In order not to complicate matters more than necessary I will not use in my tables the outdated dates of our Gregorian calendar. It is enough to remember there was a 4 day difference. Furthermore, it may have been the positions of the stars as such rather than the dates which interested the creators of the rongorongo texts. Although the equinoxes and the solstices were clearly important:
... Far away, the
Mangaians of old (Austral Islands, Polynesia), who kept the
precessional clock running instead of switching over to 'signs',
claim that only at the evening of the solstitial days can
spirits enter heaven, the inhabitants of the northern parts of
the island at one solstice, the dwellers in the south at the
other ...
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ga5-1
(111) |
Ga5-2 |
Ga5-3 |
Ga5-4 |
Ga5-5 |
|
JULY 10 |
11 |
12 (193) |
13 |
14 |
|
θ
Crateris (175.0), υ Leonis (175.2), ω Virginis
(175.3), ι Crateris (175.5) |
ο Hydrae
(176.1) |
ζ
Crateris, ξ Virginis (177.0), λ Muscae (177.1), ν
Virginis (177.2), μ Muscae (177.8) |
Al
Sarfah-10 /
Uttara
Phalguni-12 /
Zibbat A.-16 /
Shēpu-arkū
sha-A-17 |
Phekda,
β Hydrae (179.3), η Crateris (179.9)
Deneb Cygni |
|
93
LEONIS
(178.0),
DENEBOLA
(178.3),
ALARAPH
(178.6) |
|
September 12 |
13 (256) |
14
(*177) |
15 |
16 |
|
NAKSHATRA DATES: |
|
JANUARY
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 (378) |
|
λ Piscium (358.0),
MANUS CATENATA
(358.1), Alrai, θ Phoenicis (358.4), κ Andromedae
(358.7) |
ω Aquarii (359.2), 78
Pegasi (359.5) |
ψ Andromedae (360.1), σ
Phoenicis (360.4) |
γ¹ Oct. (361.4). φ
Pegasi (361.7) |
Dzaneb (362.4), γ²
Oct.(362.8) |
|
π |
March 15 |
16
(*360) |
17 |
18 (77) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ga5-6 |
Ga5-7 |
Ga5-8
(118) |
Ga5-9 |
|
JULY 15
(196) |
16 |
(*118 =
4 * 29½) |
18 |
|
no star
listed (180) |
π
Virginis (181.0), θ Crucis (181.5) |
12h
(182.6) |
ALCHITA,
Ma Wei (183.1),
Minkar
(183.7), ρ Centauri (183.9) |
|
ο
Virginis (182.1), η Crucis (182.5) |
|
September 17 (260) |
18 |
19 |
20 |
|
NAKSHATRA DATES: |
|
JANUARY
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 (382) |
|
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 Octantis (364.4) |
Al
Fargh al Thāni-25 |
Uttara Bhādrapadā-27
/
Wall-14 |
|
0h
(365.25) |
|
Caph,
SIRRAH (0.5), ε
Phoenicis (0.8) |
ALGENIB PEGASI (1.8) |
|
March 19
(78) |
20 |
EQUINOX |
22 |
At the time of
rongorongo the Gregorian calendar would still have pointed at
heliacal Algenib Pegasi as the star which once upon a time was 378 (=
382 - 4) days from the beginning of the previous year. The
synodic cycle of Saturn was 378 days and 365 + 13 = 378.
Ga5-8 could have referred to nakshatra Sirrah
at the northern spring equinox (where birds should produce
eggs). Or to heliacal 12h when south of the equator these
birds would have arrived from the north. Birds on eggs tend to keep their beaks
closed, to keep quiet in order not to reveal their
positions for the predators.
