Assyrians beat Egyptians and Spanish beat Incas with advanced metals
by Rit NosotroComparative Essay
Why were the Spaniards the subjugators of the Incas instead of the Incas winning dominion over the Spaniards? Can the reasons be compared to why Assyria was able to conquer Egypt?
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Iron allowed the conquest of the Assyrians over the Egyptians and steel helped the Spaniards defeat the Incas.
Summary:
The destruction of the Egyptian and the Incan peoples were both predicated by a civil war before invaded by a foreign power.
Why were the Spaniards the subjugators of the Incas instead of the Incas eventually having dominion over the Spaniards?
Eurasians had domesticated animals for food in addition to farming. Life lived close to animals and people helped breed diseases like smallpox and measles that decimated the peoples of America. The Spanish developed immunities to these diseases early on as they developed and so were not as vulnerable to them as the Native Americans. Thus when the conquistadors came to the Americas, diseases went rampart among the Natives.
A smallpox epidemic unintentionally brought by Europeans had decimated the Incas a decade before Pizarro arrived. Among those killed was the emperor Huayna Capac. A civil war broke out between his two sons. In the end the brother named Atahuallpa consolidated control. Nonetheless the civil war and European epidemics significantly weakened the Inca nation, paving the way for Pizarro.
At Cajamarca, the Spaniards attacked the Incas despite overwhelming numbers. Acting like a fearless deity, Atahuallpa had ordered his troops to leave their weapons behind and this was his fatal mistake. The Spanish had the advantage of steel weapons and horses. Spaniards steel could cut through the cotton armor of the Incas. Incan counter attack with maces and clubs was of no use against the Spanish armor and helmets.
After the battle of Cajamarca the Spanish continued to conquer the Incans. The Incas were devoted to their god-like king. Pizarro, the leader of the conquistadors, used this to manipulate the Incas and set up a puppet government with a relative. However when Incan allies of the Spanish saw the violent ways of the new Spanish colonialism, they turned around and fought back. In addition Spanish rivalries beset the invaders. Despite these difficulties the Spanish eventually conquered the Incas and set up colonies.
The Incas were a developed imperial nation having similarities with the ancient Egyptians. Among these were the worship of a sun god, the worship of their kings as gods, mummification, and more. However there are distinct differences involving the terrain, crops, warfare, and others, yet many religious principles are similar.
There appears to be a correlation between the Inca religion and Egyptian religion as well as the invasions of each. Isaiah 19:1-4 says, “The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; the idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. ‘So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor, city against city and kingdom against kingdom. Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead and to mediums and spiritists. Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master and a mighty king will rule over them,’ declares the lord God of hosts.” The Incas suffered a civil war, and eventually suffered under a cruel colonial government just like the Egyptians.
The Incas and the Egyptians both worshiped a human leader as a deity, and so suffered a similar fate. Thus the powerful Spanish set up a cruel colonial government over the Incas like the mighty and cruel Assyrian nation that conquered the Egyptians. God used iron, the weapon that gave the Spaniards such an advantage over the Incas, to give the Egyptians into the hands of the Assyrians.
Commentary:
How could God allow such destruction of a nation? The answer is not merely a matter of the circumstances of metalurgy but is the will of God in what nation he decides to bring down. The often-cruel conquistadors do not seem to deserve these victories, and Pizarro never really got to enjoy them himself for a Spanish rivalry cost him his life. It does not make sense for Satan to use the conquistadors to destroy a pagan nation that committed things like human sacrifice. But it does make sense that the Conquistadors were agents for God’s punishment against the Incas. This can be shown by how God deals with another nation of similar religion. There is no eternal paradise or punishment for nations, and so suffer the natural consequences of reaping what they sow here on earth.
Bibliography:
Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. William Benton publisher, 1964©
Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond, W.W. Norton & Company New York London, 1999, 1997 ©
"The Americas" World History.
September 2003. "Spain" The library
of Congress: Federal Research division: Country studies division. September
2003.
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