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239. There is a curious expression in the Swedish language: 'bjuda med armbågen'  ('to offer with the elbow'), i.e. to invite someone in a way which shows a deliberate and cold intention of not giving anything at all away -.the opposite of stretching out (as in Mebsuta, ε Gemini) an inviting and giving hand (or paw).

At the time when a young one is sucking he will, if possible, not allow anyone else to take part, this we can observe everywhere among us living creatures.

During his intake (sucking) - from the sweet water pools on the 'upraised reef' - the Sun would have his hand towards his mouth, showing only his hard elbow in front (as in ζ Gemini, Mekbuda):

Aa1-17 Aa1-18 Aa1-19 Aa1-20
Aa1-21 Aa1-22 Aa1-23 Aa1-24

3 golden rings = 3 * 26 = 78 (March 19)

The fundamental distinction between a benevolent and giving hand open in front, empty after having giving it all away,

... The practice of turning down the fingers, contrary to our practice, deserves notice, as perhaps explaining why sometimes savages are reported to be unable to count above four. The European holds up one finger, which he counts, the native counts those that are down and says 'four'. Two fingers held up, the native counting those that are down, calls 'three'; and so on until the white man, holding up five fingers, gives the native none turned down to count. The native is nunplussed, and the enquirer reports that savages can not count above four ...

and a hand used for 'sucking' (primitive man is drinking not from a glass of water but from a spring using his cupped hand and throwing its contents into the mouth) corresponds to the distinction between returning (spitting out)

Aa6-66 (482, 1146)
e he goe kua moe
Goe. Milky Way. Vanaga.
Cb14-17 (346) Cb14-18 Cb14-19 (740)
kokoti hia te henua tagata hakaitiiti i te henua
α Muscae (190.2), τ Centauri (190.5), χ Virginis (190.7)

ALDERAMIN (α Cephei)

Al Áwwā'-11 (The Barker) / Shur-mahrū-shirū-18 (Front or West Shur)

SOMBRERO GALAXY = M104 Virginis (191.1), ρ Virginis (191.4), PORRIMA = γ Virginis, γ Centauri (191.5)

ι Crucis (192.2), β Muscae (192.5), MIMOSA = β Crucis (192.9)
Sept 27 (270) 28 29 (*192)
19 July (200) 20 21 (*122)
ANDROMEDA GALAXY (M31), π Andromedae (7.7) ε Andromedae (8.2), DELTA = δ Andromedae (8.4), SCHEDIR (Breast) = α Cassiopeiae (8.6), ζ Andromedae, μ Phoenicis (8.9) ξ Phoenicis (9.0), ρ Tucanae (9.1), DENEB KAITOS (Tail of the Sea Beast) = β Ceti, η Phoenicis (9.4), AL NITHĀM (String of Pearls) = φ¹ Ceti (9.6)

... Traditionally, remark, the kava root was chewed to make the infusion: The sacrificed child of the people is cannibalized by the young chiefs. The water of the kava, however, has a different symbolic provenance. The classic Cakaudrove kava chant, performed at the Lau installation rites, refers to it as sacred rain water from the heavens... This male and chiefly water (semen) in the womb of a kava bowl whose feet are called 'breasts' (sucu), and from the front of which, tied to the upper part of an inverted triangle, a sacred cord stretches out toward the chief ... 

The cord is decorated with small white cowries, not only a sign of chieftainship but by name, buli leka, a continuation of the metaphor of birth - buli, 'to form', refers in Fijian procreation theory to the conceptual acception of the male in the body of the woman. The sacrificed child of the people will thus give birth to the chief. But only after the chief, ferocious outside cannibal who consumes the cannibalized victim, has himself been sacrificed by it. For when the ruler drinks the sacred offering, he is in the state of intoxication Fijians call 'dead from' (mateni) or 'dead from kava' (mate ni yaqona), to recover from which is explicitly 'to live' (bula). This accounts for the second cup the chief is alone accorded, the cup of fresh water. The god is immediately revived, brought again to life - in a transformed state ...

March 28 (*7) 29 (88) 30
17 Jan (270 - 183) 18 (365 + 18 = 383) 19 (13 * 29½ - ½)

and drawing back (sucking). The cycle has to go on, has to be completed (haka-taka, Fakataka), or time will stop.

