In Shadow of the Tomb Raider Lara travels to the lost city Paititi. In the original idea about Tomb Raider when Lara was called Lara Cruz she traveled to Eldorado. Find more info about it HERE. Here is an excerpt from the Tomb Raider Wiki. Go to the previous link to read more or the links in the highlighted text below.
“I have discovered what I think to be one of three pieces of the Scion of Mu, if it can be retrieved, and studied by science. I believe that the mysteries of the solar civilisations, and of the lost continents will be ours.”
―Arther Hamilton Graves
Colonel Arther Hamilton Graves[1] is a character from an earlier version of Tomb Raider‘s storyline.
Some storyboards reveal that Hamilton and others attempt to recover one of the three pieces of the Scion of Mu from the shrine of Xolotol deep within Eldorado. However, he fails when a growling creature attacks from the darkness. Some time afterwards he hires Lara Cruz to recover the Scion pieces for him with the assistance of his diary. Presumably, Hamilton was to double cross Lara as Natladid.[2]
We know from one of several legends in Peru that the legendary city is in the middle of the Amazonian jungle. There have been many expeditions in search of the fabled city. Even Hitler sent people looking for it and that team was killed by indigenous Indians in the area. The same fate happened to other search teams. The latest expedition is far different in nature than the others.
Unlike the first people to explore the fabled regions for this place, this new team will come equipped with modern technology such as drones and LIDAR imaging to map the underlying possibly shrouded structures that could be entangled by jungle growth. Once upon a time these areas appeared like tall, green mountains of various shapes and heights. The LIDAR will be able to differentiate what is really beneath the greenery. It may not be Paititi, but this is the best attempt yet to determine what resides there.
Also, for those fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Lost World” you may like to know that the notorious journeys to discover Paititi were the catalyst to inspire him to write that novel.
The exciting part is there is a team that has been to an area of Peru and found something they believe to be the gateway to Paititi. This team is going back on another journey into this area for a more extensive exploration. Here is what they know so far which will also examine the legend surrounding Paititi and its origin.:
To understand the myth of Paititi we must learn more about the legend and its foundation.
Inkarri
The story of Inkarri dates to the Inkarri mythos. It is a tale told down through the ages by the Inca people, which now rests at the very hub of where Inkarri began, Q’eros. The people who currently live there are the original Inca descendants and have held to their cultural traditions for centuries. Visiting them is as if you stepped into the past. It is in this place and by these people and their descendants that the Legend of Paititi the lost city of gold began.
The below video will show these people today and part of their culture.
It is said (holding to the legendary Inkarri mythos) the last Inca king Atahualpa vowed he would one day return and avenge his death. It was by the hand of the Spanish conquistadores that he perished, and they buried his body parts throughout the kingdom. His head is supposedly buried under the Presidential palace in Lima, his arms under the Waqaypata square of tears in Cusco and his legs are reported to be buried in Ayacucho. The Inca believed that his body will grow together finding each part beneath the earth, and he will rise again to restore harmony to the earth (Pachamama) and her children. Though not related culturally, the myth reminds me of part of the Egyptian tale about Osiris!
Cusco:
The city of Cusco was the center of the Inca empire. It was ruled over by a Sapa Inca, which is thought to be a direct descendant of the Inca deity Inti (the son of their Sun god). This noble city grew to its pinnacle from the 13th – 16th centuries, however, is far older.
As previously noted, the Inca’s believed their rulers (Sapa Inca) were sacred and were allowed to marry many wives. The last Inca king Atahualpa the Spaniards killed was a Sapa Inca (Sapa in the Quechua language means “the only Inca”). Later, the Sapa Inca became the Emperor of the Inca Empire or Inca monarchy also known as the Tawantinsuyu. (Their government)
Here is more information about a Sapa Inca and the Inca god Inti:
The Coricancha: House of the Sun
Something of archaeological interest is the fact this Inca god can be explored in the House of the Sun temple Located in Cusco, Peru. The Coricancha is a very important temple. Archeologists believe it may have been built when the 9th Inca King Pachacuiti Yupanqui ruled in the 1400’s AD. The Spanish destroyed the temple in the days of the invasion and built a church there.
However, Inti is a direct ancestor of the Inca kings they claim. The founder of the Inca empire was Manco Capac, and legend tells of him being the son of Inti. One of several Inca mythos tells of Inti bestowing the gift of civilization to the people through his son Manco Capac. Inca myth describes this as the beginning of the Inca world.
The First Incas and the Beginning of their Civilization
Thus, it is said Manco Capac and his sister-wife Ocllo where the first two Inca people. It was them with three other siblings that according to legend set out to start the Inca civilization. It came to be they settled in the Valley of Cusco. Manco Capac, at a location within the valley, sunk a golden rod into the land and proclaimed that location as what we know as Cusco. The sacred center of the Inca Empire.
The below video is about the Paititi 2018 expedition. This is showing the location they believe the fabled city resides. You can see the square mountain, square lake and figure eight lake that are dominate in the Paititi tale the Inca people have been telling for centuries.
In a nutshell, Paititi is mythical thus far, for it is yet to be discovered. Yet, the many traditional stories handed down through centuries and told by the Inca descendants tell about Inkarri being the star of the show. He is the one that founded Cusco, Q’ero and finally Paititi.
