What is "Golden Lake"?

An illusory legend, a mysterious "holy lake", which contains the glory and glory of ancient humans, and how many secrets are still hidden? We follow in the footsteps of our ancestors and try to gain their wisdom and wealth easily, but history tells us that creating is more meaningful than taking. When Gonzalo Jimé nez de Quesada failed in his treasure hunt, the respect and praise people gave him may be the most difficult "secret" behind the treasure story.

The legend of golden "holy lake"

In the process of searching for the lost treasure of the Inca Empire, people discovered the legendary golden "holy lake". At first, they thought it was the treasure of Atahualpa, the last king of the Inca Empire, but later they found that the two were not the same thing. This golden "Holy Lake" is located in today's Colombia, formerly known as Gua Davida Lake, at the back of Cuzco, the ruling center of the Inca Empire. However, according to the Inca tradition, there is a special content in the Inca Empire's succession ceremony, that is, the new king should be covered with gold powder, and then go to the center of the "holy lake" to wash away the gold powder. At this time, hundreds of officials, courtiers and ordinary people presented all kinds of rare treasures, gold and jade, which were thrown into the lake by the king as a memorial to God. This strange ceremony reflects the Inca tradition of worshipping the sun god. The king is considered as the son of the sun god, and the brilliant gold is considered as the symbol of the sun god. The scene of the king bathing in gold powder represents the birth of the new ruler.

Juan Freret, a famous Spanish historian, described the whole process of this ceremony in detail according to the memories of Indians. In order to please the God who rules mankind and establish his position in the eyes of his subjects, the newly enthroned king had to travel thousands of miles to the "holy lake" in Guadawa for the coronation ceremony. The high priest who presided over the ceremony made a beautiful raft with reeds, put four braziers on it and prepared various sacrifices of gold, silver and jewels. Accompanied by four priests, the king boarded the raft naked, wearing only all kinds of gold, silver and feathers. The king was covered with gold powder, and the reed raft stayed in the lake with the fragrant fog smoked in the brazier and the loud singing and dancing of the people on the shore. When he reached the middle of the lake, the king prayed and offered sacrifices. Then King Jin washed himself in the lake and returned to the shore, thus establishing the position and power of the new king.

According to the research of modern scholars, this may be purely a religious legend, but it has never happened, and there are different opinions about the specific location of the "holy lake". But sensitive treasure hunters will not give up any possible opportunity easily. What's more, they think the legend of Guadawa's "holy lake" has another basis.

There is a story among Guadawei people: in ancient Guadawei, there was a cruel king. Because his wife was caught cheating with his guards, he killed the guards and let his wife enjoy their meat. In desperation, the queen took her daughter into Guadawada Lake, and the king regretted it. The queen told him in her dream that she was very happy to live with the lake god, which made the king jealous. In order to regain his wife's love, he holds a ceremony every year, covered with gold powder, and pays homage to the queen in the middle of the lake. In order to make the queen incarnate as the goddess of the lake to protect her people, the king who inherits the throne will also go to the lake for the coronation ceremony. It is said that the goddess in the lake often appears to predict the future, and people in the nearby area still believe in her. A few years ago, when a railway built by the government passed by, the locals came to tear down the tracks at night because they dreamed that the lake god complained that the roar of the train disturbed her peace.

Although the trace of fabrication in this legend is quite obvious, treasure hunters still affirmed that the ancient Incas did have the custom of offering gold and silver jewelry to the lake, and after a long period of accumulation, there should be a lot of treasures in the lake.

God's care in the dark

The first person to break the sanctity and tranquility of the golden "Holy Lake" was Spanish colonist Sebastian de Bellacasa. 1535, when he was tracking the Inca Huang Jinguo, he met an aborigine named Dan Kedo near Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Dan Kaiduo told him about the "holy lake" of gold. Bella Casa was very excited when she heard about it. She quickly organized a poorly equipped expedition. The name of this expedition sounds serious, but it is actually a mercenary and treasure hunt organized by colonists. When the team finally found the golden "holy lake" after more than two years' long journey, another bloody conquest and slaughter began. Then, they can't wait to go to the "holy lake" for gold. I don't know where they got the water pump. They kept pumping day and night, but after pumping for three months, the water didn't seem to decrease at all. On the contrary, there was a sudden gale one night and the pump was involved in the lake.

