next page previous page table of contents home

The pairs of glyph rows on the tablet - the first with its figures standing with their feet down and head up, the second with their heads down and their feet up - do not measure out to 59. Instead the number of glyphs in pairs of rows is a variable:

side a side b
a1 30 30 b1 26 26
a2 29 59 b2 35 61
a3 24 83 b3 30 91
a4 27 110 b4 33 124
a5 30 140 b5 29 153
a6 29 169 b6 28 181
a7 34 203 b7 31 212
a8 26 229 b8 30 242
sum 1 + 229 sum 242

The reason for this was not the different lenghts of the rows - which on some other tablets may have been an important factor. Instead the reason for 230 nigths on side a and 242 nights on side b was a desire to visualize where time cycles began or ended. The Moon (Hina) was not alone in beating out time.

472 / 2 = 236 = 4 * 59 = (230 + 242) / 2 is not where the text on side a is ending. But this place can easily be found from reading the glyphs:

235 235
Gb1-6 Gb1-7
4 * 59 4 * 59
472 = 8 * 59 = 2 * 236

The figure in Gb1-6 is standing on his feet, but the figure in Gb1-7 has his head down. It is as when all the sand in an hour glass has run down and the glass has to be turned upside down.