The Hunzahúa Well (Spanish: ''Pozo de Hunzahúa'') is an archeological site of the

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

located in the city of

Tunja Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá department an ...

, Boyacá, which in the time of the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', '' iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. The ...

was called Hunza. The well is named after the first ''

zaque When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the n ...

'' of Hunza,

Hunzahúa Hunzahúa was the first ''zaque''; ruler of the northern Muisca with capital Hunza, named after him. His contemporary ''zipa'' of the southern Muisca was Meicuchuca. Biography Hunzahúa, heir of Idacansás, was a ''cacique'' in the sacred valley ...

. The well was called ''Pozo de Donato'' for a while, after 17th century Jerónimo Donato de Rojas.Hunzahúa Well
- Pueblos Originarios The well is located on the campus of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia in Tunja.

Scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

Javier Ocampo López Javier Ocampo López (born 19 June 1939) is a Colombian historian, writer, folklorist and professor. He has been important in the fields of Colombian folklore and history of Latin America and Colombia, especially contributing on the department ...

has written about the well and its

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. Knowledge about the well has been provided by scholar

Pedro Simón ''Fray'' Pedro Simón ( San Lorenzo de la Parrilla, Spain, 1574 - Ubaté, New Kingdom of Granada, ca. 1628) was a Spanish franciscan friar, professor and chronicler of the indigenous peoples of modern day Colombia and Venezuela, at the time for ...

Background

During the time before the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of differe ...

, the central highlands of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

(

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alti ...

) were populated by the Muisca. This advanced civilization had its own religion and rituals, centered around the most important deities Sué and Chía. The northern territories were ruled by the ''

iraca The ''iraca'', sometimes spelled ''iraka'',Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.12, p.77Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.14, p.85 was the ruler and high priest of Sugamuxi in the confederation of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense; the central high ...

'' of

Sugamuxi Sugamuxi (died 1539) was the last '' iraca''; ''cacique'' of the sacred City of the Sun Suamox. Sugamuxi, presently called Sogamoso, was an important city in the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the times be ...

, the ''

tundama Tundama or Saymoso (15th century - Duitama, late December 1539) was a ''cacique'' of the Muisca Confederation, a loose confederation of different rulers of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands (Altiplano Cundiboyacense) of the Colomb ...

'' of

Tundama Tundama or Saymoso (15th century - Duitama, late December 1539) was a ''cacique'' of the Muisca Confederation, a loose confederation of different rulers of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands (Altiplano Cundiboyacense) of the Colomb ...

and the ''

'' based in Hunza.

Myth of Hunzahúa

Hunzahúa, the first ''zaque'' of Hunza, fell in love with his older sister, called Noncetá. Because of the illegality of

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

in the Muisca traditions, Hunzahúa fled with his older sister to Chipatá where he secretly married her. After the mother of both found out about this illegal act, she threw a stick to the couple that missed them both yet spilled the

chicha ''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize land ...

over the ground, forming the Hunzahúa Well. Hunzahúa and his older sister fled to

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

and there Noncetá bore his child who promptly turned into a rock. The rock was left in a cave nearby. Upon this, the illegal couple continued further south into the terrains of the ''zipa'' until the

Tequendama Falls The Tequendama Falls () is a high waterfall of the Bogotá River, located southwest of Bogotá in the municipality of Soacha. Established in approximately 10,000 BCE, El Abra and Tequendama were the first permanent settlements in Colombia. On ...

where they, tired and disillusioned, after hiding in the woods, turned into two stones.Hunzahúa Well and escape to Tequendama
/ref>

Treasure of Quemuenchatocha

Decades after the mythological acts of Hunzahúa, his later successor as ''zaque'' of Hunza,

Quemuenchatocha Quemuenchatocha or Quimuinchateca (named in the earliest sources Eucaneme) (Hunza, 1472–Ramiriquí, 1538) was the second-last '' hoa'' of Hunza, currently known as Tunja, as of 1490. He was the ruler of the northern Muisca when the Spanish conqu ...

hid his treasures (mainly

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

s) in the Well upon the arrival of the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

es. Donato de Rojas ordered his men to try to recuperate the treasures of Quemuenchatocha, but without luck. Afterwards, more myths about the well surfaced; it would be bottomless or connected via a tunnel with the cathedral of Tunja.Myths about Hunzahúa Well
- El Tiempo

References

Bibliography

External links