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Rongorongo: The Milky Way and Antares

by Sergei V. Rjabchikov

ABSTRACT. The author interprets the local names of the Milky Way and Antares.

I here study two fragments, see figure 1.

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Figure 1.

1. Fragment 1, the Great Washington Tablet, reads 12-5 12-5 12-5 12 15 {Ika atua, Ika atua, Ika atua} Ika Roa. A trice-repeated Rapanui word means plurality in the folklore texts (Fedorova 1963: 89), so that the expression 12-5 12-5 12-5 {Ika atua, Ika atua, Ika atua} signifies 'The great god Ika (Fish)', and the next words 12 15 Ika Roa (lit. 'The Great Fish') have the similar meaning and correspond to Maori Te Ika Roa 'the Milky Way'.

2. Fragment 2, the Tahua tablet, reads .... 75 15 21 15 73 19 56 4 56 28 73 [102] 8 6-21 4 68 18 54 6-4 66 46-4 44 49 14 .... .... Korokoro: Eki PO, Ata PO. Ngo'e Matua uru. Hakaata Honu te kai. Hotu te nati Taha, (Ariki) Mau Hau.... '.... the month Koro (December): the new moon Hiro, the third night Ata. The Milky Way (= Ngo'e Matua) enters. The Taurus is setting; the sun is rising together with the star (Ariki) Mau Hau ....(1)'

In Maori the Milky Way has several names, in particular, Te Ika-Matua a Tangaroa (cf. Maori matua 'father; hull of a canoe'). Hence the word atua 'god' is interpreted correctly in paragraph 1. Fish is an incarnation of Tangaroa in the Maori religion (Buck 1966: 439). On the strength of these data I offer a key to Rapanui NGO'E: it is connected with Tuamotuan noe 'dawn; dawnlight' (Tangaroa/Makemake is the sun god).

"At the place of the December solstice is a group of diffuse nebulae and clusters. The central and brightest part of the Milky Way is there, too, in the direction of Sagittarius" (Kyselka, Lanterman 1976: 74). Therefore the name of the Milky Way correlates with December. I would like to stress that December denotes the first appearance (the morning rising) of the Scorpius constellation (I have used the RedShift 2 computer program). The star (Ariki) Mau Hau's name signifies 'The Supreme Chief' and corresponds to the Maori name of the star Ariki Rangi (The Chief/Sky), see my article "The Rapanui Chant "He Timo te Akoako": Origin and Interpretation". In my opinion, it is a bright red star, Antares (Alpha Scorpii); on the other hand, a red colour is a royal symbol. The examined events of the Tahua fragment occurred in December (e.g., data of December 20, A.D. 1744 are as follows: the beginning of dawn: 03:49, sunrising: 05:20, rising of Antares: 03:34; setting of Aldebaran (Taurus): 04:11). Besides, this name, Hau topa mai te Rangi '(The star) Chief was born from the Sky', is registered in one of the variants of the "He Timo te Akoako" chant (Routledge 1914-5: Reel 2, notebook, p. 63). So apparently Antares was a herald of the summer solstice.

NOTE

1. According to my research (Rjabchikov 1997: 17), the character Manu-a-Eki (see Métraux 1940: 371) is a "drop of the rain" associated with the rain ghost Tare and the rain deity Hiro. Cf. also Tahitian hotu 'to produce fruit' and nati 'tie; close-fitting'. Taha (the Frigate Bird) personifies the sun.

REFERENCES

Buck, P.H. (Te Rangi Hiroa), 1966. The Coming of the Maori. Wellington: Maori Purposes Fund Board, Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd.

Fedorova, I.K., 1963. K voprosu o kharaktere yazyka textov ostrova Paskhi. Sovetskaya etnografiya, 2: 85-92.

Kyselka, W. and R. Lanterman, 1976. North Star to Southern Cross. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

Métraux, A., 1940. Ethnology of Easter Island. Bishop Museum Bulletin 160. Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum.

Rjabchikov, S.V., 1997. Tayny ostrova Paskhi. Vol. 6. Krasnodar: Torgovo-promyshlennaya palata Krasnodarskogo kraya.

Routledge, K., MS 1914-5. [Unpublished papers, mainly relating to Easter Island, in the holdings of the Royal Geographical Society, London. Microfilms PMB 531, reels 1-4, Pacific Manuscript Bureau, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.]


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