TRANSLATIONS

Sunday

Monday-Wednesday

Thursday-Saturday

Mars and Venus

Mercury and Saturn

TRANSLATIONS

In this calendar for the week (or, in general, for the planets) there are three 'fish hook' hakaturou glyphs:

Here (in Ab6-42--57), the meaning presumably is to indicate the 2nd half - the part which comes beyond the middle.

We conclude that the other variant of hakaturou (in Sunday-Wednesday) - which has a rather straight 'neck' - probably refers to the 1st half.

Although Sunday is special, which is indicated e.g. by a 'head' with an upwards pointing 'mouth' drawn with two straight lines.

Maybe the Sunday 'jaw' indicates the 'birthplace' of the sun, viz. new year. The 'jaw' of the Milky Way Shark is then in upright position.

Although the 'calendar for the week' obviously refers to the 7 planets (also sun is a 'wanderer') in the order which has been determined since ancient times it is quite possible that at its origin this structure was used for something else than the week. Above I have mapped planets and the days of the week together in one table (created already for the manu rere 'chapter') to indicate a certain degree of ambiguity.

Since then, however, my view has gradually changed: Ambiguity seems to be a normal phenomenon in the rongorongo texts, not confined only to planets / days of the week. The yearly cycle of the sun as described in K is mapped according to the structure of the cycle of the moon (e.g. by having 29 periods). The Mamari moon calendar probably has been created with the 360 days in a year as the basic structure for how many glyphs there should be (twice 36).

I suspect that at the beginning the planets may have been used not for the week but for the year. How can we know if the sequence Ab5-42--57 refers to the week if there are alternatives? Therefore: The 'birthplace' of the sun could rather symbolize new year than Sunday.

Another new idea: There is a type of mauga like an egg-shell where the inhabitant has flewn away - that occurs only in Aruku Kurenga (and there only in two glyphs not far away from each other) - which may depict 'open jaws':


Bb6-17	Bb7-25

The idea gains in strength by the double-hakaturou sign in Bb6-17.

First comes 'Sunday', maybe alluded to by the mauga in Bb6-17, then follows the first half of the 'week' (middle part in Bb6-17) and lastly the second part of the 'week' (right in Bb6-17). The 'beaks' in Bb6-17 agree fully with the corresponding beak types in Ab6-42--57.

Maybe the 'hook' in the 'jaw' of the hakaturou glyphs of 'Monday-Wednesday' returns in a lower position in form of the 'fish-hook' hakaturou glyphs in 'Thursday-Saturday'?

In 'Saturday' the 'hook' message is strengthened by the thumb in Ab6-56. The elbow is to the right, a sign of 'beyond noon'.

The sense of 'middle' in hakaturou glyphs is not confined, it seems, to glyphs looking like fish hooks:


Pb9-32	Pb9-33	Pb9-34	Pb9-35	Pb9-36	Pb9-37

Here a reversal occurs between Pb9-32 and Pb9-37 (shown by the 'arm' first at right in maitaki and then at left).

Probably there is a representation in Pb9-33 of te pito o te henua (the 'navel of the earth', the 'land' in the center). Remarkably, in the parallel text of H the glyph is destroyed (or - probably - was never even drawn):

	...
Hb8-15	*Hb8-16	Hb8-101	Hb8-102	Hb8-103	Hb8-104	Hb8-105
Hb8-15	*Hb8-16	*Hb8-17	*Hb8-18	*Hb8-19	*Hb8-20	*Hb8-21

The border line at right in Hb8-15 is missing - intentionally from the beginning or destroyed later. We recognize the glyph type as indicating the final of the 2nd half of the year - but also the final of the 2nd half of the month (the 29th night of the moon):


Pb2-28	Pb2-29

Eb8-28	Eb8-29

The bottom end of the peculiar Hb8-103 (with ordinal number reconstructed as 19, suggesting the final of the old sun) presumably refers to the winter solstice gnomon standing in the dark 5 nights:

28
28	Kb4-6	Kb4-7	Kb4-8	Kb4-9

The parallel honu glyph (Pb9-35) has another meaning, connected with the 'turtle' as the place where a new year fire should be alighted.

