666 is the number of the beast and we have found it in Tahua (cfr at maitaki):

Aa6-64 Aa6-65 Aa6-66 Aa6-67 Aa6-68 Aa6-69 Aa6-70
i to moa ko te vai hopu o te moa e he goe kua moe ki to vaha o to ika mea o te maitaki kua noho te ariki e mago

I have not listed Aa6-67 as an example of hahe, but the top part does indeed qualify as such. Instead I saw the top part as an example of ika hiku.

In order to change 648 (the estimated number of glyphs on side a of H) into 666 it is only necessary to calculate how many glyphs there could have been in line Ha12 if the wood had been intact:

Earlier, when I estimated the number of glyphs on side a to be 648, I had considered only how those glyph lines with a gap in the glyph flow should be counted. But in line Ha12 no glyphs arrive beyond the destroyed surface:

a1 50 50 burnt area could have contained the number of glyphs below 50 b1 *51 (?) 51
a2 58 108 108 b2 48 99
a3 52 160 160 b3 47 146
a4 56 216 216 b4 51 197
a5 59 275 275 b5 57 254
a6 64 339 *5 344 b6 54 308
a7 48 387 *3 395 b7 50 358
a8 46 433 *8 449 b8 *54 (?) 412
a9 40 473 *13 502 b9 65 477
a10 49 522 *18 569 b10 67 544
a11 36 558 *22 627 b11 53 597
a12 *21 (?) 579 *18 (?) 666 b12 *51 (?) 648
sum *666 (?) sum *648 (?)

Adding an estimated number of 18 glyphs changes 648 into 666. But 18 is purely a guess. The parallels in P and Q have different numbers of glyphs:

P Q
19 26 (35)

Yet, 19 in P is close to 18, while the short Q text must be considered as a less likely candidate to rely on.

Furthermore, 18 in the absent space can suggest half 36, which would fit nicely with 666 + 648 = 1314, because 13 * 14 = 182. Both 182 and 180 are measures for half a year.

It must also be mentioned that probably the surface destroyed by fire was there in front of the eyes of whoever incised the glyphs, so much can be ascertained by considering which portions of the text he assigned to the blackened area. These portions are not random but - which can be seen from the parallel Q and P texts - were 'left in the dark' because the events told of were of a 'dark character'.

And we cannot neglect the sum 579 + 648 = 1227 (which refers to those glyphs which - according to my estimates - once indeed were visible on the tablet). If we divide by 3 the result is recognizable:

1227 / 3 = 409

 

Gb6-17 Gb6-18 Gb6-19 Gb6-20
Gb6-21 Gb6-22 Gb6-23 Gb6-24
Gb6-25 Gb6-26 (409) Gb6-27 Gb6-28
Gb7-1 Gb7-2 Gb7-3 Gb7-4