... He was moreover confronted with identifications which no European, that is, no average rational European, could admit. He felt himself humiliated, though not disagreeably so, at finding that his informant regarded fire and water as complementary, and not as opposites. The rays of light and heat draw the water up, and also cause it to descend again in the form of rain. That is all to the good. The movement created by this coming and going is a good thing. By means of the rays the Nummo draws out, and gives back the life-force. This movement indeed makes life. The old man realized that he was now at a critical point. If the Nazarene did not understand this business of coming and going, he would not understand anything else. He wanted to say that what made life was not so much force as the movement of forces. He reverted to the idea of a universal shuttle service. 'The rays drink up the little waters of the earth, the shallow pools, making them rise, and then descend again in rain.' Then, leaving aside the question of water, he summed up his argument: 'To draw up and then return what one had drawn - that is the life of the world' ...

Taka, takataka. Circle; to form circles, to gather, to get together (of people). Vanaga. 1. A dredge. P Mgv.: akataka, to fish all day or all night with the line, to throw the fishing line here and there. This can only apply to some sort of net used in fishing. We find in Samoa ta'ā a small fishing line, Tonga taka the short line attached to fish hooks, Futuna taka-taka a fishing party of women in the reef pools (net), Maori takā the thread by which the fishhook is fastened to the line, Hawaii kaa in the same sense, Marquesas takako a badly spun thread, Mangareva takara a thread for fastening the bait on the hook. 2. Ruddy. 3. Wheel, arch; takataka, ball, spherical, round, circle, oval, to roll in a circle, wheel, circular piece of wood, around; miro takataka, bush; haga takataka, to disjoin; hakatakataka, to round, to concentrate. P Pau.: fakatakataka, to whirl around. Mq.: taka, to gird. Ta.: taa, circular piece which connects the frame of a house. Churchill. Takai, a curl, to tie; takaikai, to lace up; takaitakai, to coil. P Pau.: takai, a ball, to tie. Mgv.: takai, a circle, ring, hoop, to go around a thing. Mq.: takai, to voyage around. Ta.: taai, to make into a ball, to attach. Churchill.

In day 150 (May 30, 80 + 70 = 300 / 2) the Janus type of division illustrated in Ga1-6 has benevolent light in front but a dark figure with an egoistically sucking elbow shown at the back side, giving no light at all away:

0h MARCH 22 23 24 25 (84) 26 27 (*6)
no glyph
Ga1-1 Ga1-2 Ga1-3 Ga1-4 Ga1-5 Ga1-6
HYADUM II = δ¹ Tauri (64.2) Net-19 (Crow)

AIN (Eye) = ε Tauri, θ¹ Tauri, θ² Tauri (65.7)

no star listed (66) no star listed (67) Rohini-4 (The Red One) / Pidnu-sha-Shame-4 (Furrow of Heaven) / ANA-MURI-2 (Rear pillar - at the foot of which was the place for tattooing)

ALDEBARAN = α Tauri (68.2), THEEMIN = υ² Eridani (68.5)

no star listed (69) no star listed (70)
May 24 25 (145) 26 May 27 28 (148 = 78 + 70) 29 30 (*70)
15 March 16 (75 = 145 - 70) 17 18 19 (78 = 3 * 26) 20 21 (0h)

In the C text nakshatra Polaris at the last glyph on side a was illustrated by a giving (and empty) type of hand and the measure counted from Ca13-20 (→ 260) to the position of Polaris amounted to 29 (as in Mercury alias Nabū alias Hiro) days, which added to those 348 glyphs on side b will become 377 (= 13 * 29).

... Whiro 'Steals-off-and-hides'; also [in addition to the name of Mercury] the universal name for the 'dark of the Moon' or the first day of the lunar month; also the deity of sneak thieves and rascals ...

260 + 29 = 289, which can be understood as 289 + 'day zero' (when at the time of rongorongo the Full Moon was at the Navel of the Horse, Sirrah, α Andromedae, i.e. when the Sun had reached the Raven at Alchita, α Corvi); and 290 = 10 * 29. Consequently 377 will then change to day zero + 377 = 378 (300 + 3 * 26).

... The ordinary year in the previous Roman calendar consisted of 12 months, for a total of 355 days. In addition, a 27-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. This intercalary month was formed by inserting 22 days after the first 23 or 24 days of February; the last five days of February, which counted down toward the start of March, became the last five days of Intercalaris. The net effect was to add 22 or 23 days to the year, forming an intercalary year of 377 or 378 days ...