The reconstructed number of glyphs in line Hb8 is 54 (= 3 *18 = 6* 9). Hb8-15 is the only partly 'destroyed' glyph in the line and *Hb8-16 the only glyph without any traces left.

The link 'te pito o te henua' leads to a series of pages:

The glyph type pito shares an essential trait with Pb9-33, viz. a round 'ball' in a vertically oriented 'stem':


*pito*	Pb9-33

Metoro had no opportunity to tell what Pb9-33 meant, but chances are good he would have used the word pito. At Bb6-13 he said kua motu te pito o te fenua (remarkably with Tahitian fenua instead of his usual henua).


Bb6-10	Bb6-11	Bb6-12	Bb6-13

Bb6-14	Bb6-15	Bb6-16	Bb6-17

In Bb6-17 we must notice the double-headed hakaturou sign, arriving closely after the 'center' (Bb6-13).

In Bb6-14 the top end of henua is cut of obliquely, sloping downwards. A close look at the bottom end shows it too is sloping somewhat downwards, and we should remember:

4. The use of the last mauga in the calendar (= the first mauga in the text, i.e. Eb2-13) probably is to indicate where the natural year definitely ends.

If we step 6 glyphs backwards, arriving at number 180, the presumed quarters will be shorter:

1st half				2nd half
	91				91
Eb1-37		Eb4-22		Eb4-23		Eb2-13
1		93		94		186
	87				88
Eb1-37		Eb4-18	Eb4-19	Eb4-20		Eb2-7
1		89	90	91		180

Probably Eb4-18 indicates the high point of summer, in which case the calendar can be used either to follow the summer (180 glyphs = days) or to follow the winter (186 glyphs = days). The tagata glyph in Eb4-18 will then agree with how it is used in Ga4-1 and in Ha6-2:


Ga4-1	Eb4-18	Ha6-2
midsummer		noon

A close look at the bottom end of henua in Eb4-19 reveals that it is cut off obliquely, sloping downwards. Probably this signifies that the 2nd half is beginning here.

We have earlier (in the tara 'chapter') observed how an obliquely cut off bottom end of henua is used at the final of the calendar in K (and in the last text line on side b of A):

29
29	Kb4-10	Kb4-11	Kb4-12	Kb4-13	Kb4-14


Ab8-64	Ab8-83

In addition, there is a henua in the K calendar cut of obliquely at the top:

14
14	Kb1-2	Kb1-3

The location of Kb1-3 in the calendar implies 'cut off at the top' (when sun stands high) means 'end' of the 1st half year, while 'cut off at the bottom' refers to the 2nd half year. Although we have very few glyphs of this general type to rely on, it is plausible to add Eb4-19 to the group:

13
	Eb4-13	Eb4-14	Eb4-15	Eb4-16	Eb4-17

	Eb4-18	Eb4-19	Eb4-20	Eb4-21

The bottom end is sloping slightly downwards, maybe indicating how the course of the sun beyond its maximum at Eb4-18 now is sloping downwards. The 13th period of the 24 in the Keiti calendar is a kind of confirmation (as well as ordinal number 19 - 'sun finish') ...

Bb6-14 is the first glyph we have observed with henua cut off at both ends (top end quite clearly so, but bottom end more like a hint). However, looking over the earlier henua with cut off ends we should add Ab8-83 to form a little group of two:


Ab8-83	Bb6-14

In many ways these two glyphs are different, though, Bb6-14 leaning to the left (presumably indicating how the center now is in the past) and Ab8-83 is a thick henua cut off clearly at its bottom end, while the top end seems to be partly (left) normally cut off.

