| April 15 |
16 |
17 (107) |
365 |
| October 15 |
16 |
17 (290) |
 |
 |
 |
| Ca1-25 |
Ca1-26 |
Ca2-1 (27) |
| kiore ki te huaga |
kua moe ki te tai. |
Te heke |
| no star listed |
Al Sharatain-1 / Ashvini-1 / Bond-16 |
| Polaris, Baten Kaitos (26.6), Metallah (26.9), Segin, Mesarthim, ψ Phoenicis (27.2), SHERATAN, φ Phoenicis (27.4) |
| 95 A.D. |
24 A.D. |
48 B.C. |
| ¬ |
| τ Bootis (208.3), Benetnash (208.5) |
ν Centauri (208.7), μ Centauri, υ Bootis (208.8) |
Muphrid (210.1), ζ Centauri (210.3) |
Since the ancient time when the star pair Sheratan and Mesarthim (γ Arietis) was used as a pointer for March 21 they (and all the rest of the stars in the sky roof) had glided forward in the year compared to the March equinox. Sun was rising a little earlier in each year which meant the stars in the night appeared to be shifted slowly forward correspondingly.
From March 21 (80) to April 17 (107) there are 27 days and precession would have needed around 27 * 71 = 1917 years to move Sheratan and the other stars ahead with 27 days. Just before the beginning of the Christian era Sheratan and Mesarthim had marked the March equinox.
I have counted with 1870 A.D. as the upper limit for when the rongorongo texts were composed and at that time Sirrah would have risen with the Sun in March 21. The Mamari ('Egg') tablet is well preserved and should not be much older than 1870 I guessed.
A.D. 1870 - 1917 = 47 B.C. would accordingly have been the approximate year when Sheratan was rising with Sun at the northern spring equinox. However, above in my presentation I have noted the year as 48 B.C. because our calendar makers once decided there should be no year 0 A.D. or 0 B.C.
Should we reduce my right ascension data with 0.4 this would correspond to a shift of my assumed time for the rongorongo texts from around 1870 A.D. to around 1870 - 0.4 * 71 = ca 1842 A.D. And then we would not have 48 B.C. for Sheratan and Mesarthim at March 21 but instead 1842 - 1917 - 1 = - 76 B.C.
Our Gregorian calendar keeps track of Sun's path and adjusts the days automatically so that March 21 will always coincide (approximately) with the northern spring equinox and September 22 always with the southern spring equinox.
There are 392 glyphs on side a of the Mamari tablet and counted beyond the heliacal pair Sheratan / Mesarthim (Arab: Al Sharatain) at April 17 there were 365 days remaining to the end of the side. Probably it meant the creator of the text wished to emphasize what important stars once had 'ruled' the March equinox.
Implicitly it also meant the era of Sheratan must have ended close to the beginning of the Christian era, when Sun had left Sheratan / Mesarthim and therefore should be ruled by some other star rising earlier than Sheratan.
The Arab name for their 1st manzil Al Sharatain is plural of 'the Sign' because they had also Mesarthim (γ Arietis) - another star at the frontal horn of Aries - as a point of reference. The same method was used by the Hindus, whereas the Chinese preferred to rely only on β Arietis:
| Arab |
Hindu |
Chinese |
| Al Sharatain-1 |
Ashvini-1 |
Bond-16 |
| β Arietis (Sheratan), γ (Mesarthim) |
Apr 17 (107) |
β and γ Arietis |
Apr 17 (107) |
β Arietis (Sheratan) |
Apr 17 (107) |
Both in the Arab and the Hindu calendar structures the First Point of Aries (Sheratan and Mesarthim) were placed at the beginning.
The Chinese on the other hand had their Bond station as number 16 because they had placed their first station Horn at Spica (α Virginis), which in rongorongo times rose with the Sun in October 10. This 'horn' was not the horn of a ram but a 'horn' = ear (spike) of corn, which the Virgin had a multitude of in her left hand (as a sign opposite to the greenery in her right hand):
Reading line Ca1 is consequently like moving back against the arrow of time to the time when around 2,000 years ago the Sun at March 21 had to leave the Ram who dwelled 'up on Land' and to move on to the next 'station' (constellation) in line which though was out in the 'Sea':
... This [σ] has been identified with Nunki of the Euphratean Tablet of the Thirty Stars, the Star of the Proclamation of the Sea, this Sea being the quarter occupied by Aquarius, Capricornus, Delphinus, Pisces, and Pisces Australis. It is the same space in the sky that Aratos designated as Water ...
The distinction between 'Land' and 'Sea' was basic. The 'journey' over the 'Sea' from March 21 to April 17 was in glyph line Ca1 and reaching 'Land' at the First Point of Aries was at the beginning of line Ca2. In his yearly cycle the Sun was advancing forward among the constellations, but in the precessional cycle he moved in the opposite direction:
