We will not, however, try to 'read' these 16 tao glyphs. Instead attention should be given a structure defined by double glyphs, the first two of which are separated by 6 other glyphs:
We can see 'persons' looking in opposite directions - towards each other. The left one holds ihe tau, the right holds tao. Ihe tau glyphs picture 'a moon crescent broken in half, which conveys suggestions of a time when growing no longer continues - i.e. a state of death'. The individual at left holds 'death', the individual at right holds 'life' (as depicted by a quickly moving canoe). It seems to be a parallel to the contrast between toa and tao:
Ihe tau presumably indicates a more definite type of death than toa, because Metoro sometimes said tau avaga (gravestone) at ihe tau glyphs. |