Unwilling to be defeated, the Spanish plundered the aborigines, ransacked their temples and graves, and plundered nearly 65,438+000 tons of gold in a few years. However, due to poor equipment and inexplicable fear of the "holy lake", they never dared to step into the "holy lake" again.

19 1 1 year, an expedition from England made another futile attempt. They hired someone to dig an underground canal to drain the water in the lake completely, but the dry weather and scorching sun soon turned the mud at the bottom of the lake into a hard board, which was as difficult to penetrate as a stone. After a long time, when the British tried their best to transport drilling equipment from China, the "Holy Lake" was already filled with water due to rainfall and river injection. The British had to laugh at themselves, saying that the treasure of the "holy lake" may be protected by gods and will not be easily obtained. The British left despondently, and this laborious and expensive treasure hunt suffered the same shameful failure. After that, no one will disturb the tranquility of the "holy lake".

1974, in order to protect the natural environment and ancient cultural heritage, the Colombian government announced that it was forbidden to dig, and no group or individual was allowed to dig casually near the "Holy Lake". To this end, a large number of military and police officers were also dispatched to patrol the area near the "Holy Lake", and suspicious personnel were immediately expelled. The atmosphere was once very tense. So people speculate that there may be some new discoveries in the "holy lake", but people can't get any exact news except for official reasons.

Bogota, the "City of Gold"

Although treasure hunters found nothing in the "sacred lake" of gold, historical facts and legends proved the superb metallurgical technology and rich gold collection of ancient Incas, which can be later enjoyed in the Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia.

At that time, Gonzalo Simnez de Quesada, the leader of another expedition who was looking for the Golden Lake with Bella Casa, also began to search for the lost treasure of the Inca Empire, and gained little. But when they conquered the Qibucha tribe, a branch of the Inca, they heard the legend about Jinhu. The golden man bathed in the lake made them salivate and rushed forward at once. In fact, this is just a trick of seven steps to investigate people and frame them on others, because Jinhu is just a legend, and they must know it. The purpose of telling each other is only to distract the cruel colonists. Quesada got caught and got up to leave. In the end, the colonists didn't find Jinhu, but they did something more meaningful than that: they built the original Bogota city, which is now the capital of Colombia, about 40 kilometers away from Jinhu. Quesada named it New Granada, because Granada Plain is his hometown, where he hid all the gold, silver and jewels he plundered. Quesada later organized several people to look for Jinhu, but all ended in vain. As the saying goes, it is predestined to meet thousands of miles away, but never to meet. New Granada is only a stone's throw from Jinhu, but Quesada finally failed to find it. Bogota has long been returned to the Colombian people, and the colonial era is gone forever. Today, a splendid gold museum has been built here, ranking first among similar museums in the world. In this museum, not only the glory and splendor of ancient civilization for thousands of years are displayed, but also the blood, tears and bitterness of colonial times.

The museum is heavily guarded and people can only visit it for a limited time. There was no light in the exhibition room, and it was dark. Only beautiful Indian music, all kinds of gold and silver products and pearls, emeralds and gems sparkle in the dark background, which reminds people of Wan Li. There are 23,500 treasures in the whole museum, including daily necessities, decorative items and religious items. Daily necessities include cups, bowls, plates, saucers, pots, knives, fishing and hunting tools, etc. Decorative items include earrings, nose rings, necklaces and bracelets. Religious articles include sacrificial vessels carved with images of good men and women in different postures, deer, eagles and other animal patterns. Most of these objects are made of gold foil and gold thread, or as thin as paper or as thin as silk. They are exquisite and meticulous, yet simple and elegant, which fully reflects the production level and life customs of Indians in different historical periods and embodies their wisdom and aesthetic taste.

The most striking of many collections is a pure gold sculpture, which was discovered by two Colombian farm workers in a cave near Bogota in 1969. In the sculpture, there are nine figures standing on the raft, among which there is undoubtedly a tall, dignified and well-dressed king, and the other eight soldiers wearing gold ornaments and armor should be the king's guards. This seems to be the legendary image of the golden "holy lake". Although the number and identity of the characters are slightly different, it is enough to prove that the legend of "Holy Lake" is not groundless. Then, people can't help asking, where is this mysterious "holy lake" and how can we find its treasure?