There is another and similar such silent bird 41 days
later, but with another kind of offspring. Her position
corresponded to that of nakshatra Bharani:
|
37 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ga6-17
(157) |
Ga6-18 |
Ga6-19 |
Ga6-20 |
|
AUGUST 25 |
26 |
27
(*159) |
28 (240) |
|
ρ Lupi
(221.0),
TOLIMAN
(221.2), π Bootis (221.8), ζ Bootis (221.9) |
31
Bootis (222.0), Yang Mun (222.1),
RIJL AL
AWWA
(222.5),
ο Bootis (222.9) |
Izar
(223.0),
109
VIRGINIS,
α Apodis (223.3) |
Al
Zubānā-14a /
Visakha-16 /
Root-3 |
|
ZUBEN
ELGENUBI
(224.2), ξ Bootis, ο Lupi (224.5) |
|
October
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 (304) |
|
NAKSHATRA DATES: |
|
FEBRUARY
24 (420) |
25 |
26
(*342) |
27 |
|
μ Arietis (39.4),
Head of the Fly (39.6),
Kaffaljidhma (39.8) |
π Ceti, ο Arietis
(40.0), μ Ceti, Angetenar (40.2),
Right
Wing (40.9) |
Bharani-2 /
Stomach-17 |
no star listed (42) |
|
π Arietis (41.2),
BHARANI
(41.4), τ² Eridan, σ Arietis (41.7) |
|
April 29 |
30 (120) |
May 1 |
2 |
|
ARIES: |
|
1 |
Ashvini |
β
and γ Arietis |
Horse's head |
27 =
16
+ 11 |
|
wife
of the Ashvins |
Sheratan and Mesarthim |
April 17 (107) |
|
2 |
Bharani |
35,
39, and 41 Arietis |
Yoni, the female organ of reproduction |
41 =
27
+ 14 |
|
the
bearer |
Musca Borealis |
May
1 (121) |
Symmetry could have demanded a contrast in
form of a bird's egg sheltered down on the ground compared to Atlas
with his great 'sky egg' held high. The pair of
silent birds could have indicated the dates March 21 respectively May
1- whereas Atlas would have arrived in May 16 = 8
weeks after Sirrah and 15 days after Bharani.
A nakshatra reading probably stretched from Manus Catenata,
and
possibly at the beginning of 40 + 40 rainy days:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ga5-1 (111) |
Ga5-2 |
Ga5-3 |
Ga5-4 |
Ga5-5 |
| MANUS
CATENATA |
|
|
φ
PEGASI |
|
|
π |
March 15 |
16
(*360) |
17 |
18 (77) |
|
Egyptian
bread, (-t, female determinant) |
 |
Phoenician qoph |
 |
Greek
phi |
Φ(φ) |
|
... is the 21st
letter of the Greek alphabet ... Its origin is
uncertain but it may be that phi originated as the
letter qoppa ... In traditional Greek numerals, phi
has a value of 500 or 500000 ...
Isaac Taylor, History of the
Alphabet: Semitic Alphabets, Part 1, 2003: 'The
old explanation, which has again been revived by
Halévy, is that it denotes an 'ape,' the character
Q being taken to represent an ape with its
tail hanging down. It may also be referred to a
Talmudic root which would signify an 'aperture' of
some kind, as the 'eye of a needle,' ... Lenormant
adopts the more usual explanation that the word
means a 'knot' ...
... The king, wearing now a short, stiff archaic
mantle, walks in a grave and stately manner to the
sanctuary of the wolf-god Upwaut, the 'Opener
of the Way', where he anoints the sacred standard
and, preceded by this, marches to the palace chapel,
into which he disappears. A period of time elapses
during which the pharaoh is no longer manifest.
When he reappears he is clothed as in the Narmer
palette, wearing the kilt with Hathor belt
and bull's tail attatched. In his right hand he
holds the flail scepter and in his left, instead of
the usual crook of the Good Shepherd, an object
resembling a small scroll, called the Will, the
House Document, or Secret of the Two Partners, which
he exhibits in triumph, proclaiming to all in
attendance that it was given him by his dead father
Osiris, in the presence of the earth-god
Geb. 'I have run', he cries, 'holding the Secret
of the Two Partners, the Will that my father has
given me before Geb. I have passed through
the land and touched the four sides of it. I
traverse it as I desire.' ... |
|
|
|
|
|
31 |
 |
|
Ga5-6 |
Ga5-7 |
Ga5-8 (4 * 29½) |
Ga5-9
(119) |
Ga6-11
(151) |
| |
|
SIRRAH |
ALGENIB PEGASI |
ARCTURUS |
|
March 19
(78) |
20 |
EQUINOX |
22 |
October 22 (295) |
|
5 |
|
|
|
|
22 |
|
Ga6-17
(157) |
Ga6-18 |
Ga6-19 |
Ga6-20 |
| |
|
BHARANI |
|
|
April 29 |
30 (120) |
May 1 |
2 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ga7-14 (183) |
Ga7-15 |
Ga7-16 |
Ga7-17 |
Ga7-18 |
Ga7-19 |
|
SEPTEMBER 20 |
21
(*184) |
EQUINOX |
23 |
24 |
25 (268) |
|
Heart-5 |
ρ
Ophiuchi (248.1), Aldibain (248.2), Kajam
(248.3), χ Ophiuchi (248.5),
She Low, ι Tr. Austr. (248.7), ζ Tr. Austr.
