next page previous page table of contents home

There are precisely 100 days from the September equinox to the end of our year. With side a on the C tablet beginning at this equinox it might be expected that there ought to be around 100 + 265 = 365 glyphs to the end of side a. However this was not the case, instead time flows on to Polaris, to position 366 + 26 = 392:

September 20 (*183) 21 (264 = 364 - 100) Equinox 361
'August 24 (236 = 8 * 29½) 25 (*157 = *314 / 2) 26
ALCHITA = α Corvi, MA WEI (Tail of the Horse) = δ Centauri (183.1), MINKAR (Nose) = ε Corvi (183.7), ρ Centauri (183.9) PÁLIDA (Pale) = δ Crucis (184.6), MEGREZ (Root of the Tail) = δ Ursae Majoris (184.9) Hasta-13 / Chariot-28 (Worm)

GIENAH (Wing) = γ Corvi (185.1), ε Muscae (185.2), ζ Crucis (185.4), ZANIAH (Corner) = η Virginis (185.9)

no glyph
Ca1-1 Ca1-2
koia ki te hoea
Al Fargh al Thāni (Rear Spout)-25

0h (365.25)

CAPH = β Cassiopeiae, SIRRAH = α Andromedae (0.5), ε Phoenicis, γ³ Oct. (0.8)
Uttara Bhādrapadā-27 / Wall-14 (Porcupine)

ο Oct. (1.3), ALGENIB PEGASI = γ Pegasi (1.8)

χ Pegasi (2.1), θ Andromedae (2.7)
March 21 (0h) 22 (81) 23
'February 22 (53) Terminalia 24
September 18 (9 * 29) 19 20 (263) 21 Equinox
'August 22 23 (235 = 262 - 27) 24 (8 * 29½) 25 (*157) 26
π Virginis (181.0), θ Crucis (181.5) 12h (182.6)

ο Virginis (182.1), η Crucis (182.5)

ALCHITA = α Corvi, MA WEI (Tail of the Horse) = δ Centauri (183.1), MINKAR (Nose) = ε Corvi (183.7), ρ Centauri (183.9) PÁLIDA (Pale) = δ Crucis (184.6), MEGREZ (Root of the Tail) = δ Ursae Majoris (184.9) Hasta-13 / Chariot-28 (Worm)

GIENAH (Wing) = γ Corvi (185.1), ε Muscae (185.2), ζ Crucis (185.4), ZANIAH (Corner) = η Virginis (185.9)

*Ca14-1 (4 + 360) *Ca14-2 *Ca14-3 (366) *Ca14-4 *Ca14-5 (368 = 2 + 366)
Kua tupu te ata i te henua
March 19 (78) 20 21 (0h) 22 23 (*368 = *2 + *366)
'February 20 21 22 (53) Terminalia 24 (*341 = *368 - *27)
η Tucanae (363.0), ψ Pegasi (363.1), 32 Piscium (363.2), π Phoenicis (363.4), ε Tucanae (363.6), τ Phoenicis (363.9) θ Oct. (364.4) Al Fargh al Thāni (Rear Spout)-25

0h (365.25)

CAPH = β Cassiopeiae, SIRRAH = α Andromedae (0.5), ε Phoenicis, γ³ Oct. (0.8)
Uttara Bhādrapadā-27 / Wall-14 (Porcupine)

ο Oct. (1.3), ALGENIB PEGASI = γ Pegasi (1.8)

χ Pegasi (2.1), θ Andromedae (2.7)
12
*Ca14-18 *Ca14-19 *Ca14-20 *Ca14-21 (384) *Ca14-22 *Ca14-23
te honu paka te henua honu kau te mata te honu kua heheu
1h (15.2)

β Phoenicis (15.1), υ Phoenicis, ι Tucanae (15.6), η Ceti, ζ Phoenicis (15.7)

Al Batn Al Hūt-26 / Revati-28 / 1-iku

MIRACH (Girdle) = β Andromedae, KEUN MAN MUN (Camp's South Gate) = φ Andromedae (16.0), ANUNITUM = τ Piscium (16.5), REVATI (Abundant) = ζ Piscium (16.9)

ν Phoenicis (17.4), κ Tucanae (17.6) no star listed (18) ADHIL (Garment's Trail) = ξ Andromedae (19.3), θ Ceti (19.7) KSORA (Knee) = δ Cassiopeiae (20.1), ω Andromedae (20.6), γ Phoenicis (20.8)
April 5 6 7 8 (99 + 365 = 464) 10 (100)
*Ca14-24 > 336 *Ca14-25 > 350 *Ca14-26 > 364 *Ca14-27 > 378 *Ca14-28 > 392 *Ca14-29 (392)
te henua te honu kau manu kake rua te henua te honu te rima
δ Phoenicis (21.5) υ Andromedae (22.9) ACHERNAR = α Eridani (23.3), χ Andromedae (23.6), τ Andromedae (23.9) ALSEIPH (Scimitar) = φ Persei (24.5), τ Ceti (24.7) no star listed (25) ANA-NIA-10 (Pillar-to-fish-by)

χ Ceti (26.1), POLARIS = α Ursae Minoris, BATEN KAITOS (Belly of the Fish) = ζ Ceti (26.6), METALLAH = α Trianguli (26.9)

April 11 12 13 14 (104) 15 (*26 + *366 = *392)

The G text has its ending with glyph 471 counted from Ga1-1 and 471 = 1½ * 314. But by counting from an empty glyph space before Ga1-1 - similar to my assumed position of Alchita and Sirrah in the C text - the length of the G text will be 472 = 8 * 59 nights long, i.e. equal to 16 synodic lunar months.

