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Inca Creation Myth and Other Inca Mythology

The Inca Creation Myth along with other mythology of ancient Inca Civilization are not only interesting to us but actually play a large part in the indigenous culture of Peru to this day.

There are as many myths about how the Inca tribe came to be as there are myths about their demise.

On this page:

Inca Myth of Creation

Three Versions

God of the Sun

God from the Water

The Boneless God "Con"

Other Inca Mythology

A Superior Race
A Great Flood

Inca Creation Myth

Myths regarding their creation range from the story of the God of the Sun to stories of another God who brought to life humans from rocks.

Although we can't be certain which version of Inca mythology was predominantly accepted, what is certain is that Inca mythology influenced all aspects of their culture and life.

This influence remains highly visible today as the focus of their architectural and artistic works.

Myths regarding their creation range from the story of the God of the Sun to stories of another God who brought to life humans from rocks.

Three Versions of the Myth

God of the Sun

In the first version of the Inca creation myth, the God of the Sun arose and was so bright that nothing else could even be seen.

The God of the Sun then created the moon and the stars. The Sun and the Moon had one son and one daughter.

The God of the Sun sent their children to the earth to show the humans how to survive. According this myth, the son of the Sun God became the very first Inca.

God from the Water

The second most popular Inca Creation myth describes a God who arose from the water. This God needed light to see his surroundings so he created the sun, moon, and stars.

This God brought humans with him. From the rocks he created more humans, some of which were pregnant women.

Keeping one man and one woman with him, he sent half his people to the North and half to the South to create plenty of land for his tribe to grow and thrive.

The Boneless God "Con"

A third, less popular myth of the Inca's creation includes a figure in the general shape of a man but with no bones called the Con.

According to this version of Inca mythology, the Con filled the earth with the things the people needed to survive. He found the people to be unthankful so he dried up all the water so the people would suffer for their lack of appreciation.

Then a new God, Pacha Kamaq (also Pachachamac or Pachacamac - 'Earth-Maker'), came along and drove the first God out by changing his people to monkeys.

The myth describes Pacha Kamaq taking over the earth and making ancestors from the remaining humans.

The Chakana
Inca symbol for the Tree of Life

Other Inca Mythology

A Special People

While many of the Inca myths dealt with the origin of the Inca people, they all supported the idea that the Gods wanted the Inca's to be rulers of the land.

These myths help to establish some of the rights and customs of the Incas' royal class. The myths were elaborated to demonstrate how superior the Inca people were.

All of the myths identify the Incan people as descendants of the sun.

A Great Flood

Just as many other cultures, the Inca's spoke of one myth that included a great flood.

As the legend goes, a great flood came about and whisked away all of the unruly people in the land.

The flood myths are full of stories about how the Inca people were greedy and and how they didn't pay proper homage to the Gods. It was decided that the only people who didn't prove evil were the ones in the highest highlands of the Andes Mountains.

As the story goes, two shepherds realized how sad their llamas were. The llamas told their owners there was a flood coming. The two shepherds gathered their families and their herds and headed to the highlands.

Rain fell for two straight months until all of the land below was flooded. The Sun God appeared and his smile dried the waters. The families came down from the Highlands and repopulated the earth.

This myth continues on, saying that the llamas always remember the floods and therefore only live in the Highlands.

While it's true that the Spanish conquistadors (conquistadores) destroyed the Empire of Inca, the people survived and descendants from those people still live in the Highlands of the Andes Mountains.

The Inca Creation Myth and other Inca mythology play a continuing part in the culture of Peru's indigenous population.

Return to Inca Civilization from Inca Creation Myth

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