印加文明即南美洲古代印第安人文明。印加文明与玛雅文明、阿兹特克文明并称为“印第安三大古老文明”。印加为其最高统治者的尊号，意为太阳之子。15世纪起印加帝国势力强盛，极盛时期的疆界以今秘鲁和玻利维亚为中心，北抵哥伦比亚和厄瓜多尔，南达智利中部和阿根廷北部，其首都在秘鲁南部的库斯科。印加帝国16世纪初由于内乱日趋衰落，1532年被西班牙殖民者灭亡。
1. Inca：The brief history and culture of the old empire in America
The Inca Empire was an old empire in America， from the 11th century to 16th century. Its territory included today’s Peru， Ecuador， Columbia， Bolivia， Chile， Argentina. The capital was in Cuzco. From the legendary founder Manco Capac to the last emperor Atta Huallpa， it experienced 14 Inca Kings.
印加：美洲古老帝国的历史与文化概况
印加帝国是11～16世纪时位于美洲的古老帝国，其版图大约是今日的秘鲁、厄瓜多尔、哥伦比亚、玻利维亚、智利、阿根廷一带，首都设于库斯科。帝国从传说中的缔造者曼科·卡帕克到最后一任帝王阿塔华尔帕，经历了14任印加王。
The origin story of the Inca Empire：Fourbrothers and four sisters out of the cave
Incan oral history mentions three possible places of origin of their people. Three caves near a place 33 km （21 mi） away from Cuzco， Lake Titicaca， or a place known as Tambo. Tambo， which means "the dawn tavern" or "the place of origin"， was a place of three caves. The center cave was named for Capac Tocco. The other caves were Maras Tocco and Sutic Tocco. Four brothers and four sisters stepped out of the middle cave. They were： Ayar Manco， Ayar Cachi， Ayar Auca， Ayar Uchu， and Mama Ocllo， Mama Raua， Mama Huaca， Mama Cora. Out of the side caves came the people who were to be the ancestors of all the clans of the Inca people.
According to legend，Ayar Manco carried a staff made of the finest gold. Where this staff landed， the people would all live there. They travelled for a very， very long time. On the way， Ayar Cachi went too far boasting about his great strength and power， and his siblings tricked him into returning to the cave to get a sacred llama. When he went into the cave， they trapped him inside.
Ayar Uchu decided to stay somewhere on the top to look over the Incan people. The minute he proclaimed that， he turned to stone. The rest built a shrine around the stone and it became a sacred object. Ayar Auca also grew tired of all these and decide to travel alone. Only Ayar Manco and his four sisters remained.
Finally， they reached Cuzco. The staff sank into the ground. Before they reached here， Mama Ocllo had already bore Ayar Manco a child， Sinchi Roca. The people who were already living in the valley fought hard to keep their land， but Mama Huaca was a good fighter. When the enemy attacked， she threw her bolas—several stones tied together that spun through the air when thrown—at a soldier， and killed him instantly. Mama Huaca ripped out his lungs and squeezed them until they exploded. The other people were so scared， they ran away.
After that， Ayar Manco became known as Manco Capac， the founder of the Inca. It is said that he and his sisters built the first Inca homes in the valley with their own hands. When the time came， Manco Capac turned to stone like his brothers before him. His son， Sinchi Roca， became the second emperor of the Inca.
印加帝国的起源传说：洞穴中走出的四兄弟和四姐妹
印加人的口述历史提到了三个地方，这三个地方均可能是印加人的发源地。那是距离库斯科、的的喀喀湖33公里（21英里）的地方的三个洞穴，或一个叫做坦博的地方。坦博，即“黎明酒馆”或“原产地”的意思，那里有三个洞穴，其中中心洞穴被命名为卡帕克托科，其他的洞穴分别称为马拉什托科和苏铁克托科。传说中，有四兄弟和四姐妹走出了中间的那个洞穴，他们是阿亚尔·曼科、阿亚尔·卡奇、阿亚尔·奥卡、阿亚尔·乌丘和玛玛·奥克略、玛玛·拉乌亚、玛玛·花卡、玛玛·科拉。走出洞穴的这些人都是所有部族印加人的祖先。
相传，阿亚尔·曼科携带着一根由纯金打造的权杖，这根权杖所到之处就是全体人民生活的地方。他们走了很长时间，半路上阿亚尔·卡奇一直在吹嘘自己的伟大力量和权力。他做的有点过火了，他的兄弟姐妹骗他回到洞穴去取出一只神圣的美洲驼，当他走进山洞的时候他们将他困在里面。
阿亚尔·乌丘决定停留在顶部巡视印加人，当他宣布这个决定的时候却变成了石头。剩下的兄弟姐妹在石头的周围建造了一座神殿，石头便成了圣物。阿亚尔·奥卡也厌倦了所有这些，他决定独自旅行，只有阿亚尔·曼科和他的四个姐妹继续前行。
最后，他们到达了库斯科，权杖落入地面。在到达这里之前，玛玛·奥克略已经给阿亚尔·曼科生下了一个孩子，名叫辛奇·罗卡。那些已经生活在山谷里的人们无法保全他们的土地，但是玛玛·花卡却是个优秀的战士，当敌人攻击时，她就向士兵投掷流星锤，她将几块石头绑在一起，投掷时它们在空中旋转能够立即打死敌人。玛玛·花卡撕扯和挤压着敌人的心肺直到炸裂，其他人被吓坏了，只得仓皇而逃。
从此，阿亚尔·曼科被称为曼科·卡帕克，即印加帝国的创始人。据说，他和他的姐妹们用自己的双手亲自在山谷中建立了第一个印加家园，当那一刻来临时，曼科·卡帕克也像他的兄弟一样变成了石头。随后他的儿子辛奇·罗卡成为印加帝国的第二任皇帝。
The“child of the sun”：The culture and religion of the IncaEmpire
The Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative， political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century.
From 1438 to 1533， the Incas used a variety of methods， from conquest to peaceful assimilation， to incorporate a large portion of western South America， centered on the Andean mountain ranges， including， besides Peru， large parts of modern Ecuador， western and south central Bolivia， northwest Argentina， north and central Chile， and southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia.
The official language of the empire was Quechua， although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu which can be translated as "The Four Regions" or "The Four United Provinces".
There were many local forms of worship， most of them concerning local sacred "Huacas"， but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—the sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama. The Incas considered their King， the Sapa Inca， to be the "child of the sun."
“太阳之子”——印加帝国的文化与信仰
印加帝国是前哥伦布时期美洲大陆上最大的帝国，帝国的行政、政治和军事中心位于现今秘鲁的库斯科。印加文明起源于13世纪的秘鲁高原地区。
1438～1533年，印加人采用不同的方法，从征服到和平同化，合并了南美洲西部的大部分地方，这些地方以安第斯山脉为中心，包括秘鲁、现代厄瓜多尔的大部分地区、玻利维亚的西部和中南部、阿根廷西北部、智利北部与中部和哥伦比亚南部，印加成为欧亚大陆上的一个历史帝国。
帝国的官方语言是克丘亚语，尽管克丘亚语包含了数以百计的当地语言和方言。印加人喜欢把他们的国家称之为“塔万廷苏尤”，翻译出来就是四方之地的意思，也可以称为“四方帝国”。
这里有许多地方性的朝拜形式，其中大部分人都信奉当地的神明“花卡斯”，但印加领导鼓励崇拜太阳神印地——并将其主权凌驾于大地之母等其他教派之上。印加人认为他们的国王萨帕·印卡是“太阳之子。”