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The glyph type
ihe tau appears at the close of calendars, or at the end
of main sections of calendars. The picture is
that of a moon crescent broken in half, which conveys suggestions of
a time when growing no longer continues - i.e. a state of death. If
ihe tau
is reversed, it becomes a sign of birth, as at right in Ab1-37:
South of the
equator the crescent of a waxing moon looks reversed as compared to
how it is seen north of the equator. Therefore the half moon in
ihe tau
represents half a waning moon. In Ca7-27, beyond full moon in the
Mamari moon calendar, an unusual variant of marama (moon)
describes waning moon as a waxing moon crescent turned around 180º:
The light part has
become the bottom and the dark (hatchmarked) part has come to the
top. The glyph presumably illustrates how the waxing moon has
'broken'.
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Excursion:
A few notes
regarding the structure of Mamari (C). |
Looking closer at Ca7-27 we notice that the pattern inside the moon crescent is not much different from
what we have seen at Kb4-17:
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Kb4-15 |
Kb4-16 |
Kb4-17 (170) |
Kb4-18 |
The first pages of the excursion:
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By comparing
with the K text it is rather obvious that 167 glyphs -
possibly equal to 167 days - is a measure used for
describing the time when the island is visited by the sun:
... Sun is fire (and
light and life) incorporated and cannot tolerate water, which
'kills' him. Into the western ocean he descends and it becomes
black. In the text of K he is alive up to 168, and then only his
spirit continues. But the watery stretch between the mainland and
Nga Kope Ririva cannot have any glyph ...
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... |
19 |
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Kb4-14 |
Kb4-15 |
Kb4-16 |
Kb4-17 |
Kb4-18 |
Kb4-19 |
*Kb5-1 |
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167 |
168 |
169 |
170 |
22 |
However, at position 168 another important light in the sky, the
new waxing moon, would be perfectly located. And that is exactly
what we can read in the Mamari moon calendar - after
position 167 the great Moa cries out that a new moon is
'dawning'.
The period described
by 167 glyphs
presumably refers only to such nights when moon (potentially at
least) is visible. 6 * 29.5 = 177 could then be the total length
of the 'sun-is-present' season. Somewhere among the 3 islets (Nga
Kope Ririva) is the definite final.
Furthermore, the
'shield' at right in Kb4-17 may indicate (by way of its internal
signs) that a 'pivotal point' is reached at 170.
Maybe an attempt has been made to define the length of the
regular solar calendar year as 360 days:
170 / 167 * 12 *
29.5 = 360.36
Supporting evidence
is given by the fact that beyond Kb4-17 there are 22 glyph
positions remaining - and 22 probably refers
to π by way of 22 / 7. The circumference of a cycle is 2 * 22 /
7 times the radius. The measure of half a cycle is 22 / 7 times
the radius. So, 'half the cycle (of the year) remains beyond
Kb4-17' could be the message.
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Sun does not visit the island from
the beginning of the text. There are some 60 days before he comes:
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42 |
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62 |
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22 |
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Ka3-14 (60) |
Ka3-15 |
Kb1-7 |
Kb4-14 |
Kb4-15 |
Kb4-16 |
Kb4-17
(170) |
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2 * 22 = 44 |
3 * 22 = 66 |
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60 + 6 * 22 = 192 |
And if we wish to have 5 * 31 =
155 days for the presence of spring sun, not even 192 - 60 = 132 is enough.
192 - 155 = 37 and 167 - 155 = 12. Nothing around position 37 indicates a
beginning for sun-is-present, and beyond position 12 the glyphs
are absent (best not to say destroyed):
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Ka1-7 |
Ka1-8 |
Ka1-9 |
Ka1-10 |
Ka1-11 |
Ka1-12 |
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... |
... |
... |
... |
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*Ka1-13 |
*Ka1-14 |
*Ka1-15 |
*Ka1-16 |
*Ka1-17 |
*Ka1-18 |
I have to
rewrite the beginning of the text into:
By comparing
with the K text it is rather obvious that 167 glyphs -
possibly equal to 167 days - is a measure used for
describing
where sun's
visit on the island ends:
167 / 177 * 29.5 =
27.8 - could that be an approximate measure for the number of nights moon
can be visible in a month?
167 / 6 = 27.8
(because 177 = 6 * 29.5). In the G text - the K text is too short - glyph number 278 is
Gb2-22 (notice double 22):
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| Gb2-17 |
Gb2-18 |
Gb2-19 |
Gb2-20 |
Gb2-21 |
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| Gb2-22
(278) |
Gb2-23 |
Gb2-24 |
Gb2-25 |
Gb2-26 |
The reversed glyph
is Ga7-14:
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| Ga7-11 |
Ga7-12 |
Ga7-13 |
Ga7-14
(184) |
Ga7-15 |
Ga7-16 |
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| Ga7-17 |
Ga7-18 |
Ga7-19
(189) |
Ga7-20 |
Ga7-21 |
Ga7-22
(192) |
But in Ga5-10 the
'sails of the canoe' are as in Gb2-22:
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18 |
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| Ga5-10
(121) |
Ga5-11 |
Ga5-12 |
Ga5-13 |
Ga5-14 |
Ga5-15 |
Ga5-16 |
Possibly Ga7-14 and
Gb2-22 together mark where sun is not:
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93 |
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Ga7-14 (184) |
Gb2-22 (278) |
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95 = 5 * 19 |
