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It would be of great value for the translation process if we could understand the organization of the Tahua text, how the groups of glyphs are interrelated and how their subject matters harmonize.

We have established as fact the existence of 314 as a guiding number:

 'If there was no time reckoning according to the solar number 36 (360)

Judging from the oral traditions, the Easter Islanders did not reckon time by years, although there are records of grouping by decades in one type of old script (kohau ta'u). Since there seem to be no obvious connections to the fixed points of the solar system (solstice and equinox), this leaves the traditional lunar calendar as a source of reference ...

then why 42 (420)? Easy to answer that question: Because 15 was a number connected with full moon, and the next greater cycle of the moon naturally would be 15 * 28 = 420. At full moon there is a break (koti) as seen in Ca7-24:

Therefore one would guess that after 15 full moons the next grand break would occur ...

Tahua - I believe - tells us about both cycles (420 and 360), by the number of glyphs 628 + 42 (side a) and 628 + 36 (side b):

Side a ends with a line which is 2 * 42 = 84 glyphs long (which is understandable as the full moon phase is located at midmonth) and side b starts with 36 glyphs which (as we have seen) belong to a sun-oriented description (ending with Aa1-36 as the last glyph of the daytime calendar).'

The number of glyphs for each line of Tahua is summarized in these tables:

Is it a coincidence that 76 (line a3) = 40 + 36 and 82 (line a4) = 40 +42?

Is it a coincidence that 333 (a1--a4) + 324 (b1--b4) = 657 = 9 * 73? Cfr 5 * 73 = 365.

Counting glyphs from the beginning of line a1 we arrive at Aa4-64 as the 314th glyph:

Counting glyphs from the beginning of line b1 we arrive at Ab5-1 as the 324th glyph:

The small hanging 'balls' in Aa4-64 and Ab5-1 are parallel:

If we measure the circumference of  a circle as its diameter * π, then 314 indicates the full cycle, possible to depict by a 'ball'.

If - on the other hand - we measure the circumference as radius * π, then 314 indicates only half the cycle. However, a 'ball' may still be the relevant picture in the rongorongo script, because the year may be understood as having two halves - each one depicted as a complete whole.

400π in Tahua and Large Santiago Tablet is a number which suggests at least two complete cycles.

Why is Ab5-1 the 324th glyph instead of the 314th glyph? To answer that question we first must acknowledge that there are 10 glyphs in parallel, not only the 5 above but also the 5 thereafter following:

Though, strictly speaking: Of the 5 glyphs in line a4 only 4 correspond to the 6 glyphs in line b5. The little bird in Aa4-71 is reincarnated 12 glyphs later as Aa5-1:

  

Secondly: there are 8 glyphs before we reach the 'koti' glyph (Aa4-72), a number which indicates that we have completed a cycle:

8 * 36 = 4 * 72 (as in Aa4-72). Cfr 5 * 72 = 360. 314 - 288 (= 8 * 36) = 26.

'... Easter Island (te pito o te kainga) is the last of all known islands. Seven lands lie before it, but these do not recommend themselves for settlement. Easter Island is the 'eighth land' (te varu kainga) ... The number eight not only means 'many' but also denotes perfection. Thus, when Easter Island was called 'an eighth land', the expression contained first of all the idea of a 'last' island - an island farthest away from the rest of the islands that make up the oceanic world. At the same time, the expression indicated a special position among the other islands. The idea of groups of seven, which are surpassed by an eight element, seems to belong to the cosmology of Asian high cultures ...'

'...The eighth Egyptian district, with Thinis as capital, had very early a sign which consisted of an object formed like a hill on top of which were two feathers. The sign probably depicted the primordial mound rising from the water at the creation, which may be clear from the Egyptian name of the district, Ta-wer, 'The oldest land'. The appearance of the cult of Osiris, with its centre at Abydos in the same district, seems to be the reason why the sign was reinterpreted to be a shrine for the head of the god who had his residence at Abydos. The simple original sign, similar to a mound, this way became a much more complicated emblem, with many attributes associating to the god of the underworld.'

Thirdly: In Large Santiago Tablet there are 20 extra glyphs embedded on each side, 2 * (314 + 10) = 2 * 324 = 648. The number of glyphs per line are summarized in these tables:

It might be argued that the number of glyphs in line a12 must be larger than 21 because of the damage at the end of the line. However, I believe that the creator of the text did not use the free space after Ha12-102. The free space resembles that which I believe exist adjacent to the glyphs in line Sa1.

We have earlier found that on side b those 20 extra glyphs are located in the middle of the text:

314 = 64 + 250 reminds us about Aa4-64. Cfr 364 = 64 + 300.

In the middle of the text on side a we find Ha6-106 etc, which we recognize as parallel to Aa1-49 etc:

The parallel continues for 31 glyphs (in H - 28 in A), ending with the peculiarly looking Ha6-136 respectively Aa1-76:

  

Counting glyphs from Ha1-1 we arrive at 275 (lines a1--a3) + 19 (a6-1 -- 19) + 5 (destroyed glyphs) + 5 (a6-101 -- 105) = 304, i.e. that Ha6-106 is the 305th glyph from the beginning of side a.

I had expected that Ha6-106 would be the 304th glyph. The destroyed glyphs maybe are 4 and not 5? As I remember it we arrived at 5 as a result of a pattern thought to exist. Earlier we had the idea that there were 4 destroyed glyphs.

A quick look at the picture of Barthel does not make it more clear, there may have been 5 glyphs in the destroyed area, but equally well there were just 4:

Logic tells me that Ha6-106 as the 305th glyph is just what could be expected: Given that 304 in some way is alluding to π we would not be surprised if a new cycle is beginning with 305 rather that with 304. Remember that 20 may be divided in 10 + 10 and that 304 + 10 = 314. Ha6-106 could be number 1 in the decade completing a full cycle.

There seems to be a kind of pattern here: