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TRANSLATIONS
The achet form was used also for the western part of the horizon (Ref. Wilkinson):
The horizon defines the middle between sky and earth. It cannot be localized to one point - the border between two areas must be a line. The sun cannot be localized to a point either - it follows a serpentine line. We remember the Egyptian path of the sun where an ascending snake moves towards west:
Whereas the Dogon snake moves towards left, this snake moves towards right. That should mean that the Egyptians (who always did things in the opposite way) looked towards south, when the Dogon looked towards north. To 'orient' oneself towards north seems to be the right thing to do - a fixed point is needed. Therefore the rongorongo texts move from left to right, I guess, the fixed point south of the equator being the south pole. (Certainly, I think, the rongorongo texts must follow the movement of the sun.) Already earlier I have suggested that GD24 is a glyph type which illustrates the two holes through which sun appears and disappears:
In e.g. Ha5-53 the upper hole is broken through as if to permit the sun to rise:
In the Mamari moon calendar a similar sign of open is seen in Ca6-28, presumably at the same time alluding to the cock as a symbol of the sun:
On side a of Tahua we should now search for GD24, remembering that a hole (pú) may be both a 'door' to enter through (new year?) and a 'door' to leave by (autumn equinox?). Tahua has no GD24 glyph parallel with Ha5-53 to illustrate the appearance of the sun in the east at dawn. Using the glyph catalogue we find the following GD24 glyphs:
Of these only the following have holes in them:
In Aa5-4--7 we can read diminishing light (Aa5-5):
Aa5-5 is not in the dark season of the year (black below), but the glyph seems to initiate the 3rd and last period of the year:
In Aa5-4 the bottom part of GD37 also may signal diminishing light, being thinner than the upper part. If I eliminate the hatch-marked glyphs (22) from the total 134 glyphs which I have catalogued as belonging to GD37 there remains 112 glyphs. One of these, Ab3-26, seems to be black:
Among the remaining 111 we find a great variability. Even the 68 glyphs which appear to be without 'contamination' from other GD are variously formed:
As can be seen there are 3 glyphs (Aa4-42, Aa5-4 and Aa5-36) which are alike (redmarked above), presumably indicating a continuation of a theme. We notice 42 and 36 again, this time surrounding number 4. Possibly number 4 is also alluded to in the rhomboid shape suggested by the legs in Aa5-6:
Though this is not obvious, since I have not seen it earlier - Aa5-6 is not listed among the GD53 glyphs. As the forefinger (?) is free from the rest of the glyph we should read the sign '1', especially as it is not bent like the rest of the fingers. From the internal parallel glyphs (Ab7-24--26) - note the numbers 24 and 26 - it appears indeed that there should be a hole between the legs in Aa5-6:
We also understand that the triplet on top of the head in Ab7-25 suggests hau tea. To understand Ab7-25 we lean on Aa5-5--6 and to understand Aa5-6 we lean on Ab7-25. In Ab7-25 the 'fruit' (hua) stems from the thumb (the normal pattern), whereas in Aa5-6 it appears as if the origin is the middle finger. Maybe GD33 (viri) - as here seen in Aa5-7 and Ab7-26 - alludes to GD24 with both holes open? I have earlier suggested that GD33 indicates solstice, based among other things on Ab1-1 being GD33. |
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