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TRANSLATIONS
"Sixty days after the winter solstice corresponds by astronomical definition to February 20. On that date in 1250 B.C. Arcturus rose before sunset, was two and one-half degrees above the horizon at sunset, and seven degrees above the horizon by thirty-tree minutes after sunset, when it could shine through the fading glow of the day. On the same date in 700 B.C., Arcturus did not rise until after sunset and did not attain a seven-degree elevation above the horizon until one hour and twelve minutes after sunset. By then it was totally dark; the facts of 700 B.C. simply do not seem to fit the circumstances of acronychal rising as defined in the passage of Hesiod." "Curiously enough ... phenomena Hesiod mentions are ... more appropriate to a date of 1250 than to Hesiod's date of 700 B.C. There is a rather technical temporal formula given at Works and Days 564-566: 'When Zeus, after the turn of the (winter) solstice, has completed sixty wintry days, that's when the sign-star Arcturus leaves the cold stream of Ocean and first rises acronychally in splendor'. The occurrence of the solstices was not determinable by any exact stellar apparition but was to be found roughly by the use of a gnomon. The apparition of Arcturus confirms that the solstice was sixty days past. Its rising is one of the few sure signposts of the year. Arcturus is the fifth brightest star (zero magnitude) visible in the northern latitudes. If it is not obscured by haze or a high horizon, it will become visible within a half-hour after sunset." "His word (its earliest extant use in Greek) is akronephaios, a word used by other authors to refer specifically to the rising of a body during evening twilight. One might dispute my stipulation that Arcturus be seven degrees above the horizon for visibility, but the dispute would have to be in the direction of a greater elevation. I have chosen the minimum. A greater elevation would serve to push the date of the applicability of the phenomena even earlier than I have suggested." (Worthen) Hesiod was a man of tradition, I suppose. The Easter Islanders, I think, would also have tried their best to preserve a rule of 60 days beyond winter solstice if there ever was such an ancient rule in their collective memory bank. But if Arcturus came too late in 700 B.C. the Polynesians would have chosen another star - they were practical astronomers (not humanists like Hesiod). Moreover, they would have chosen a star appropriate to 60 days beyond winter solstice and the best star for that purpose. In evaluating what was the best star they would have tried to use what tradition told. The Mayan had a calendar which (I have interpreted) indicates that light is 'barred' during the first three months. At haga rave in the glyph dictionary I have said:
With each month having 20 days (excepting Vayeb), the 60 days at the beginning once again will appear. There are 3 * 20 = 60 days without light (Pop, Uo, and Zip), and then the 'mouth' (vaha in Polynesian) is opening (in Zotz). In the rongorongo system one of the signs which indicates light entering is moa, as e.g. in Ga3-3:
Another sign is vaha mea. I have no vaha mea glyphs listed under K in my catalogue. Under G I have listed a few, among them Ga3-4. Why that glyph? Probably because of the fins on the straight fish-like body. Ika glyphs cannot (according to my classification scheme) have any other fins than tail fins. The only easily classifiable vaha mea is Ga1-4:
Presumably it appears here, at the very beginning of the text for the calendar of the year, because it tells about the crucial nature of the light opening which lies a short time in the future. I think it is probable that the first 60 days (or 59) of the rongorongo calendars for the year describe a season when sun not yet has appeared on the island. Naturally, we now should take a quick look at the C text, to see if we can identify the border which should be stated around glyph number 60. |