(248.8) |
Al
Kalb-16
/
Jyeshtha-18
ANA-MUA |
γ
Apodis (250.1), σ Herculis (250.3), θ Tr. Austr.
(250.6),
τ Scorpii
(250.7) |
Han
(251.0) |
ζ
Herculis, η Tr. Austr. (252.1), η Herculis, β
Apodis (252.5) |
|
σ
SCORPII
(247.0), Hejian (247.2), ψ Ophiuchi (247.7) |
ANTARES
(249.1), Marfik, φ Ophiuchi (249.5), ω Ophiuchi
(249.8) |
|
November 23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28
(332) |
|
NAKSHATRA DATES: |
|
MARCH 22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26
(85) |
27 |
|
Net-19 |
no star listed (66) |
no star listed (67) |
Rohini-4 /
Pidnu-sha-Shame-5
ANA-MURI |
no star listed (69) |
no star listed (70) |
|
θ² Tauri,
AIN,
θ¹ Tauri (65.7) |
ALDEBARAN
(68.2), Theemin (68.5) |
|
May 25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30
(150) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ga7-20 |
Ga7-21 |
Ga7-22 (191) |
Ga7-23 |
Ga7-24 |
|
SEPTEMBER 26 |
27 (270) |
28 |
29 |
30 (*193) |
|
ATRIA
(253.9) |
Tail-6 |
ι Ophiuchi (255.3),
Grafias
(255.4) |
κ Ophiuchi (256.2), ζ Arae (256.5), ε Arae
(256.8), Cujam (256.9) |
no star listed (257) |
|
Wei,
η Arae (254.3),
DENEBAKRAB
(254.7) |
|
November 29 |
30 |
December 1 |
2 (336) |
3 |
|
NAKSHATRA DATES: |
|
MARCH 28 |
29 |
30 |
31 (90) |
APRIL 1 |
|
Tabit (71.7), π²
Orionis (71.9) |
π4 Orionis
(72.1), ο¹ Orionis (72.4), π5 Orionis (72.8) |
π¹ Orionis
(73.0),ο² Orionis (73.4),
HASSALEH
(73.6), π6 Orionis (73.9) |
Almaaz (74.7),
HAEDUS I
(74.8) |
HAEDUS II
(75.9) |
|
May 31 |
June 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 (155) |
However, the last 8 of these presumtive 80
days - from
number 183 up to and including number 190 - were evidently special.
Glyph 183 (Ga7-14) corresponded to the 5th Chinese station
Heart and clearly this could be a place for changing from
nakshatra to heliacal reading - until Rei in Ga7-22.
There were 8 dark nights before Venus
returned in the eastern sky. Nakshatra σ Sciorpii was at
the zero position of the text:
|
no
glyph |
 |
 |
|
Ga1-1 |
Ga1-2 |
|
0h
(80) |
MARCH 22 |
23 |
|
HYADUM II (δ¹ Tauri)
(64.2) |
Net-19 |
no
star listed (66) |
|
AIN,
θ¹
Tauri, θ² Tauri
(65.7) |
|
May
24 |
25 |
26
(146) |
|
NAKSHATRA DATES: |
|
SEPTEMBER 20 |
21
(*184) |
EQUINOX |
|
Heart-5 |
ρ Ophiuchi (248.1),
ALDIBAIN
(248.2), Kajam (248.3), χ Ophiuchi (248.5), She
Low, ι Tr. Austr. (248.7), ζ Tr. Austr. (248.8) |
Al
Kalb-16
/
Jyeshtha-18 /
ANA-MUA |
|
σ
SCORPII
(247.0), Hejian (247.2), ψ Ophiuchi
(247.7) |
ANTARES
(249.1), Marfik, φ Ophiuchi (249.5), ω Ophiuchi
(249.8) |
|
November 23 |
24 |
25 (329) |
Atria is α in
the Southern Triangle, which constellation came later than
the Southern Fly (Musca Australis) - and not earlier as the
Northern Fly compared to the pair of Northern Triangles:
