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The Chimu culture arose around 800 A.D. and
flourished until the Incan conquest about six
hundred years later. Their civilization was
centered at their capital Chan Chan, about 300
miles north of Lima, literally meaning “Sun Sun,”
the largest Pre-Columbian city in Peru estimated
to contain almost one hundred thousand citizens.
The Chimu believed the sea, which they called
“Ni,” was the origin of life, a theory also
proposed by modern science and evolution.
Thanks to their sea-faring skills, the Chimu were
able to survive, nestled in between the desert
and the sea. The sea was everything to them: an
endless supply of food and the source of
inspiration for their most imaginative myths,
legends, and artwork. Agriculture was also vital,
and the Chimu drew up a vast number of
irrigation works demonstrating immense
engineering skill, some of which are still in use
today. Today, aside from the astounding mud
ruins of Chan Chan remarkably well preserved in
the heat of the desert, the Chimú are perhaps
best known for their distinctive black glazed
pottery influenced by their predecessors: the
Moche.
This odd little creature, almost human in his
expression, is in fact a monkey. Monkeys were
not native to the coastal regions of Peru, but it is
believed they were imported from Ecuador to the
north and kept as pets, or trained to harvest fruit
from trees. The ring that encircles this fellow's
waist suggests his captive state. Very likely he
was buried to amuse his ancient owner through
eternity. With his naive charm, he delights us
today as well. Our pleasures links us in a very
human way with the vanished world that created
him.
- (PF.1874)
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