28
Ca13-16 Ca13-17 (360) Ca13-18 Ca13-19 Ca13-20 (354 + 9) *Ca14-29 (392)
oho te vae tagata puoko erua tagata puo pouo te vero hia - te rima
3-14 (→ π) March 15 16 17 18 (77) April 16 (106)
'Febr 15 16 17 18 19 (50) 'March 20 (79)
"Febr 1 2 3 4 5 (36) "March 6 (65)
350 351 352 353 12 * 29½ 383

... Ganz ähnlich is der Name 'Gott von Duazag' des Gottes Nabū ... zu erklären. Er bezeichnet ihn als den Gott des Wachtstums, welches als aus dem Osten stammend betrachtet wird, weil die Sonne, die das Wachstum bringt, im Osten aufgeht. Dass aber Nabū als Ost-Gott aufgefasst wurde, hängt damit zusammen, dass sein Stern, der Mercur, nur im Osten oder Westen sichtbar ist ...

... February 29 [2-29] is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar in a leap-year, with 306 days remaining until the end of the year ...

... Menkaure was allegedly a much more benevolent Pharaoh than his predecessors. According to legends related by Herodotus, he wrote the following: This Prince (Mycerinus) disapproved of the conduct of his father, reopened the temples and allowed the people, who were ground down to the lowest point of misery, to return to their occupations and to resume the practice of sacrifice. His justice in the decision of causes was beyond that of all the former kings. The Egyptians praise him in this respect more highly than any other monarchs, declaring that he not only gave his judgements with fairness, but also, when anyone was dissatisfied with his sentence, made compensation to him out of his own purse and thus pacified his anger. The Gods however ordained that Egypt should suffer tyrannical rulers for a hundred and fifty years according to this legend. Herodotus goes on: ... An oracle reached him from the town of Buto, which said 'six years only shalt thou live upon this earth, and in the seventh thou shalt end thy days'. Mycerinus, indignant, sent an angry message to the oracle, reproaching the god with his injustice - 'My father and uncle,' he said 'though they shut up the temples, took no thought of the gods and destroyed multitudes of men, nevertheless enjoyed a long life; I, who am pious, am to die soon!' There came in reply a second message from the oracle - 'for this very reason is thy life brought so quickly to a close - thou hast not done as it behoved thee. Egypt was fated to suffer affliction one hundred and fifty years - the two kings who preceded thee upon the throne understood this - thou hast not understood it'. Mycerinus, when this answer reached him, perceiving that his doom was fixed, had lamps prepared, which he lighted every day at eventime, and feasted and enjoyed himself unceasingly both day and night, moving about in the marsh-country and the woods, and visiting all the places he heard were agreeable sojourns. His wish was to prove the oracle false, by turning night into days and so living twelve years in the space of six ...

July (31) + August (31), the new months added by Julius Caesar, = 62 = 70 - 8, and 300 (Khufu + Khafre) + 2 * 6 (Menkaure) = 372 = 6 * 62.

On side a on the G tablet (carrying 229 glyphs) we can see how the season of toga, with giving (= returning) hands, ended at *118.4 (Φ Gemini) or precisely 107 days after η Andromedae (*11.4), which rose heliacally in April 1 (91):

toga
Toga. 1. Winter season. Two seasons used to be distinguished in ancient times: hora, summer, and toga, winter. 2. To lean against somehing; to hold something fast; support, post supporting the roof. 3. To throw something with a sudden movement. 4. To feed oneself, to eat enough; e-toga koe ana oho ki te aga, eat well first when you go to work. Vanaga. 1. Winter. P Pau., Mgv.: toga, south. Mq.: tuatoka, east wind. Ta.: toa, south. 2. Column, prop; togatoga, prop, stay. Togariki, northeast wind. Churchill. Wooden platform for a dead chief: ka tuu i te toga (Bb8-42), when the wooden platform has been erected. Barthel 2. The expressions Tonga, Kona, Toa (Sam., Haw., Tah.), to indicate the quarter of an island or of the wind, between the south and west, and Tokelau, Toerau, Koolau (Sam., Haw., Tah.), to indicate the opposite directions from north to east - expressions universal throughout Polynesia, and but little modified by subsequent local circumstances - point strongly to a former habitat in lands where the regular monsoons prevailed. Etymologically 'Tonga', 'Kona', contracted from 'To-anga' or 'Ko-ana', signifies 'the setting', seil. of the sun. 'Toke-lau', of which the other forms are merely dialectical variations, signifies 'the cold, chilly sea'. Fornander.

