TRANSLATIONS

TRANSLATIONS

Indeed, pictures are more easy to read than words. In Métraux I found a little picture of a manu uru with his comments:

"The nose is narrow and straight and on the same plane as the forehead. The mouth is formed by two parallel raised strips. The oval eyes protrude. The cheekbones are two crescentic prominences ..."

Crescents are signs of the moon, I believe, and we remember the same type of signs under the eyes of our example of ua:

The left eye has a bigger dark pupil than the right, and I guess that is in order, because first comes darkness and later on light.

In the picture language left seems to correspond to darkness, female, and before, while right means light, male, and later on.

The rongorongo texts follow this pattern. We remember Aa4-58 and Aa4-60 respective Hb9-23 and Hb9-25:

Left indicates 'past' (tu'a) and right 'what we see in front of us' (mata).

From this perspective it is reasonable to understand Ab1-2 in a new way:

The crescent at bottom corresponds to the crescentic 'prominence' of a cheekbone and the light (hau tea) is located at the level of the eyes. Nose and eyebrows form the middle vertical line respectively the 'roof' of hau tea.

The central sun god picture in Tiahuanaco has a similarly formed face, with mouth like a horizontal line and a nose supporting the sky roof - together forming a kind of T (cfr manu uru above):

Continuing with these ideas we recollect the 3 glyphs to be compared:


Ab1-2	Ab1-15	Aa4-14

In Ab1-2 the crescent and the lights above are one and the same, in Ab1-15 another light (different, yet not separated) is onboard, and in Aa4-14 a separation has occurred. Sun has been reborn from mother moon.

In Sb2-33 another image possibly tells about how sun is a canoe:

Aa4-14 is located on the sunny side of the tablet and around spring equinox:


Aa1-1	Aa1-2	Aa1-3	Aa1-4

Aa2-74	Aa3-15	Aa3-32	Aa4-18

Maybe sun is inside the 'uterus' (henua) up to that point. Conception at midsummer + 9 months = spring equinox.

Metoro used to call the 'feather crown' in GD19 haú.


Ab1-15	Aa4-14
e kana ia	kua haú* ia*

Hau, ha'u

Hau = Thread, line, string, ribbon; this is the name of the fibres of the hauhau tree formerly used to make twine, cloth, etc.; hau kahi, fishing line for tuna; hau here, line for eel trap; hau moroki, strong, tough line, thread; hau paka, fibres of the hauhau tree, which were first soaked in water, then dried to produce a strong thread. Ha'u = Hat. Vanaga.

Hau. 1. Hibiscus. 2. Wick. 2. To contribute. 3. Hat, cap, helmet; hakarere ki te hau, to take off the hat; hauvaero, plume, aigrette, head ornament; hauvarikapau, plume, aigrette, head ornament. 4. Dew; hakaritorito ki te hau, to bleach in the dew. 5. To blow freshly, coolness, zephyr, salubrious, breeze, wind (hahau, ahau); kona hauhau, kona hahau, a breezy spot; ahau ora, agreeable breeze; hakahahau, to hang out in the air; hakaahau, to blow. Churchill.

Hat, cord; the tree Triumfetta semitriloba. Van Tilburg. Ta.: The tree Hibiscus tiliacus. Henry.

Pau.: Hau, superior, kingdom, to rule. Mgv.: hau, respect. Ta.: hau, government. Mq.: hau, id. Sa.: sauā, despotic. Ma.: hau, superior. Churchill.

Possibly he saw the binding together of the crown as more important than the feathers as such. Possibly he used Tahitian hau = government → the kingdom of the sun.

To 'prove' that the normal type of GD19 fundamentally is of the same kind as the oval type, we have evidence in a parallel:

6 66-78
	Ga3-22	Ga3-23	Ga3-24

	Ka4-13	Ka4-14	Ka4-15

According to my early investigations into this solar calendar the 6th subsequence of glyphs from the beginning could cover the days 66-78, i.e. be located somewhat before spring equinox (day 95).

