3. North of the equator summer can be said to end with September 21, when Alchita (the First Star of Corvus) is rising heliacally to tell autumn equinox is around the corner:
The last star of Corvus is Kraz and it is rising in the same day as Asterion ('Starry' according to Allen). The stars in the background where Sun is rising evidently has determined the ideas connected with the constellations (the houses of the rising Sun). Sometimes the glyphs seem to indicate where the observer is standing in relation to the equator. In Ga5-15 there are 6 + 6 maro 'feathers' hanging down which presumbly refers to the 6 + 6 months in a solar year. There is an 'eye' (mata) in front but not at the back side, which could mean light is in front. But it is uncertain whether is meant the light sky of summer or the lights in sky of the winter nights. Decisive, I think, is the sign which only an observant reader will notice, viz. how the gap up to the 'roof' in the glyph is decreasing slightly from left to right - it should mean the sky roof is lower in front (i.e. winter lies ahead). The position of spring equinox at Deneb-ola is central on side a of the tablet:
The problem of the exact distance from heliacal rising to culmination at midnight is presumably connected with the fact that there are 229 glyphs on side a of the tablet (I have above counted with Gb8-30 in order to reach 230). The heliacal rise of 93 Leonis (at the testicles of the Lion) coincides with glyph 114 on side a. Therefore the center of side a is Ga5-5:
The date 'proves' the text is meant for people living south of the equator. But the constellations in the sky are meant for people living north of the equator and the text of G must accept for instance that 'Christmas has to be celebrated in summer'. |
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