“Erde, Wasser, Mensch und Götter – Leitsymbole in textilen Meisterwerken des alten Peru” (“Earth, Water, People and Gods – Guiding Symbols in Textile Masterpieces of Ancient Peru”) (2015)
The book “Erde, Wasser, Mensch und Götter – Leitsymbole in textilen Meisterwerken des alten Peru” (“Earth, Water, People and Gods – Guiding Symbols in Textile Masterpieces of Ancient Peru”) by Uwe Carlson and Heiko Diestel demonstrates that the religious leaders of ancient Peru employed varied art forms to convey religious concepts to influence decisively the crucial endeavors of water management and agriculture. By doing so, they laid the foundations for the development of the Peruvian high cultures. Objects made of stone, ceramics, metal, wood and other materials, as well as reliefs and paintings in temples, but especially textiles, clearly express a religious world view that interprets to the populace the importance of water and earth. Through numerous illustrations (photographs and drawings) of many textiles of ancient Peru, the development of the divine image and its attributive symbolism over a period of more than two and a half millennia is explained. Those images and symbols provide an insight into important Peruvian cultures like Chavín, Recuay, Paracas , Tiahuanaco, Nasca, Moche, Huari, Lambayeque/Sicán, Chimú, Ica-Chincha and Inka
The book provides a key to the identification of the iconography of all the artistic objects of ancient Peru, by analyzing and explaining the deliberate variations of the divine image, and in particular the attributive symbolism that always accompanies it. Additionally, the evolving attributive symbolism also embodies the concept of fertility and thus is the leitmotif of “water to the earth” through the mediation and blessing the religious leaders. In design and expression, the divine image with its attributive symbolism changed many times over two and a half millennia. However, the religious message expressed in those images and attributive symbols remained consistent. This important work provides us with a definitive interpretation of the artistic expressions and iconography of the established cultures in the ancient Peru, complemented by a comprehensive account of the pre-Hispanic water management and agricultural engineering, its ecological significance and its integration into society and science.
A4 format; 227 pages; appr. 575 illustrations, mostly in color; ISBN 978-3-933380 -37-1, price 24.00 €
On request, in addition to the book, a Spanish version of the book text is available as a CD free of charge. There is no translation in English language.
The book can be accessed via the book trade, via FEMO (post@femo-online.de) or via the contact form. Price plus the usual shipping fee by mail.
The reading sample comprises 33 pages of the book, including the complete table of contents. Version in German language.