In the 3rd of the 8 moon periods, according to Mamari, we find:

3rd period
	Ca7-8	Ca7-9	Ca7-10	Ca7-11	Ca7-12

	Ca7-13	Ca7-14	Ca7-15	Ca7-16
	*Maharu*	*Ohua*	*Otua*

In Ca7-9 the arm is a separate part from the sitting main figure. I commented:

At first glance this glyph looks as if the writer had made a mistake, forgetting to write the arm with hand towards the mouth. He perhaps should have written this glyph as

But I suspect that it is not a mistake, that there is a difference in meaning between these two glyphs. There is a similar 'misprint' in period 5 in the solar calendar (which we soon will start to study):

The separation may show the moment of birth, the time when the 'fruit' (Ohua) emerges as a separate entity. In the lunar calendar it may be the full moon which appears, while in the solar calendars it may be the 'full' sun. The 2nd part of the cycle is initiated by the maximum phase, and the black 'eye' becomes white.

... According to a Hawaiian moon calendar: ...in these days the farmers like to plant... anything that bears fruit (hua). The Moon on the night of Hua is rounded like an egg (hua) ...

Ca7-15 and other instances of GD19 may tell about how at this time the gods are near, those who wear the fiery headdresses:

At Ab1-15 we have another picture, with moon delivering her baby:

Ab1-15

e kana ia

15 is not only the ordinal number in line Ab1, but also the ordinal number of Ca7-15. Furthermore, the number of 'feathers' on the perimeter of that hau is 15. Full moon occurs on the 15th night according to Mamari.

In Ca7-16 we can see that full moon is emerging from his (?) mother:

Kana

Le kana est un crustacé dont l'enveloppe fournissait un ornement nommé Rei, comme la planche représentant un des longs côtes d'un navire. La femme représentée, en Cook, avec le chapeaux Poouo, porte au core un kana rei. (Jaussen according to Barthel)

The 'crustacé' reminds us about the crayfish (ura) and also about how in ancient Egypt the sun was imagined to be a scarab:

... First we have the lifting up of the sun:

Hathor emerging through the side of a mountain = the necropolis. (Wilkinson)

As I read the picture the sun is depicted as a scarab:

There are many species of dung beetle in Egypt, but the great sacred dor or scarab (Scarabeus sacer) is the species which most often is depicted in Egyptian art. This beetle is known for its habit of rolling balls of dung along the ground and then to keep them in tunnels under the surface of the earth for larva food.

Larva ... A. † spectre, ghost ... B. insect in the grub state ... L., 'disembodied spirit', ghost', 'mask' ... sense B is due to Linnæus, and is an application of the sense 'mask', the notion being that the perfect insect or imago is not recognizable in the larva (Ray, 1691, had spoken of 'the same Insect under a different Larva or habit' ... (English Etymology)

As the young dung beetles appeared to emerge by themselves out of such tunnels the Egyptians worshipped the scarab under the name Chepri, 'he who emerged' or 'he who was created'. Already very early the dor beetle therefore was identified with the god of creation, Atum.

The rays on the head of the scarab and the habit to roll a ball of dung in front of himself also made it close at hand to regard it as a symbol of the sun. They also believed that the god Chepri rolled the sun over the sky in the same way ...

The necropolis is the mountain and the mountain is the abode of the spirits (larvae). Emerging from 'pits' (rua) in the east is returning from 'the other side' (te rua paiga) ...

We also have early in Sunday a picture which presumably depicts a similar stage in the development of the sun:


Hb9-17	Hb9-18	Hb9-19	Hb9-20	Hb9-21

Ideas:

1. This is probably a picture of a person hanging upside down. Normally we would then euphemistically call him 'fish' (ika), i.e. a victim bound up in a tree and soon to become offered to the Gods (and then potentially also made into food for the victorius).

But I doubt that this is the correct interpretation in this instance, in part because there is a sign included: The corpse is not hanging as it should, i.e. straight down. Instead it looks more like the bound up body was floating on the surface of the sea. However, it might be too imaginative to compare it to the coffin of Osiris in the Egyptian myth.

2. The unusual way in which it is hanging might be 'read' as a way to tell that it is not a real victim but a symbol. This symbol could for instance be a way to write 'tapu'. Women and children are not allowed near a hanging victim. And according to Barthel tapu = sacrifice.

In the modern Maori language Sunday is called Ratapu (and ra is 'day', 'sun, etc). The names of the other days of the week are borrowings from the English language. Perhaps Sunday was called Ratapu on Easter Island as well?

A dry outer shell protects the soft inner parts of the sun from the watery surroundings when he is taking a rest to rejuvenate himself.

