What was the Inca system of 41 sacred lines radiating from Cusco called?

The Inca system of sacred lines radiating from Cusco was called the ceque system. The Quechua term siq’i is also used for an individual line or ritual pathway.

The ceques began at or near Qurikancha, the Temple of the Sun, and extended outward through the sacred landscape around Cusco. Shrines called wak’as were positioned along the routes. These could be springs, rocks, caves, temples, fountains, canals, or other places regarded as spiritually important.

The lines were not merely roads. Particular ayllus, or kin-based social groups, were responsible for maintaining specific ceques and caring for the wak’as along them. Ritual duties, offerings, seasonal ceremonies, astronomical observations, and local geography all influenced the meaning of each pathway.

Sources commonly describe 41 ceques, although some scholarly accounts identify 41 or 42 depending on how pathways are counted. The system also reflected Inca political geography: Cusco was divided into four suyus, or regions, which together formed Tawantinsuyu. This is why the ceque system is often studied as both a religious map and an administrative structure.