    Delta δ Andromedae 8.4 March 29 (88)
      η Phoenicis 9.4 March 30 (89)
0 - Zero η Andromedae 11.4 April 1 (91)
    Whip Cih (γ Cassiopeiai) 12.4 April 2 (92)
1 Al Sharatain Pair of Signs β Arietis (Sheratan), γ (Mesarthim) 27.4 April 17 (107)
    Musca Borealis 35 (Head of the Fly), 39 (Kaffaljidhma), and 41 Arietis (Bharani) 41.4 May 1 (121)
2 Al Dabarān Follower α Tauri (Aldebaran), θ¹, θ²´, γ (Hyadum I), δ (Hyadum II), ε (Ain) 63.4 May 23 (143)
      Mintaka (δ Orionis)  82.4 June 11 (162)
3 Al Hak'ah White Spot λ Orionis (Heka), φ¹, φ² 83.4 June 12 (163)
4 Al Han'ah Brand γ Gemini (Alhena), μ (Tejat Posterior), ν, η (Tejat Prior), ξ (Alzirr) 93.4 June 22 (173)
5 Al Dhirā' Forearm α Gemini (Castor), β (Pollux) 113.4 July 12 (193)
    Unicorn α Monocerotis 115.4 July 14 (195)
      Φ Gemini 118.4 July 17 (198)

The Forearm (Al Dhirā') was hardly a description referring to the extremities of our Gemini twins, because their stars (Castor and Pollux) were at their heads:

Instead it may have referred to the end of the ancient season of 'sucking', because a forearm was the common tool used as a measure of length, and the pair Mebsuta (Outstretched) and Mekbuda (Contracted) were together giving 5 days as their measure. 185 (July 4) - June 29 (190) = 5.

Furthermore, 193 (July 12 at heliacal Castor) - 78 (March 19) = 115 (April 25):

... Later on in this series of rituals, the Chorti go through a ceremony they call raising the sky. This ritual takes place at midnight on the twenty-fifth of April and continues each night until the rains arrive. In this ceremony two diviners and their wives sit on benches so that they occupy the corner positions of the cosmic square. They take their seats in the same order as the stones were placed, with the men on the eastern side and the women on the west. The ritual actions of sitting down and lifting upward are done with great precision and care, because they are directly related to the actions done by the gods at Creation. The people represent the gods of the four corners and the clouds that cover the earth. As they rise from their seats, they metaphorically lift the sky. If their lifting motion is uneven, the rains will be irregular and harmful ...

According to Allen the names Mebsuta and Mekbuda were describing the pair of front legs of the ancient greater Leo. Although the Chinese had the contracted front paw of their Tiger earlier than his outstretched front leg:

APRIL 17 (107) 18 19 20 (*30) 21
11 April 12 13 14 (104 = 78 + 26) 15 (*25)
Ga1-27 Ga1-28 Ga1-29 Ga1-30 Ga2-1
6h (91.3)

ν Orionis (91.4), θ Columbae (91.5), π Columbae (91.6)

ξ Orionis (92.5) Al Han'ah-4 (Brand) / Maru-sha-pu-u-mash-mashu-7 (Front of the Mouth of the Twins)

 TEJAT PRIOR = η Gemini (93.4), γ Monocerotis (93.5), κ Aurigae (93.6), κ Columbae (93.8)

 FURUD = ζ Canis Majoris (94.9) Well-22 (Tapir) / Arkū-sha-pu-u-mash-mashu-8 (Back of the Mouth of the Twins)

δ Columbae (95.2), TEJAT POSTERIOR = μ Gemini, MIRZAM = β Canis Majoris (95.4), CANOPUS = α Carinae (95.6), ε Monocerotis (95.7), ψ1 Aurigae (95.9)

June 20 SOLSTICE 22 (*93) 23 (174) ST JOHN'S DAY
°June 16 17 (168) 18 19 20 (*91)
'May 24 (144) 25 26 27 28 (*68)
"May 10 (130) 11 12 13 14 (*54)