The dry shell (paka) of a turtle (hônu) comes to mind as a useful symbol for the sun 'riding the waves':


Ab1-14	Ab4-61	Ca14-212	Ea6-18	Eb4-9
e honu paka	honu paka	te honu paka	te honu paka	te honu paka

We must here remember what was written about GD17 in the glyph dictionary:

GD17

honu

'hônu'

or rather the animal between the 'turtle' shields.

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1. This type of glyph is found close to niu (GD18), indicating a close relationship with winter solstice, the time when old and new year meet.

"At the risk of invoking the criticism, 'Astronomers rush in where philologists fear to tread', I should like to suggest that Taku-rua corresponds to the two-headed Roman god Janus who, on the first of January, looks back upon the old year with one head and forward to the new year with the other, and who is god of the threshold of the home as well as of the year...

There is probably a play on words in takurua - it has been said that Polynesian phrases usually invoke a double meaning, a common and an esoteric one. Taku means 'slow', the 'back' of anything, 'rim' and 'command'. Rua is a 'pit', 'two' or 'double'. Hence takurua has been translated 'double command', 'double rim', and 'rim of the pit', by different authorities. Taku-pae is the Maori word for 'threshold'...

Several Tuamotuan and Society Islands planet names begin with the word Takurua or Ta'urua which Henry translated Great Festivity and which is the name for the bright star Sirius in both New Zealand and Hawaii.

The planet names, therefore, represent the final stage in the evolution of takurua which was probably first applied to the winter solstice, then to Sirius which is the most conspicious object in the evening sky of December and January, and was then finally employed for the brilliant and conspicious planets which outshone even the brightest star Sirius. From its association with the ceremonies of the new year and the winter solstice, takurua also aquired the meaning 'holiday' or 'festivity'." (Makemson)

2. According to Metoro GD17 is a turtle, hônu.

"An iconographic study by Jeff Kowalski suggests a cosmological layout for the Nunnery. The higher placement of the North Building, with its 13 exterior doorways (reflecting the 13 layers of heaven), and the celestial serpents surmounting the huts identify it with the celestial sphere.

The iconography of the West Building, with 7 exterior doorways (7 is the mystic number of the earth's surface), and figures of Pawahtun - the earth god as a turtle - indicate this to be the Middleworld, the place of the sun's descent into the Underworld.

The East Building has mosaic elements reflecting the old war cult of Teotihuacan, where tradition had it that the sun was born; thus, this may also be Middleworld, the place of the rising sun. Finally, the South Building has 9 exterior doorways (the Underworld or Xibalba had 9 layers), and has the lowest placement in the compex; it thus seems to be associated with death and the nether regions." (The Maya)

However, hônu also means spider 'the species found in houses' (according to Vanaga). Spiders are symbols for the sun. Spiders makes a thread, the sun a path. The thread is used to make a net, like longitudes and latitudes.

"The 'living god', moreover, passes the night prior to the dismemberment of Lono in a temporary house called 'the net house of Kahoali'i', set up before the temple structure where the image sleeps. In the myth pertinent to these rites, the trickster hero - whose father has the same name (Kuuka'ohi'alaki) as the Kuu-image of the temple - uses a certain 'net of Maoloha' to encircle a house, entrapping the goddess Haumea; whereas, Haumea (or Papa) is also a version of La'ila'i, the archetypal fertile woman, and the net used to entangle her had belonged to one Makali'i, 'Pleiades'.

Just so, the succeeding Makahiki ceremony, following upon the putting away of the god, is called 'the net of Maoloha', and represents the gains in fertility accruing to the people from the victory over Lono. A large, loose-mesh net, filled with all kinds of food, is shaken at a priest's command. Fallen to earth, and to man's lot, the food is the augury of the coming year. The fertility of nature thus taken by humanity, a tribute-canoe of offerings to Lono is set adrift for Kahiki, homeland of the gods.

The New Year draws to a close. At the next full moon, a man (a tabu transgressor) will be caught by Kahoali'i and sacrificed. Soon after the houses and standing images of the temple will be rebuilt: consecrated - with more human sacrifices - to the rites of Kuu and the projects of the king." (Islands of History)

The translation 'turtle' might be better than 'spider', as the sun at the solstices moves slowly like a turtle.

