New Zealand History - The Truth 9

Maui - Maori mythology or based on fact?

To help understand the arrival of these megalithic cultures in the Pacific, we can perhaps look at Egyptian history which curiously, has a navigator called Mawi (Maui) who with Captain Rata and a fleet of ships, attempted to circumnavigate the world in 232 BC under the guidance of scientist Eratosthenes who had calculated the circumference of the Earth and wanted verification of his results. Barry Fell identified petroglyphs in the Pacific attributed to Mawi and so was able to trace his voyage to Chile, Pitcairn Island and New Guinea.

According to Maori legend Maui discovered many islands in the Pacific - in particular, New Zealand.

Maori legend has it that Rata was on a mission to avenge the killing of his parents/ ancestors. As the Lapita/ Obsidian sea traders had suffered an unexplained demise just prior to the voyage of Maui and Rata, was Captain Rata in search of the killers of the Lapita people?

If this Egyptian fleet had attempted to circumnavigate the world via the southern route, logically they would have initially travelled Eastwards to a familiar trading port in Southern Sumatra to reprovision their ships, taking on board Rattus exulans. As the N.E. and S.E. Trade winds of the Pacific make it exceedingly difficult to travel Eastwards, their logical passage would have been to travel south, utilizing the Easterlies which blow off Australia until they reached the Westerly wind belt. New Zealand would logically have been their first stop. Petroglyphs by Mawi in Chile (at about 35 degrees south) found by Barry Fell depicts another important milestone on his voyage. It appears Maui travelled North once he had touched on the South American Coastline in search of a passage through to the Atlantic. Unwilling to venture far enough south to round the formidable Cape Horn, Mawi must have seen the South American coastline as an insurmountable barrier. According to petroglyphs on Pitcairn Island, it appears that Mawi returned with the S.E. Trade winds across the Pacific. Petroglyphs indicate Mawi viewed a Lunar Eclipse on Pitcairn Island. The celestially aligned Ha'amonga a Maui (The burden of Maui) suggests a stopover in Tonga Tapu to do some accurate solar observations. The megalithic stone pyramids of Lapaha nearby also suggest the handiwork of Egyptian stonemasons, suggesting that they attempted to set up a colony. The early walls of Rapa Nui (see above) and the Kaimanua wall of New Zealand also suggest Egyptian stonemasonry technology. Petroglyphs in Irian Jaya's 'cave of the navigators', marks Mawi's return to familiar waters, where he described the navigational device - the Tanawa, which he used on the voyage to find longitude. It is interesting that Polynesians wear the Taniwha to ensure a safe ocean voyage and successful landfall. Although it is a dragon motif, not an instrument, it is said that angles and holes on a genuine pendant helped one navigate by the stars.

Map of likely voyage of Maui