Next page in the glyph dictionary (number two from the link 'te pito o te henua':

The double-headed hakaturou glyph Bb6-17 should be compared with another such glyph, Eb8-25:


Eb8-13	Eb8-14	Eb8-15	Eb8-16	Eb8-17	Eb8-18	Eb8-19

Eb8-20	Eb8-21	Eb8-22	Eb8-23	Eb8-24	Eb8-25	Eb8-26

Eb8-27	Eb8-28	Eb8-29	Eb8-30	Eb8-31	Eb8-32	Eb8-33

The two 'beaks' in Eb8-25 are differently drawn, the one at right looking similar to those in Monday-Wednesday and the one at left similar to the 'beaks' in Thursday-Saturday:

How 'beaks' are drawn is no coincidence, every difference is deliberately designed to carry meaning. Bb6-17 has the top of the mauga part drawn similar to the 'head' of hakaturou in Sunday - an upwards oriented 'jaw' defined by two straight lines:


Bb6-14	Bb6-15	Bb6-16	Bb6-17

Then follows the middle 'head' with a 'beak' similar to those in Monday-Wednesday. At right the 'head' has its 'beak' like those in Thursday-Saturday. It is the same order between the three types of 'beak' in Bb6-17 and those in the calendar for the week (or planets).

In Bb6-17 a reversal is illustrated between the middle and right 'heads', and sun-flames emerge from the back of the right 'head'. In Eb8-25 the 'heads' are also looking at each other. In the Mamari moon calendar, on the other hand, old and new are not looking at each other:


Ca8-28	Ca8-29

In Ca8-28 the jaw defined by two straight lines (like a wedge) is looking backwards, not up as in Bb6-17 and in 'Sunday'. Presumably this is a sign referring to the back side of the month (descending moon). Ca8-29 has a jaw formed not so different from that in 'Monday-Wednesday'. Possibly this type of jaw means 'waxing'.

But then, in Bb6-17 the middle 'person' will be the waxing new year and the one at right (with flames at the back of his head) will be the old year. The old 'person' should be looking backwards, and the 2nd half of the 'week' is the old part - both examples having non-waxing jaws.

In Eb8-25 the old one is at left (as in Ca8-28) and the new one at right (as in Ca8-29), the more natural order. In Bb6-17 the natural order is disturbed by having a triplet instead of a duo. The triplet forces the central figure (waxing) to the center.

The double-headed hakaturou glyph Eb8-25 (with 'Monday-Wednesday beak' at right) agrees with how the last glyph on side b of Tahua (Ab8-84) is drawn. At the tara part in this dictionary pito was discussed:

We have established a probable connection between the standard tara glyph (with a prominent tail) and winter solstice. In Tahua there are two glyphs of this kind, Ab7-37 and Ab8-69, the first of which is among the winter solstice glyphs:


Ab7-33	Ab7-34	Ab7-35	Ab7-36	Ab7-37	Ab7-38	Ab7-39

Ab8-69 is located even further towards the end of side b (which occurs at Ab8-84), having a position 26 glyphs ahead of the 'navel' (pito):

		25		14
Ab8-42	Ab8-43		Ab8-69		Ab8-84
42 = 26 + 16	26		16

Ab8-69 is drawn identical with Ab7-37, i.e. the meaning must be identical too.

The 'navel of the island' (te pito o te henua, 'centre of the world') must be on the western coast. The 29th kuhane station (alluding to the 29th black night of the moon) she named 'Te Pito O Te Kainga A Hau Maka O Hiva' (possibly indicating that the entire island lay in darkness and that therefore no further geographical location could be pinpointed).

Ab8-56 and Ab8-58 also show variants of hakaturou:


Ab8-55	Ab8-56	Ab8-57	Ab8-58	Ab8-59	Ab8-60
13	14	15	16	17	18

Ab8-79	Ab8-80	Ab8-81	Ab8-82	Ab8-83	Ab8-84
37	38	39	40	41	42
*Ordinal numbers counted from Ab8-43 (o te pito motu).*

The growing jaw is at right (as it should) in Ab8-84. Also the two 'legs' at right have the same kind of growing, especially the top one.

I discover that Ab8-83 probably has a sign of ua at top right (cfr Ab8-82) and hasten to add the glyph to ua in the glyph catalogue. The backwards oriented hand possibly is the reverse of such glyphs as Ka3-14:


Ka3-14	Ab8-83