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TRANSLATIONS
Several times I have tried to finish
all these pages deriving from the hyperlink
'Excursion', but new important aspects keep
popping up. Now it is time
to reach a full stop to enable a continuing
with vae.
7. The obvious
sign of 'moon' in Eb5-11 (and surrounding glyphs) should make us
remember from the vai part of this dictionary how at the
beginning of the 6th period moon and maro probably
signify the end of dark winter:
|
6 |
 |
 |
Only 2 glyphs.
Moon (winter) is 'finished' (maro, GD67, with 4
'feathers'). |
|
Eb3-7 |
Eb3-8 |
Counting
from Eb3-8 to the 'moon mauga' we need 84 glyphs:
|
|
82 |
 |
 |
|
Eb3-8 |
Eb5-11 |
Eb5-12 |
|
41 |
124 |
125 |
|
1 |
84 |
1 |
This is hardly
a coincidence, 84 is a most important number in the rongorongo
texts (as we have noted several times earlier in this dictionary and
elsewhere in this site). We had better work with
42 (half 84), though:
The total number of
glyphs in the calendar (167) is subdivided into 4 equally long
sequences of glyphs if we use Eb3-8, the 'moon mauga' and
the 4 central glyphs in the table above. 4 * 42 = 168, but Eb3-8
is counted twice.
With 6 for sun and 7
for moon, 42 can symbolize their union (6 * 7 = 42) and 4 * 42 = 168 = 24 * 7,
as if signifying 24 weeks.
If we add these 168
nights to the 186 for the very last mauga
glyph (Eb2-13) we get 354 = 6 * 59 (or 6 double-month cycles of
the moon, given 29½ nights for each such month). Coincidence?
Hardly! The 'moon mauga' and the 'last mauga for
the sun' cooperate.
186 - 168 = 18
and 168 - 18 = 150. The 'moon mauga' is of central
importance.
|
The triplet 150, 168, 186 equals 3 * 168 =
504 = 21 * 24 = (3 * 7) * (3 * 8). The
ordinal number of the 'last mauga'
(186) probably was influenced by the season
with 150 glyphs and 'noon mauga' at
the center.
Trying to establish an overview:
| The 'moon
mauga' presumably primarily
defines a part of the year with
84 glyphs, possibly 6 fortnights
long. 364 - 84 = 280 = 10 * 28
are left. 84 = 3 * 28, i.e. 3
months. (The last two lines of
Tahua, b7-b8, each has 84
glyphs.) These 3 months probably
arrive when sun leaves for his
winter wife, at autumn equinox,
in the 19th period.
The 'last
mauga' would then,
reasonably, be used to define
the definite end of the old sun
(year), while the 'noon mauga'
would pinpoint its opposite -
the maximum of sun. All three
mauga can therefore refer to
the sun (which also is implied
by their difference - 18 - in
glyph numbers).
The 'noon
mauga' indirectly defines
Eb6-2 (150) as the end of the
'noon season'. The glyph is
ihe tau with maro,
doubly confirming an end has
been reached. The 'moon season'
(with 84 glyph = 84 days) suggests
1 glyph = 1 day, and 150 = 5 *
30, a reasonable length for the
'noon season'.
364 - 84 - 150
= 130 glyphs (and days) would
then be left over for the 'last
mauga' season . However,
the three cycles cover each
other:
|
Eb3-8 |
- |
Eb5-11 |
- |
Eb3-8 |
168 |
|
Eb1-37 |
- |
Eb4-22--23 |
- |
Eb2-13 |
186 |
|
Eb1-37 |
- |
Eb4-4 |
- |
Eb6-2 |
150 |
|
red marks mauga |
The 'moon
mauga' is different from
the other two (which begin
at the same point). 186 +
150 = 336 leaves 28 glyphs
(up to 364). 336 = (6 + 5) *
30 + 6. Presumably one month
(28 or 30 - 6 = 24) is
outside the two sun
calendars in some meaning.
|
The last and summary page for the
'Excursion':
|
To summarize
some of the possibilities in this 'Swiss pocketknife': A. The 'moon'
mauga (Eb5-11) can be used to mark the 15th full moon night,
given that 7 glyphs are used for each night and the calendar starts
with the last glyph in the 1st period, immediately beyond the 'dark'
mauga (Eb2-13). In this perspective an allusion to the dark
29th night of the moon and the season of the 'dark' mauga
seems irresistible.
B. The 'moon'
mauga can also be used to count periods of 13 nights, given that
the counting begins with the 1st glyph in the 2nd period. Eb5-11
will then be glyph number 104, i.e. be the last glyph in the 8th
period, with 2 periods remaining to Eb6-2 (number 130).
C. The 'dark'
mauga (Eb2-13) can be used to count through the winter season,
provided it has 186 days, and given that the calendar begins with
the 1st glyph of the 1st period. The 'dark' mauga will then
have two ordinal numbers, not only the final 186 but also 19 (which
is a number characterizing 'final' for the sun - cfr 29 as 'final'
for the moon).
D. The 'light'
mauga (Eb4-4) marks the end of the 1st half of 150 glyphs.
Therefore it can be used to refer to full moon (the 15th night of
the moon), given that each night is counted as 5 glyphs, and given
that counting begins with the 1st glyph in the 1st period. It can
also be used to mark the midpoint of summer, for instance by having
1 glyph for each day - allowing summer to stretch for 150 days. If each glyph
is given 2 days, the calendar
can be expanded to cover 300 days (or 10 months à 30 days).
E. On a more
advanced level it can be shown that the 'moon' mauga divides
the cycle of the calendar into 4 equal parts (with 42 glyphs in
each) and that their sum (168) is a mirror image of the 186 glyphs
of the 'dark' mauga. Summing up we get 168 + 186 = 354 = 12 *
29½ = 6 * 58 'moon double months'.
|
Several questions are left open. What is the
meaning conveyed by the eye signs?
 |
|
 |
|
Eb4-4 |
Eb5-11 |
Eb2-13 |
|
noon |
moon |
end |
The single eye in Eb4-4
possibly refers to how sun now has left his
maximum position and is located on the downward slope
at right. The head of tagata glyphs
probably carry eyes as signs in the same way
as mauga glyphs.
Is it possible to join the Easter Island
calendar to the glyphs in some meaningful
way? He Maro could be at Eb6-2, but
June is the month of winter solstice, and it
would imply the 'noon season' reaches up to
winter solstice, even though sun moves north
to his winter wife at autumn equinox.
Other maro glyphs exist, though:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb2-1 |
Eb3-8 |
Eb3-16 |
Eb4-26 |
Eb6-2 |
Eb6-15 |
|
174 (7) |
41 |
49 |
97 |
150 |
163 |
|
6 * 29 |
7 * 7 |
6 * 25 |
With the 'end mauga' in the 1st
period of the text new year seems to
determine the beginning - not spring
equinox. The cardinal points of the sun
(solstices and equinoxes) are not defined
until we know where the cardinal points of
the calendar (the 4 quarters or 3 tertials)
are located.
The undulation sign should also be
investigated, and maybe the following glyphs
put in focus:
 |
 |
|
|
Eb1-37 |
Eb2-2 |
Eb2-13 |
|
1 (168) |
8 (175) |
19 (186) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb2-22 |
Eb2-23 |
Eb3-6 |
Eb3-30 |
|
28 |
29 |
39 |
63 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb4-22 |
Eb4-23 |
Eb4-40 |
Eb4-42 |
|
93 |
94 |
111 |
113 |
 |
 |
|
Eb5-14 |
Eb5-18 |
|
127 |
131 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb6-6 |
Eb6-8 |
Eb6-17 |
Eb6-18 |
|
154 |
156 |
165 |
166 |
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