The Sun god, Inti, and the Moon had many children, who they sent to the earth to inhabit it. The youngest of their sons was named Manco Capac, and of all their offspring, it was he who was the most promising. In all their footraces, he beat his brothers, despite being younger and smaller than them. In the arts of war, he always bested the others, even when they teamed up against him. In a battle of wits, Manco Capac could not be tricked, seeing through the twisted riddles posed to him. He was the pride and joy of his father Inti, and although he had always beaten his older brothers, they too loved and respected him.
After some time, their father gave his children a golden staff that held the key to life. It was taller than any man and weighed twice as much, each inch being ornately detailed and inlaid with all manner of precious stones. When the sun hit it, the gold was so pure that its gleam could be seen from any part of the earth. He instructed his children to search the earth far and wide, looking for the best place to plant the staff into the earth and construct a temple to Inti. From there, all other men would spring forth and begin to populate the barren land.
One of Manco’s brothers, being hot-headed, immediately took the staff and flew to the deserts, searching for a warm place in which he could plant the golden rod. Although he passed through many lands, and many barren deserts, he never found a site which he knew would please his father. Disappointed, he returned to his brothers and informed them that he had not found anything suitable amidst the deserts.
Another brother, being cold and calculating, grabbed the staff from his disheartened sibling, and went deep into a cave, searching in every chasm for a suitable location. For days he crawled in the darkness, but eventually reached the same conclusion as his brother. There would be no room for a temple to Inti in any of the caves he had explored.
One of Manco Capac’s sisters then took the staff and set off, hoping to have better luck than her two unfortunate brothers. She loved the jungle, and wandered in and out of the lush rain forests of the area. But the canopy was too thick, and the rain too strong to find a suitable site. In the dense jungle, there could never be a truly great temple to Inti. Saddened, she returned to her siblings, who were beginning to wonder if there was any place on earth that was fit for Inti’s temple.
But Manco Capac was not discouraged. In fact, he, being such a clever man, took joy in his siblings’ failure and explained that in their great but unsuccessful efforts, they had merely shown him the perfect location. Humiliated but excited, they eagerly followed their youngest brother as he took off on a run. First, he passed through a great desert, and his older brother grew angry that Manco Capac would not trust him to see the desert was unsuitable. He grew so angry that he stayed in the desert, his anger perpetually heating the arid land. Now the deserts are hot all year round, as his anger has never subsided.
Next, Manco Capac dove into a set of caves, running as fast as he could with his siblings barely keeping up. But his brother too grew angry for leading him down into the same caves that he had already ruled out. In his anger, he closed his eyes, and when he opened them, Manco Capac and his other sisters were gone. He was lost forever in the cold, dark caves. He began to cry, and for this reason the caves are always dripping tears.
They finally emerged from the caverns and found themselves in the middle of a dense rain forest. Manco Capac’s other sister, who had managed to keep up this whole time, also grew frustrated to see herself surrounded again by the humid leaves. She ran off crying, her tears drawing rains from the heavens themselves.
This left only Manco Capac and his oldest sister, Mama Oullo, who was the wisest and most learned of all the sisters. After a short walk, Manco Capac and Mama Oullo left the rain forest and found themselves in a beautiful green valley, with tall mountains and a luscious jungle surrounding them. Manco Capac triumphantly lifted up the golden scepter and thrust it deep into the earth. A ray of golden light broke forth, and a beautiful golden temple erupted out of the ground. From its doors walked the first Inca, who worshiped Manco Capac as a child of the sun, while Mama Oullo taught their women all that they had to know in the arts of weaving and crafting. Manco Capac called this great city Cusco, and from their his descendants ruled the Incan Empire for a thousand years.
Story Inspiration: The Mythologies of Ancient Mexico and Peru by Lewis Spence
Author's Note:The original legend of the origin of man story from Incan mythology is very brief. As I outlined above, descendants of the Sun and the Moon came to earth with a golden rod and planted it in Cusco, but no real details were given about anything else. I tried to imagine what it must have been like, but they are kind of quasi-deities themselves, so it is hard to describe and also to differentiate it from the more classical story of Adam and Eve. It was actually quite difficult to add to the story, as there was such limited information available, so I did my best by imagining three kinds of origin stories for caves, jungles, and deserts.
One of the important aspects of this is how it explains the divine lineage of the Incan emperors. Each successive emperor was still revered as deity, as they were ultimately descendants of the Sun, Inti, himself. They were seen as having all of the divine attributes and knowledge of Inti, and so played a key role in Incan religious and political life.
I also tried to describe Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas, which is tucked away in the high Andes mountains. It has a very unique climate, due to its proximity to the equator but also its elevation, it has very moderate and steady temperature where it rains frequently and appears a lot like a jungle, but does not have the same overpowering heat of the rain forest. Situated in Cusco is the famous "House of the Sun" a beautiful and impressive sun temple whose founding may have been based off of this legend.
Image: A photo I took from inside one of the caves where it is locally held that Manco Capac and his siblings first began searching for a place to plant their staff.