... The Pythagoreans make Phaeton fall into Eridanus, burning part of its water, and glowing still at the time when the Argonauts passed by. Ovid stated that since the fall the Nile hides its sources. Rigveda 9.73.3 says that the Great Varuna has hidden the ocean. The Mahabharata tells in its own style why the 'heavenly Ganga' had to be brought down. At the end of the Golden Age (Krita Yuga) a class of Asura who had fought against the 'gods' hid themselves in the ocean where the gods could not reach them, and planned to overthrow the government. So the gods implored Agastya (Canopus, alpha Carinae = Eridu) for help. The great Rishi did as he was bidden, drank up the water of the ocean, and thus laid bare the enemies, who were then slain by the gods. But now, there was no ocean anymore! Implored by the gods to fill the sea again, the Holy One replied: 'That water in sooth hath been digested by me. Some other expedient, therefore, must be thought of by you, if ye desire to make endeavour to fill the ocean ...

APRIL 22 23 24 25 (*35) 26 27 28 (118)
16 April 17 18 19 (*29) 20 21 (111) 22
Ga2-2 Ga2-3 Ga2-4 Ga2-5 (35) Ga2-6 Ga2-7 Ga2-8
no star listed (96) β Monocerotis, ν Gemini (97.0) no star listed (98) ν Puppis (99.2), ψ3 Aurigae (99.4), ψ2 Aurigae (99.5)

GEMMA (α Cor. Bor.)

ψ4 Aurigae (100.5), MEBSUTA (Outstretched) = ε Gemini (100.7) SIRIUS = α Canis Majoris (101.2), ψ5 Aurigae (101.4), ν Gemini (101.6), ψ6 Aurigae (101.7) τ Puppis (102.2), ψ7 Aurigae (102.4)
June 25 26 27 28 29 (180) 30 July 1
SOLSTICE °June 22 23 ST JOHN'S DAY 25 (*96) 26 (177) 27
'May 29 30 (150) 31 'June 1 2 3 4 (*75)
"May 15 (500) 16 (136) 17 18 19 20 21 (*61)

"When the Arabians adopted the Greek figures they designated this star [Castor] as Al Rās al Taum al Mukaddim, the Head of the Foremost Twin; but, according to Al Tizini, the early and indigenous term was Al Awwal al Al Dhirā', the First in the Paw or Forearm. Reference was made by this to the supposed figure of the enormous early Lion, the nomads' Asad, the Outstretched Forearm of which α and β marked Al Dhirā' al Mabsutāt. This extended still further over Gemini, the other, the Contracted one, Al Dhirā' al Makbūdah, running into Canis Minor. The rest of this monstrosity included Cancer, part of our Leo, Boötes, Virgo, and Corvus ..." (Allen)

APRIL 29 30 MAY 1 (*41) 2 (122)
23 April 24 25 (115 = 105 + 10) 26 (*36)
Ga2-9 Ga2-10 Ga2-11 Ga2-12 (42)
Mash-mashu-sha-Risū-9 (Twins of the Shepherd)

θ Gemini (103.0), ψ8 Aurigae (103.2), ALHENA = γ Gemini (103.8), ψ9 Aurigae (103.9)

ADARA (Virgins) = ε Canis Majoris (104.8) ω Gemini (105.4), ALZIRR (Button) = ξ Gemini (105.7), MULIPHEIN (Oaths) = γ Canis Majoris (105.8), MEKBUDA (Contracted) = ζ Gemini (105.9) 7h (106.5)

no star listed (106)

July 2 (*104 = 8 * 13) 4 (185) 5
ºJune 28 29 (*100) SIRIUS ºJuly 1 (182)
'June 5 6 (157) 7 (*78) 8
"May 22 23 24 (144) 25 (*65)

... Al Maisān, the title of γ Geminorum [Alhena], by some error of Firuzabadi was applied to this star [Heka in Orion] as Meissa, and is now common for it. Al Sufi called it Al Tahāyī; but Al Ferghani and Al Tizini knew it as Rās al Jauzah, the Head of the Jauzah, which it marks. The original Arabic name, Al Hak'ah, a White Spot, was from the added faint light of the smaller φ¹and φ² in the background, and has descended to us as Heka and Hika. These three stars were another of the Athāfiyy [tripods used for cooking] of the Arabs; and everywhere in early astrology were thought, like all similar groups, to be of unfortunate influence in human affairs. They constituted the Euphratean lunar station Mas-tab-ba-tur-tur, the Little Twins, a title also found for γ [Alhena] and η Geminorum [Tejat Prior]; and individually were important stars among the Babylonians, rising to them with the sun at the summer solstice, and, with α and γ, were known as Kakkab Sar, the Constellation of the King ...

