- "The beliefs and superstitions of an entire culture, all wrapped up in a 2000-year-old, six-inch lump of gold!"
- ―Indiana Jones[src]
The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol, also known the Idol of the Chachapoyan Warriors (shortened to Idol of the Warriors) or Golden Idol, was a six-inch tall, solid gold representation of the Chachapoyan goddess of fertility known to the Inca as Pachamama.
The idol was hidden by the tribe's priests in a temple deep within the jungles of Peru. Braving the temple's deadly traps to stare into the idol's eyes became a rite of passage for young Chachapoyan warriors, its exact weight precisely counterbalancing the trigger of an ancient self-destruct system.
History
The idol in its temple.
The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol was created by the Chachapoyans circa 64 BC,[2] around the same time the Temple of the Warriors was erected to house it.[1]
A Princeton University archaeologist named Forrestal disappeared in the jungles of Chachapoyas, Peru while attempting to recover the fertility idol of Pachamama from the temple in 1935.[4]
In 1936, Indiana Jones, on commission from the National Museum and working from Forrestal's notes, managed to locate the temple and extract the statue, only to have it immediately stolen by rogue archaeologist René Emile Belloq.[5] Belloq promptly unloaded the artifact in Marrakesh, where Jones later re-appropriated it from the shop of antiquities dealer Saad Hassim.[2]
Sallah and Indiana Jones flee Marrakesh with the idol.
The National Museum celebrated the idol's arrival with a lavish banquet at the Diamond's Eye nightclub in New York City. Among the guests was a band of angry Hovitos led by Xomec, alleged descendant of the Chachapoyans. Xomec swiped the idol from curator Marcus Brody and fled to the jungles of Brazil. Jones gave chase, and after defeating Xomec and his Nazi co-conspirator Ilsa Toht, once again reclaimed the idol for the museum.[2]
Behind the scenes
In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the original idea for the scenes with the idol was to have its eyes following Indiana Jones as he moved around the room. As such, one of the props built featured mechanical moving eyes. Evidence of this can still be seen in the archival footage on the film's DVD. Ultimately, the idea was abandoned though one shot remains in the final film -- the one where Indy is pouring sand out of the bag.[6]
During the early development of the fourth film, Frank Darabont's script featured Indiana Jones stealing the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol from the National Museum in a drunken state after unfairly losing his job at Barnett College.
In the game LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, Indy extracts the statue and leaves the temple with Satipo. Once in the jungle, Belloq confronts Jones, and Indy tries to give him other things (first a diamond, a rubber duck, and then C-3PO's head, which is very similar to the Idol) but Belloq isn't fooled and takes the real deal. Although the Peru sequence is omitted from the sequel, it appears that Indy extracted the Idol successfully as he gives it to Marcus Brody, having been chased by the giant rolling boulder from Peru to the United States.
There were plans by Icons in the mid-1990s to create a Chachapoyan Fertility Idol prop replica for a proposed Indiana Jones licensed product-line called The Treasures of Indiana Jones, so some concept art was made. However, Icons' plans ultimately didn't go ahead.[7]
Appearances
- Raiders of the Lost Ark novel (First appearance)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures
The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones – "The Gold Goddess: Xomec's Raiders"- The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones – "The Gold Goddess: Amazon Death-Ride!"
- Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (Mentioned only)
- Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods (Cancelled)
- LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Non-canonical appearance)
- LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Non-canonical appearance)
Sources
- The Golden Goddess
- Raiders of the Lost Ark Sourcebook
- From Star Wars To Indiana Jones - The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives
- Belloq's Marshall College entry on IndianaJones.com (backup link on Archive.org)
- Indiana Jones' Marshall College entry on IndianaJones.com (backup link on Archive.org)
- Satipo's Marshall College entry on IndianaJones.com (backup link on Archive.org)
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb: 1935 Journal
- The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones
- Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
- Indiana Jones World Map
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Raiders of the Lost Ark novel
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4
The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones – "The Gold Goddess"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Raiders of the Lost Ark
- ↑ Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
- ↑ Raiders of the Lost Ark
- ↑ The Complete Making of Indiana Jones
- ↑ Icons GRAIL CUP prototype at THROW ME THE IDOL (Web archive)