What Expeditions Uncovered
From historical records, we know the Spanish conquistadors plundered Cusco for its famed riches of gold, silver, and jewels. However, a Spanish Galleon believed to have sunk over 300 years ago, was recently discovered off the coast of Columbia and possibly holding a priceless payload of treasure looted from Peru. It is this kind of discovery that fuels the interest of many explorers. Could the treasure have come from Paititi?
Thierry Jamin is a French explorer and one of those people set on discovering Paititi. He has been investigating the myth of this lost city for years. The latest campaign is Paititi 2018 headed by Jamin. Through various aerial scans of the area, they plan to further explore something of great interest. They found a square mountain. It is unusual to say the least and there are strong suggestions that Paititi may be in that location. This is an effort that is supported by the Matsiguengas of the native community of Timpía, however, the projected time frame is June to September, but the funding for this expedition as well as clearance must be obtained. They are sure those formalities will be covered.
To understand the high interest in this area lets explore one of his previous expeditions into this area on a quest for the lost city.
Rivers, Dense Jungle, High Mountains, cloud forests and more . ..
Explorer Greg Deyermenjian is highly devoted to the finding Paititi ever since a quest he was on back in 1981 when he went to the site of Vilcabamba, Peru, the legendary last holdout of Manco Inca during the Spanish invasion. It was throughout that visit that he began to learn about the Inca stories involving the possibility of a remote site that could be Paititi. The local Indians were convinced it existed where they say it is in the story they have told for centuries. The problem was this fabled city was located in a remote nearly unnavigable area of the jungle where the Amazonian rain forests and the Andes converge in a series of hills and deep ravines along with several isolated mountaintops. All of it was covered by layers of jungle growth and lost in a maze of boulder strewn rivers. It was as if the jungle threw everything it could in the path of any explorers to shroud its prize.
It was through areal views years before that a world renown explorer of Peru Dr. Neuenschwander spotted several areas of exploration. These were the same areas that they set off to find on this mission which also included French explorer Thierry Jamin. It was during this expedition that made Jamin arrange further expeditions.
It was on this trip they passed through the isolated, dusty uplands of the Cordillera de Lares/Lacco. This area overlooks the Río Paucartambo/Mapacho. This path led them through some amazing and astonishingly constructed Inca settlements such as Tambocancha and Uncayoc. They believe that at one time they guarded these routes. To them, it felt like a gateway to Paititi.
On another journey to find Paititi there was an added breakthrough. The team once again which included Thierry Jamin took another dangerous trip in and out of the high cloud forests and through lone grasslands. The goal was to find an uncharted lake in the shape of a figure eight. There were also some unnamed ruins nearby this lake.
This was a lake that through aerial mapping was seen before and this was something they needed to find. Once there they found many Inca platforms of various sizes as well as retaining walls. This was on the trail they were following and were indeed a breakthrough for at that time were the furthest Inca ruins found North of Cusco.
The team realized that this was the same area that was spotted on a previous expedition where the peaks were shrouded in clouds and the terrain was a cacophony of boulders, rivers ravines and jungle vegetation where the Andes converged. It was the place that drew the team and where the stories of the Incas all pointed about Paititi. The unnamed massive mountains reached through thick cloud cover out of sight and were unusually high for this region. They overlooked the Río Yungaria, a branch of the Callanga, in the machete traveled jungles between the zone of Mameria to the north and that of Callanga to the south. Yes, this expedition was a success but there was more and Thierry Jamin was determined to discover it.
The Next Step!
Thierry Jamin and his team went to the lost valley of Lacco. In the Quechua language “lacco” means “Labyrinth” a place to get lost. It was on the original Inca stone path, over several years, that took them north of Cusco they found at least 40 complete sites. This included whole cities, fortresses and agricultural centers.
Paititi 2018 Expedition
The Megantoni forest that this path led to is an extremely difficult one to traverse and it is the center of the Matsiguega Indian culture. The Matsiguega people told them about a strange square mountain which they said had ancient ruins on the summit. Of course, the team took this story seriously for we all know that the Inca have an interest in mountaintop settlements Machu Picchu rings a bell.
This 10,700’ mountain was actual, for it was found on a satellite map by the explorer before and was of extreme importance to find. It is a mountain cube in the Jungle. If Paititi was on the top of this oddly shaped peak, it would be a perfect fortress against invaders. A location Jamin knew he had to find before any amateurs and the like did. Amateur explorers have found this location on the map due to leaks about where and what it may represent. However, their attempts failed to get there. If they do find a way, Jamin fears they will pillage the site and it will lose valuable historical accounts and treasures. It needs to be proven that this is indeed a historical site and that it is the elusive Paititi. This way it will be a protected UNESCO site. At least that is the idea.
Jamin knows they must reach the site through helicopter, for it is virtually impossible for the team to all reach it carrying their supplies to and from this hostel jungle environment. This is a positive expedition that has great hope on the discovery of the legendary Paititi lost city of gold. However, the stories that folklore tells of walls of gold and a glistening golden fortress is not what they expect to find. Though it may hold many treasures of gold, silver, and jewels, the structures will most likely be stone, sound Inca architecture that has lasted centuries.
These are the most current exploration attempts being done at this time. This is also the most information known of Paititi’s possible location. Let’s hope that Jamin and his team finally find the elusive lost city. I will update this page if anything else comes to light. Until then, like Lara …
Explore the world
~Emma
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