G has twice 8 glyph lines, and the text covers twice 8 * 29.5 = 472 days. Contents and form are intervowen. Q has twice 9 glyph lines, and this tablet indeed follows Fischer's rule. It means that line Qa9 reads in normal fashion, while line Qb1 has its glyphs inverted. The form is also here in harmony with the perceived content - sun is fading away at the end of the front side of the tablet and the first glyph line on the back side is inverted. Upside down is a sign which we recognize, e.g. from the first glyph of the second half of the G text:
When reading on the backside of the Q tablet, line b3 is found to be upside down in the same way as line b1. And going on from line b3 to line b4 implies a turn of the tablet (or reading on like the experts). One way to memorize this pattern in Q is to count the lines on side b as a continuation from side a. There are 9 lines on side a and Qb1 is line number 10 counted from line Qa1. From this perspective glyph line Qb3 will be number 12, and following the rule of Fischer it must have inverted glyphs. I guess an odd number of glyph lines on a tablet side is a sign which means the reader must continue on to next side. G has no such sign and the moon is its main subject - the front side and the back side are different matters. Waxing is different from waning. |
