XIBALBA AND THE ROAD OF THE GODS
Did some ancient Mesoamericans have a broader knowledge of world geography than what is generally assumed today? Some very compelling evidence are the actual physical locations of certain key sites and settlement patterns that straddle the somewhat strategic geophysical feature linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The latitude and longitude coordinates I use come from various sources, many from Wikipedia. Some of these coordinates are so precise, many within a minute of a degree, that either one assumes the ancients were very accurate or that it is coincidence. The following locations are central to this thesis, Izapa14.42n, Cap Vert, Senegal, West Africa 14.44n and Dakar, Senegal 14.41n.
Three of the largest northern hemisphere rivers and their deltas are located on or very near latitude 30n. The cities of Cairo, Egypt, Shanghai, China and New Orleans, USA, all lie, within one degree of latitude 30n. The easternmost cape of the Asian continent lies at approximately 30n/120e. The area around the mouth of the Yangtze River at Hangzhou, China (30.15n/120.9e), the city of Ningbo (29.51n/121.31e), and Shanghai (31.13n/121.28e) are all located on, or very near latitude 30n and are approximately 90 degrees longitude east of Giza (29.58n/31.13e) and the Nile River delta, one-fourth distance around the planet and six hours apart.
The Mississippi River delta is roughly located 120 longitudinal degrees west of Giza and the Nile River delta, one-third distance around the planet and eight hours apart. I cannot help but point out the reverse geographic similarity between the Nile flowing north into the inland Mediterranean Sea, and the Mississippi flowing south into the Gulf of Mexico, both deltas being at the same latitude would make for an easy to remember detail when recounting sailor lore about world geography or knowledge of lands to the west across the Atlantic Ocean. Another unusual geographic detail, and very likely a closely kept secret, is the astonishing fact that due west from Cap Vert, the westernmost cape of the African continent, is Mesoamerica and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It appears quite probable that the pyramids at Giza are permanent landmarks that reference specific features of the planet’s geography. Giza, (29.58n/31.13e) and the Nile River Delta both lie at approximately 30n/30e. This geographic crossroads couples longitude 30e, the longest terrestrial meridian on the planet, with latitude 30n upon which not only is the easternmost cape of the Asian continent located but also the Nile, Mississippi, and Yangtze River deltas.
Longitude 90w is of course, west of Greenwich, England. There are several significant Maya sites from the Pre-classic down through the Post-classic located at similar longitudes between 88w-89w, approximately 90 degrees west of Greenwich. Using Giza instead of Greenwich, these longitudinal values round up to almost exactly 120 degrees, one third around the planet, and eight hours apart. Midnight at Giza is approximately 4:00 pm at Chichen Itza (20.40n/88.34w), located 119.47 degrees longitude west of Giza. This is about the time the late afternoon equinox sun begins casting the feathered serpent’s shadow undulating down the balustrade of the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. (Art Motif Fig.94) What I am suggesting is this. Those who located the sites listed below not only did so somehow referencing directly or indirectly knowledge of the exact locations of the the pyramids at Giza, and or the Nile River delta, but also knew how to calculate longitude.
