In the text of Keiti there is also a hura glyph of the same kind as in Hb1-3 and this example is an interesting case. The tablet has 9 + 8 = 17 glyph lines and evidently side a has 326 glyphs (a number which invites to be counted as 32 * 6 = 192 days). Side b has 302 glyphs, leading to a total number of 326 + 302 = 628 (or 314 * 200%). Line Ea9 has 36 glyphs (presumably a sign for the final of the season of 'Sun in front') and the hura glyph is in position 29:
326 - 36 = 290 is the number of glyphs from Ea1-1 to the end of line Ea8. Adding 29 to 290 results in 319 at hura in Ea9-29, a day of Mercury, where significantly 9 and 29 are numbers 'without light' (the feeble 'son of Sun' having like Phaethon carelessly raced the 'sun-chariot' down into the sea). This important point in the text forces us to also count 92 * 9 = 828 = 2 * 414, maybe implying that 828 is to be understood as 826 + 2 = 2 * (413 + 1), based on a fundamental cycle of 14 * 29.5 = 413 nights. From this I imagine hura in Ea9-29 could refer to a pair of 'one more', like a pair of interconnected eggs. The top one is circular in form but the bottom one is slightly oval (like a drop). This pair of 'eggs' possibly represents the 2 cycles of the year, one for the front side (high up like midsummer sun) and one for the back side (the low 'drop'). Of course I have been influenced by the Taranaki storhouse (though it has only one egg):
What happens with these interconnected 'eggs'? They seem to go down into the 'earth', become 'hilled up', we can read from puo in Ea9-30:
After that 'the visibility' (eyes are formed like eggs) cannot be as before for a while (cfr the empty space to the right of the egg in the picture above). But in Ea9-33 we can see a whole fish. 93 * 3 = 279 = 31 * 9 which connects it with hura in Ea9-29 (with ordinal number 319). The preceding Saturn glyph holds another complete fish in front, and 8 * 36 = 288 is equal to 9 * 32. Presumably we should, however, rather count 93 * 2 = 186 (= 366 - 180). The 2 fishes are leaning slightly away from each other, a sign which should indicate end (looking back) respectively new beginning (looking forward):
If this is a correct interpretation then we should regard the 4 glyphs Ea9-33--36 as the beginning of the next cycle, and 4 + 302 = 306 = 17 * 18. More interesting, though, is the possible reading 30 * 6 = 180 = 366 - 93 * 2. We turn the tablet and continue to read on side b. It begins with a glyph similar to that in Ca1-26, but the 'head' in Eb1-1 is in a high position (like maitaki in Eb1-7) and it has no 'eye' at left. Maybe the left 'eye' has been 'hilled up', which also could explain the high positions of Eb1-1 and Eb1-7):
The beginning of the front side of Mamari exhibits glyphs which resemble what we have read at the end of side a of Keiti:
The 'melody' is the same but the 'song text' is different. For instance is henua ora in Ea9-27 narrow and straight while henua ora in Ca1-3 is broad and curved (a sign of the expansion, horahora, inherent in spring). The same contrasting signs characterize the following hau tea glyphs. In Ea9-25 an empty hand is the major sign, which probably indicates the 'fire' in the sky (Spring Sun) is 'finished'. In Ca1-1 we instead can see ragi (the night sky) without any sign of the light from Moon. Moon has 2 'faces' and there are 2 irregular 'balls' hanging down in front in Ca1-3. The sign between henua ora and these 'hanging balls' is an odd variant of haga rave - also Venus has her 'harbours', I think. Metoro said haga i te mea ke at Saturday in Ca1-4, just as he did at hura in Ca5-14 (kua haga te mea ke), which 'proves' that he was able to understand at least some parts of the Mamari text:
This is also the place to mention the strange behaviour of Metoro when he began to read backwards on side b of Keiti. For this we need an extra page. |