The Northern Triangles began with Metallah (α)
which rose in the same day as Polaris. From Metallah to
Atria there were 333 (November 29) - 106 (April 16) = 227
days (alluding to π). From
nakshatra Metallah to heliacal Atria, however, there were only 45 days
(= 227 - 182):
 |
 |
 |
|
Ga6-3 |
Ga6-4 |
Ga6-5
(145) |
|
AUGUST
11 |
12 |
13 (225) |
|
no star
listed (207) |
τ Bootis
(208.2),
BENETNASH (208.5), ν Centauri (208.7), μ
Centauri, υ Bootis (208.8) |
no star
listed (209) |
|
October
14 |
15 (288) |
16 |
|
NAKSHATRA DATES: |
|
FEBRUARY
10 |
11 (42) |
12 (408) |
|
no star listed (25) |
ANA-NIA |
Al
Sharatain-1 /
Ashvini-1 /
Bond-16
/
Mahrū-sha-rishu-ku-2 |
|
χ Ceti (26.1),
POLARIS, Baten Kaitos (26.6),
METALLAH (26.9) |
Segin,
Mesarthim, ψ Phoenicis
(27.2),
SHERATAN, φ
Phoenicis (27.4) |
|
April 15 |
16 (471) |
17 (107) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
37 |
|
Ga6-6 |
Ga6-7 |
Ga6-8 |
Ga6-9 |
Ga6-10
(150) |
Ga6-11 |
|
AUGUST
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 (229) |
18 |
19 |
|
MUPHRID
(210.1), ζ Centauri (210.3) |
φ
Centauri (211.0), υ¹ Centauri (211.1), υ² Centauri
(211.8), τ Virginis (211.9) |
Agena
(212.1), θ Apodis (212.5),
THUBAN
(212.8) |
14h
(213.1) |
Neck-2 |
Al
Ghafr-13 /
Svāti-15
TAHUA-TAATA-METUA-TE-TUPU-MAVAE |
|
π HYDRAE,
χ Centauri (213.0), Menkent (213.1) |
ASELLUS
TERTIUS,
κ
VIRGINIS,
14 Bootis (214.8) |
15
Bootis (215.2),
ARCTURUS
(215.4),
ASELLUS
SECUNDUS
(215.5),
SYRMA,
λ Bootis (215.6), η Apodis (215.8) |
|
October
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 (295) |
|
NAKSHATRA DATES: |
|
FEBRUARY
13 |
2-14
(45) |
15 |
16 |
(413 =
14 * 29½) |
18 |
|
ι Arietis (28.0), λ
Arietis (28.2), υ Ceti (28.8) |
ALRISHA,
χ Phoenicis (29.2), Alamak (29.7) |
Arku-sha-rishu-ku-2 |
η Arietis (31.9) |
no star listed (32) |
θ Arietis (33.3),
MIRA
(33.7) |
|
2h
(30.4) |
|
κ Arietis (30.3),
HAMAL
(30.5)
Alkes
|
|
April 18 (108) |
19 (*29) |
20 (475) |
21 |
22 |
23 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ga7-20 |
Ga7-21 |
Ga7-22 (191) |
Ga7-23 |
Ga7-24 |
|
SEPTEMBER 26 |
27 (270) |
28 |
29 |
30 (*193) |
|
ATRIA
(253.9) |
Tail-6 |
ι Ophiuchi (255.3),
Grafias
(255.4) |
κ Ophiuchi (256.2), ζ Arae (256.5), ε Arae
(256.8), Cujam (256.9) |
no star listed (257) |
|
Wei,
η Arae (254.3),
DENEBAKRAB
(254.7) |
|
November 29 |
30 |
December 1 |
2 (336) |
3 |
|
NAKSHATRA DATES: |
|
MARCH 28 |
29 |
30 |
31 (90) |
APRIL 1 |
|
Tabit (71.7), π²
Orionis (71.9) |
π4 Orionis
(72.1), ο¹ Orionis (72.4), π5 Orionis (72.8) |
π¹ Orionis
(73.0),ο² Orionis (73.4),
HASSALEH
(73.6), π6 Orionis (73.9) |
Almaaz (74.7),
HAEDUS I
(74.8) |
HAEDUS II
(75.9) |
|
May 31 |
June 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 (155) |
|