MAY 3 4 5 6 (*46) 7 (127)
27 April 28 (118) 29 30 (*40) 1 May (11 * 11)
Ga2-13 Ga2-14 Ga2-15 (45) Ga2-16 Ga2-17
WEZEN (Weight) = δ Canis Majoris (107.1), τ Gemini (107.7), δ Monocerotis (107.9) no star listed (108) λ Gemini (109.4), WASAT (Middle) = δ Gemini (109.8) no star listed (110) ALUDRA (Virgin) = η Canis Majoris (111.1), PROPUS = ι Gemini (111.4),  GOMEISA = β Canis Minoris (111.6)
July 6 7 (188) 8 9 10
°July 2 3 (184) 4 5 6 (*107)
'June 9 10 (161) 11 12 13 (*84)
"May 26 27 28 (148) 29 30 (*70)
MAY 8 9 10 (130) 11 12 13 (*53)
2 May 3 (123) 4 5 (*45) 6 7
Ga2-18 Ga2-19 Ga2-20 (50) Ga2-21 Ga2-22 Ga2-23
Ghost-23 (Goat)

ρ Gemini (?) (112.1), Eskimo Nebula = NGC2392 Gemini (112.2)

ANTARES (α Scorpii)

Al Dhirā'-5 (Forearm) / Punarvasu-7 (Double-good Pair) / Mash-mashu-Mahrū-10 (Western One of the Twins)

CASTOR = α Gemini (113.4)

ANA-TAHUA-VAHINE-O-TOA-TE-MANAVA-7 (Pillar for elocution)

υ Gemini (114.0), MARKAB PUPPIS = κ Puppis (114.7), ο Gemini (114.8), PROCYON = α Canis Minoris (114.9)

α Monocerotis (115.4), σ Gemini (115.7) Mash-mashu-arkū-11 (Eastern One of the Twins)

κ Gemini (116.1), POLLUX = β Gemini (116.2), π Gemini (116.9)

AZMIDISKE = ξ Puppis (117.4)
July 11 12 (193) 13 (*114) 14 15 16
°July 7 8 9 10 11 (*112) 12 (193)
'June 14 15 16 17 (168) 18 19 (*90)
"May 31 "June 1 2 3 (154) 4 5
MAY 14 (*54) 15 (365 + 135 = 500) 16 (136) 17 18 19
8 May 9 (*49) 10 (130) 11 12 13
Ga2-24 Ga2-25 Ga2-26 (56) Ga2-27 → π Ga2-28 Ga2-29
Φ Gemini (118.4) DRUS = χ Carinae (119.9) ω Cancri (120.2) 8h (121.7)

χ Gemini (121.0), NAOS = ζ Puppis (121.3)

ρ Puppis (122.0), HEAP OF FUEL = μ Cancri (122.1), ζ Monocerotis (122.3),  ψ Cancri (122.6), REGOR (Roger reversed) = γ Velorum (122.7) TEGMINE = ζ Cancri (123.3)
July 17 18 19 (200) 20 (*121) 21 22 / 7
°July 13 14 15 (196) 16 17 (*118) 18
'June 20 SOLSTICE 22 (173) 23 ST JOHN'S DAY 25 (*96)
"June 6 7 8 9 (160) 10 11

... Φ is the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet ... Its origin is uncertain but it may be that phi originated as the letter qoppa ... In traditional Greek numerals, phi has a value of 500 or 500000 ...

Isaac Taylor, History of the Alphabet: Semitic Alphabets, Part 1, 2003: 'The old explanation, which has again been revived by Halévy, is that it denotes an 'ape,' the character Q being taken to represent an ape with its tail hanging down. It may also be referred to a Talmudic root which would signify an 'aperture' of some kind, as the 'eye of a needle,' ... Lenormant adopts the more usual explanation that the word means a 'knot' ...