgarrer
of the Temple, from
one
Wall to another : Befides this
1
Reprefentation
of
the
Sun the
Jndian1
erected
o other Idols
in
their Temples, becaufe
they
did not
ackn~wledge,
nor adore
an
.
'
•