... There are 471 glyphs on the tablet and each glyph represents a day. But the first day in the text is not represented by a glyph, because time flows and the first day cannot be incised in the wooden tablet before all its 24 hours have been measured out in full. It is like the signs for the hours on the face of an old-fashioned clock:

0h has been positioned at the date decided by the Church as spring equinox (March 21).

... Ecclesiastically, the equinox is reckoned to be on 21 March (even though the equinox occurs, astronomically speaking, on 20 March in most years) ...

At the time of rongorongo this position (0h) was at Sirrah with Alchita at the opposite side of the year (in September 20, *183).

Therefore the day number for heliacal Polaris at the last glyph on side a of the C tablet could be counted as 80 + *392 = 472 (April 16) = 365 + 107 (April 16).

... Take the lower part of a gourd or hula drum, rounded as a wheel (globe), on which several lines are to be marked and burned in, as described hereafter. These lines are called na alanui o na hoku hookele, the highways of the navigation stars, which stars are also called na hoku ai-aina, the stars which rule the land. Stars lying outside these three lines are called na hoku a ka lewa, foreign, strange, or outside stars. The first line is drawn from Hoku-paa, the fixed or North Star, to the most southerly star of Newe, the Southern Cross ...

Counting from Hoku-paa (Polaris) to the Southern Cross (Newe) ought to result in a measurement for the length of the first line drawn on the 'cup' part of the gourd to be equal to around 267 (September 24, Acrux) - 107 (April 16, Polaris) = 160 days.

September 23 (266) 24 (*187 = *183 + 4)
'August 27 (239) 28 (*160)
CHANG SHA (Long Sand-bank) = ζ Corvi (186.3) INTROMETIDA = ε Crucis (187.4), ACRUX = α Crucis (187.5)
Ca1-3 Ca1-4
ki te henua te rima te hau tea
March 24 Julian equinox (84)
°March 20 21 (80, 0h)
'February 25 26 (57)
σ Andromedae (3.0), ι Ceti (3.3), ζ Tucanae (3.5), ρ Andromedae, π Tucanae (3.7) no star listed (4)

Although a more precise calculation would lead to *187.5 (Acrux) - *26.6 (Polaris) = 160.9 = ca 161 days.

Or counting with spring in September and according to the Full Moon:

March 25 (84, Acrux) - October 17 (290, Polaris) = 366 + 84 - 290 = ca 160 nights.

In 1865 the Hawaiian Kamakau recorded in his instructions that it was only the lower part of the gourd which should be marked with lines. It is quite difficult to draw a vertical line from Polaris to Acrux and especially on only the lower (cup) half of a globular body.

Instead the 'gourd' on the shoulders of Atlas should be perceived as viewed by an observer close to the equator - the main habitat of the Polynesians. Longitude (right ascension) was what counted, not latitude (declination).

The midnight culminations of stars ought to have generated good results. The horizon would have been more difficult to use for precise right ascension measurements.

Allen does not give the date for the midnight culmination of Polaris, but we can approximate it to be around December 6 (*260 = 20 * 13) from the midnight culmination (at the time of rongorongo) of Achernar in December 3 (*257) = April 13 (*23) + 234 (= 18 * 13). Although a star at the precise location of the pole cannot go in a circle:

... I became curious about this star ... called Nuutuittuq [= 'never moves'] ... So, on the lee side of our uquutaq (a snow windbreak) I positioned a harpoon pointing directly at this particular star to see if it would move. In the morning I checked it and discovered that the Tukturjuit (Ursa Major) had changed their position completely but the harpoon still pointed at this star ... I had discovered the stationary star ...

Thus Polaris rose with the Sun around right ascension day *26 (= 2 * 13) and culminated 18 * 13 = 234 nights later. Important dates should have numbers which were beautiful and stayed in memory.

Polaris:
Heliacal rising Midnight culmination
April 16 (*26) December 6 (*260)
2 * 13 = 26 20 * 13 = 260

If it was thought unneccessary to use zeroes for the potencies of 10, then the right ascension days would be 26 both for the heliacal rising and for the midnight culminaiton. 26 was also the number of weeks in half a year (364 / 14 = 26) and the assumed measure for the precessional cycle (26000 years).