By dividing the text of Tahua into parts - often one such part per page but sometimes more than one part per page in order to show repetitious glyphs sequences (and sometimes more than one page per part because of an obvious continuation of the text) - I have manipulated the number of glyphs per part. I have e.g. preferred 8 glyphs per page for practical reasons if not the perceived patterns in the text have guided me otherwise. Primarily my perception of what glyphs belong together has made me decide how to divide the text into parts and that perception has in some instances been influenced by similar glyph sequences in other rongorongo texts (and in other places in the text of Tahua). What I here call 'number patterns' are therefore not - strictly seen - objective patterns embedded in the text. They are governed not only by the more or less obvious patterns in the glyph sequences but also by my own perceptions and preconceptions. New facts and insights may later, therefore, make me change some of the details.
Speculations soon arise: Those 21 glyphs which together constitute the 'calendar' of the day (a1-16 -- a1-36) and those 12 arriving immediately afterwards (which constitute the 'calendar' of the night) shouldn't they be added? If so, then we reach 33, a number with no calendrical meaning (as far as I know). But if we also add 3 (immediately before) than we reach 36 (1/10 of 360) which looks more meaningful. Are there such number patterns embedded in the text in order to help the reader? 12 (e.g. the number of months per year) at the beginning of the text and 28 (e.g. the number of nights in a month when the moon is visible) appear as possible confirmations of that thought. But 12 + 3 + 21 is also 36. And '13' in a1-13 added to '15' in a1-15 also equals 28. We may easily proceed like this without end. |
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