The Inca name for the ceremonial knife used in sacrifices was tumi. The Quechua word tumi broadly means “knife,” but the best-known tumis are distinctive crescent- or semicircular-bladed ritual objects from the Central Andes.
Tumis were made in several materials, including copper, bronze, silver, gold alloys, stone, and wood. Their long handles often carried elaborate figures or decorations, and some examples were designed more as symbols of status and religious authority than as practical cutting tools. In Inca ceremonies, a tumi could be used to sacrifice a llama, particularly in rituals connected with harvests and the worship of Inti, the Sun god.
A common mix-up is treating every famous tumi as exclusively Inca. The form was used by several Andean cultures before and alongside the Inca Empire, especially the Moche, Sicán, and Chimú. Tumis also had other uses: related tools served as everyday knives, agricultural implements, medical instruments, and objects associated with cranial trepanation. Thus, “tumi” identifies the knife type, while its exact purpose depends on the culture and context.