![CUZCO 'CENTRE AND HEAD OF ALL THE LAND'](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/12911/574861/5febfc826acb9/CUZCOCENTRE-AND-HEAD-OF-ALL-THE-LAND.jpg)
By the early 16th century, the Inca empire was the largest power in the pre-Columbian Americas. Its territory spanned more than 5,000km, stretching from the environs of Quito in Ecuador to Santiago in Chile. In Quechua, the language of the Inca, it was known as Tahuantinsuyu, the Realm of Four Parts. An extensive system of roads connected this expansive realm, facilitating communication throughout the empire and providing links among its imperial administrative centres. One of its main arteries led travellers through the Andes, crossing mountain passes at heights of up to 6,000m, and transverse routes connected it to a parallel track running along the Pacific coast.
The place where the four realms converged, and the conceptual origin point for all of these roads, was Cuzco in Peru: the sacred centre and capital of the empire. Its densely built core was bounded by two streams – the Saphi and Tullumayo – that descended from springs to the north-west of the city. It is often claimed that Cuzco was designed in the shape of a feline, with the hilltop known as Sacsahuamán constituting its head and the area between the Saphi and Tullumayo forming its body, but it is more likely that the city came to be regarded that way only later, in the era of Spanish colonial rule. Inca Cuzco consisted of a number of large stone compounds, some of them surrounded with perimeter walls, and some of them serving as expansive palaces for Inca rulers and their kin. Estimates vary, but the scale of its infrastructure and available resources suggest Cuzco may have housed a population of 15,000 to 20,000 in the time of the Inca, with perhaps 100,000 or more in surrounding areas.
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Denne historien er fra January/February 2021-utgaven av Minerva.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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![ROMAN DISCOVERIES AT ANCIENT AUGUSTODUNUM](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/574861/5febf479e900b/crp_ROMAN-DISCOVERIES-AT-ANCIENT-AUGUSTODUNUM.jpg)
ROMAN DISCOVERIES AT ANCIENT AUGUSTODUNUM
More than 230 graves have been uncovered at a necropolis in the French city of Autun, revealing a diverse mix in burial practices over a period of nearly 200 years, as well as luxury grave goods from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD that highlight the wealth of some of its ancient inhabitants.
![SHAPING THE WORLD: SCULPTURE FROM PREHISTORY TO NOW](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/574861/5febf7512f03a/crp_SHAPING-THE-WORLD-SCULPTURE-FROM-PREHISTORY-TO-NOW.jpg)
SHAPING THE WORLD: SCULPTURE FROM PREHISTORY TO NOW
The sculptor Antony Gormley and the art historian and critic Martin Gayford have been talking about sculpture with each other for 20 years.
![Amelia Edwards (1831-1892)](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/574861/5febf653882fa/crp_Amelia-Edwards-1831-1892.jpg)
Amelia Edwards (1831-1892)
“I am essentially a worker, and a hard worker, and this I have been since my early girlhood.”
![THE GREAT BEYOND](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/574861/9/crp_THE-GREAT-BEYOND.jpg)
THE GREAT BEYOND
The ancient Greeks thought much about the dead – how their remains should be disposed of, how their spirits might be summoned, how malignant they could be if unavenged. Classicist David Stuttard brings us face to face with the Greek dead.
![INTO THE VALLEY OF THE QUEENS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/574861/5febfa156d9f0/crp_INTO-THE-VALLEY-OF-THE-QUEENS.jpg)
INTO THE VALLEY OF THE QUEENS
The Great Royal Wife of Ramesses II, Nefertari, was buried in one of the most spectacular tombs of Egypt’s Valley of the Queens. Well-educated and well-travelled, Nefertari played a crucial part in the political life of the pharaoh, and her importance was reflected through her magnificently decorated tomb. Lucia Marchini speaks to Jennifer Casler Price to find out more.
![DEIR EL-BAHRI, 1894](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/574861/5febf5c7d483b/crp_FROM-THE-ARCHIVE-DEIR-EL-BAHRI-1894.jpg)
DEIR EL-BAHRI, 1894
Tensions were already high among the archaeologists, surveyors, and artists of the Archaeological Survey of Egypt in 1891 when an eventful dispute arose on Christmas Eve.
![PUSHING BOUNDARIES](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/574861/5fec01c096f2e/crp_PUSHING-BOUNDARIES.jpg)
PUSHING BOUNDARIES
When the Etruscans expanded to the south and the vast plains of Campania, they found a land of cultural connections and confrontations, as luxurious grave goods found across the region reveal. An exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples sheds light on these ancient Italians at the frontier. Paolo Giulierini, director of the museum, is our guide.
![CUZCO 'CENTRE AND HEAD OF ALL THE LAND'](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/574861/5febfc826acb9/crp_CUZCOCENTRE-AND-HEAD-OF-ALL-THE-LAND.jpg)
CUZCO 'CENTRE AND HEAD OF ALL THE LAND'
Cuzco was the heart of the vast Inca empire, but all changed in the 16th century when the capital was conquered by Spanish invaders. Michael J Schreffler investigates the Inca city, and how it went from the centre of one empire to the periphery of another.
![A STUDY IN PURPLE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/574861/5febf3731205e/crp_A-STUDY-IN-PURPLE.jpg)
A STUDY IN PURPLE
A tiny speck of purple paint from the 2nd century AD may yield clues to how ancient artists created the extraordinary portrait panels that accompanied mummified bodies into the afterlife.
![Rome In The 8th Century: A History In Art](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12911/544726/5fa4eefb04b9a/crp_ROME-IN-THE-8TH-CENTURY-A-HISTORY-IN-ART.jpg)
Rome In The 8th Century: A History In Art
John Osborne CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, £75 HARDBACK - ISBN 978-1108834582