Erich Von Daniken - The Gold Of The Gods

1 - The Gold Of The Gods
just for its weight in gold, has been living in Cuenca for forty-five
years. He is accepted as a trustworthy friend of the Indians, who during
past decades fetched the most valuable gold, silver and metal objects
from their hiding places piece by piece and gave them to him, and still
do so today.
I had been warned beforehand that the good Father was fond of pulling
his visitors' legs. I soon had a taste of this. In all seriousness he showed
me an object that was obviously the lower part of a flatiron. "Look," he
said, "that proves that the Inca rulers had their trousers pressed even in
those days!" We laughed and Father Crespi led us through his treasure
chambers. Room I houses stonemason's work; Room II contains Inca
artifacts of gold, silver, copper and brass, while Room III holds the
gold treasure, which he very seldom shows anyone, and then
unwillingly. Cuenca has a "Gold Museum" of its own, but it cannot
compare with Father Crespi's.
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The showpiece was a stele (Fig. 26), 20 1/2 inches high, 5 1/2 inches
wide and 1 1/2 inches thick. Fifty-six different characters are
"stamped" on its 56 squares. I had seen absolutely identical characters
on the leaves in the metal library in the Great Hall! Whoever made this
metal stele used a code (an alphabet?) with 56 letters or symbols
arranged to form writing. What makes this all the more remarkable is
the fact that hitherto it has always been claimed that the South
American cultures (Incas) possessed no alphabetical writing or script
with alphabetical characteristics.
"Have you seen this lady?" asked Moricz.
She was 12 1/2 inches high and naturally of solid gold. Her head was
formed of two triangles, whose planes seemed to have wings welded to
them. Coiled cables emerged from her ears; they were obviously not
jewelry, for the lady's earrings were clipped to her ear lobes.