The Inca civilization flourished in the Andes mountains of South America during the A.D. 1400S and early 1500s. At the center of Inca religion and mythology was the worship of the sun, believed to be the ancestral father of the Inca people. For this reason, sun worship was closely linked to ancestor worship, and many of the myths of the Incas focus on their origins. The Incas tailored their mythology to glorify their own culture and to reinforce the idea that they were a superior people destined to rule others.

Origins and Influences

Based in the city of Cuzco in what is now Peru, the Incas were one of many small groups who lived in the Andes mountains in the 1300s. Gradually, the Incas expanded and absorbed the surrounding peoples, peacefully at first and later by conquest. In 1438 a strong leader named Pachacuti became their king. He and his descendants made...