As I told Donald last time he brought this up, there is an existing if incomplete survey.

[maya.csuhayward.edu]
[maya.csuhayward.edu]

And on the cord:

[www.isourcecom.com]
"The carved pillar seen directly behind the serpent head is actually meant to represent the body of the snake god, aiming up towards the heavens. This design is called Kuxan Sum or "Living cord" and was the umbilicus or link through which man communicated with the gods."

[www.isourcecom.com]

"Two huge feathered serpents (kukulkan) make up the columns in the doorway, and as can be seen elsewhere in the city such as in the portico of the upper temple of El Castillo, the serpents represent the Kuxan Sum, or the great mystic umbilicus that connected the rulers of the city to their gods in the sky.

Legends abound in the Yucatan that say that this mystical cord was cut during the conquest. The blood ran out as the cord died and the Maya were separated from their gods. Some believe that this cord lies buried under the Great Ballcourt, and it is said that when a Mayan king again sits on his throne, the umbilicus will unfold through a cavern leading to the Sacred Cenote where it will rise again and link the Maya to the Sak Beh or Milky Way."

[www.mc.maricopa.edu]

"For the Zinacanteco Maya, the central point where the horizontal and vertical axes intersect, the mixik' balamil, is the navel of the world, the belly button whose very name evokes the image of a life-sustaining cord traversing the layers of the cosmos, connecting humanity to the gods, the source of life, and the gods to the human sustenance they require processions, prayers, and offerings that flow to them when the Otherworldly portals are opened. The Precolumbian Maya represented this conduit between the supernatural and human worlds as a snake- headed cord that emerged from the belly of the Maize God and the sacred place they called Na-Ho-Chan. Classic Kings carried it in their arms in the form of the Double-headed Serpent Bar. The descendants of the Maya who fought the Caste War of Yukatan call it the kuxan sum, and they believe that it was cut by the Spanish invaders. Old men who spoke of this umbilicus with our friend Nikolai Grube said that it lies dormant under the Ballcourt of Chich'en Itza. One day, they believe, a Maya king will reign again, and when that happens, the cord will emerge from the great cenote and join the Maya once again to the original source of sustenance."

[www.famsi.org]

"In the Yucatán, México, there is a tradition of a "living cord", called the kuxan sum, which came down from heaven and nourished the ancient Maya rulers (Tozzer 1907:153-154). The kuxan sum can also be readily identified on ceramics, stone monuments, and in Paris and Dresden codices. I found a similar tradition of a cord from heaven among the Ch’orti’. One tale told to me by one of my consultants told about the kumix anxer, or Penultimate Angel (see discussion below), whose father and mother died and went to heaven. The young angel wanted a sign from his mother that they were well and so the mother let down a small section of cane filled with milk down from heaven by a thread (tz’ojnok) as nourishment. A lizard leaped up just before it got to the ground, broke the cord, and drank the milk before the boy could get his hands on it. There seems to be a strong similarity in this version of the rope from heaven sent down to nourish those on earth with that of Yucatán and the pre-conquest Maya."

Doug Weller

Director The Hall of Ma'at
Doug's Skeptical Archaeology site::
[www.ramtops.co.uk]