The Incas were a group of Indians that rose up in the late 10th to early 11th century. They began as a small group that started to grow large in number quickly as they conquered everybody within reach to eventually become one of the most strong and powerful empires in the world. Their name came from a family that settled in one of the valleys of the Andes Mountains, the valley of Cuzco. The Inca family was a governing family and the name spread throughout and was given to everybody who lived in the Andes valleys. In fact, they used the name for all of their rulers henceforth. These people believed their emperors were descendents of the sun-god and the people’s health and overall well being were his responsibility. They also believed that dead rulers and emperors were a direct link to the sun-god so they preserved their bodies as mummies. The difference between these mummies and what people think of as traditional mummies were that the Inca dressed their dead in fancy and expensive clothing, rather than wrapping them in cloth and weaving their treasure throughout. They dressed them up in their best and, like the traditional mummies, were placed in magnificent chambers that became their sacred tomb. One of the artifacts found told the burial story of an Incan ruler named Pachacuti Inca. It said he was dressed very well and a gold statue was made in his likeness to be placed on top of his tomb and when there were festivities his kin would bring his statue and worship him as if he was still alive. Families of the dead ruler were able to manage his estate and all his sources of income so that not only could they take care of themselves but they used the money to maintain the their dead ruler’s mummy and his cult. Maintaining his cult was no easy thing either. It was very expensive so the new rulers had to increase taxes and/or expand their territory by conquering other smaller weaker groups. They would send word throughout the land tha