3. In the sacred landscape of Easter Island we find the 'turtle' in the evening shadows, quite in agreement with the sun descending in the west and with the disappearance of the old year at winter solstice. Furthermore, number 59 in the 'second list of place names' mentions a turtle:

58 "ata popohanga toou e to ata hero e. 'Yours is the morning shadow' refers to an area in Ata Hero where the house of Ricardo Hito is now located."

59 "ata ahiahi toou e honu e. 'Yours is the evening shadow' belongs to a 'turtle'. I could not obtain any information about the location, but I suspect that the 'turtle' refers to a motif in the narration of Tuki Hakahevari (the turtle is carved in stone in a cave along the bay of Apina). The contrasting pair 'morning shadow vs. evening shadow' establishes a definite spatial relationship."

60 "apina nui a papa nihoni(ho) a vere nuanua a papa o rae i te ngao o te moai o hinariru. The above 'second list of place names' begins in Apina Iti and ends in Apina Nui, therefore proceeding from 'small' (iti) to 'large' (nui).

Three additional names occur: the 'indented (?) rock' is now said be called Papa Haoa, 'Vere Nuanua' is supposed to have been a person, and the 'rock of the first one' introduces the statement 'around the neck of the figure Hinariru'.

This obviously refers to the mother-of-pearl ornament that was hung around the neck of the stone figure. When riding the waves, that is, coming from the sea, the 'rock of the first one' is in the center of the field of vision and is marked by the figure with the ornament.

The 'first one' could refer to Ira, the first-born, or to the stone figure placed on the rock. The three additions 'serrated rock', 'hoed piece of land', and 'rock of the first one' all refer to open areas." (Barthel 2)

It must be mentioned that 'turtle' was a name for the board used in riding the waves:

"They stayed, and another day dawned. Then Ira said, 'Let's go! Let's go down to swim with the board, to ride the waves!' They all got up, climbed down, and arrived. They took off cape and loincloth (he hune i te hami). Then they all hurried and mounted the topside of a plank. They climbed on it, moved it, and reached the islets (motu, here, 'cliffs off the shore').

They all formed a line and looked toward the waves. When the wave began to rise, when it began to move faster and faster, they all turned the lower part of their body (? tiave) and coasted on top of the wave toward the right side. Once they were underway (literally, 'when the turtle was gone'), their eyes looked toward the land at an angle. Ira called out with a loud voice, 'Our ride on the wave is to the right!' (Fast) as on a sled was the ride on the wave, and it brought them to the shore. The place where they landed was given the name 'Hanga Roa'."

"It grew light, and again Ira spoke. This is what he said: 'Turn around, all of you, and go down to ride the waves (literally, 'to the turtle, to act like a turtle'). Five of them went down; only Ira did not go down to let himself be carried on a board by a wave.

['Five' here alludes to the five extracalendrical nights between the years, the difference between 365 and 360.]

After the young kinsmen had gone down to surf, Ira got up, picked up the mat with the treasure, unfolded the mat, pulled out the mother-of-pearl ornament (reipa), folded the mat again tightly, and left it on the ground. Ira got up, climbed up, went on, and reached Ruhi Hepii. He drilled a hole into the stone. After the hole was deep enough, he took the ornament (rei) and put it into the hole so the shiny side (rapa) was turned outward. He gave the place the name Ruhi Hepii. He turned around, climbed down, went on, and entered the cave Pu Pakakina. When he arrived there, he sat down." (Barthel 2)

In Métraux there is an illuminating picture:

It is a hat 'of plaited bulrush covered with painted tapa'. In the area marked 1 a part has been ripped off to show the plaiting below.

The front part (right) is delineated by a kind of border the structure of which we recognize from that on the face of the sun god at Tiahuanaco (see earlier above). The eyebrow part of the border has a shape like viri. The right side is longer than the left.

At the back of the hat there is a similar border, but here the ends are configured as Y, i.e. at the back side we find the female dark part.

In the center there is a shell and possibly the creature is an insect. If we count the 'Y-tail' ends as 2 each we reach the sum 6 for the legs. The head of the creature is protruding in front of the shell, at the same time performing the function of a nose.

On the left (female) side we see three wedge-formed lines (ribs?) as if to signal GD46 (po, darkness). There are dots too on the shield, and maybe the insect is a lady-bug.