• Longer than the pages inside the cover.

• Patterns on left and right side of the cover.

  • Care but not wealth.

• Bound with rope at the top.

• Theory: Cloth could have been repurposed from another object like a skirt.

• Interestingly, the design on the inside cover is more vibrant than the same design on the front cover, which appears dull in comparison.

  • We wonder if this was a stylistic choice.

• Mysterious writing that could not be transliterated - could be an unidentified script or simply scribbles to get ink flowing.

• Much more damage than most pages, perhaps from water or bugs.

Same as above.

• Pages shows lack of care for the manuscript at some point in its life.

• The very first line of text appears a bit sloppier than the main block of writing - a strange occurrence if this were the title, as its position may suggest. However, with a bit of painstaking translation using the limited online dictionaries for Lao and Dai Lü, we determined that it translates to “the ink is not good at all.” Thus, this was an attempt by the original writer or even someone who later happened to have the manuscript at hand to make their pen work.

• A sketch of a fish surrounds a word. In the same way we might cross out words or phrases that were mistakes, the author’s “white-out” of choice appears to be a fish, as the word is repeated slightly differently directly after this artistic addition.

Line: Transliterations

1 nāṃ hmœuk pâ ḍī săkº meḍ ĺ

2 ci dyaŕ hlvań vā || imaṃ mahāsīdhaḷā agipupphā sammāsanbuddhassa go

3 tamassa sakkacaṃ dānaṃ dema || ci dyaŕ nạý || vā || imaṃ sīle agipupphaṃ

4 sakkacaṃ dānaṃ dema pūjema || dānº nāṃ uppaththā̆ bha cȏ₂ vā || imaṃ u

5 ṇhodakaṃ sakkaccṃ dānaṃ dema pujema || dānº nāṃ kăḍº nāṃ yenº vā || imaṃ uddakaṃ

6 mukkhaṃ dampihitāya sukkhāya yāva nibbānaṃ sakkacaṃ dānaṃ dema pūjema ||

7 phā jeḍº vā || imaṃ muñcanamukkhaṃ dampi hitāya gotamasssa sakka

8 caṃ dānaṃ dema pūjema || mai ce vā || imaṃ dantakaththaṃ dampi hitāya go

9 tamassa sakkacaṃ dānaṃ dema || dānº ḍặ mai pū₂jā bra cȏ₂ || imaṃ padu

10 pupphaṃ dānaṃ dema || kvāṅvºay? vā || rajohalanaṃ rukkhasantaṃ karisaṭṭhā

11 mi || dānº khȏ₂ jīvisº vā || ima aja me buddhapañātaṃ bhojnaḥdānaṃ so

12 jivittaṃ tumhākā parisajāmiyā demi || ahampi khomº hi jātidhammo

13 jāti-anātito hutvā bhantāhaṃ kaleyyānaṃ kalomi kānavā

14 cāmanasadevadukāya nāma ‘haṃ ahaṃ vandāmi sirasā || aha

15 hampi khomº hi j́aḥrādhidhammo j́arodhi anātito hutvā bha

16 ndāhaṃ kaleyya [crossed out] naṃ kalomi kā X

17 yena vācā manasā devadukāya nāma ‘haṃ ahaṃ vandāmi sirasā ||

18 XXXX XXXXXX bhantāhaṃ

• The dotted magenta marks, seeming to be made of ballpoint pen, appear near the circled sections on this page and on many of the pages that follow.

  • Our assumption is that these were not a part of the original writing of the manuscript but rather added after as additional visual markers to guide the reader to these circled sections, which seem to be the headings of new sections.

• Circles = medicine for urinary tract blockages, arthritis, (list of ailments).

  • Medicine for urinary tract → “... eat this and you will be cured..." [new section].

Line: Transliterations

1 kaleyyānaṃ kalomi kāyena vācā manasā devadutāya nāma

2 haṃ ahaṃ vandāmi sirasā || ahampti khōmºhi dukkhadhammo dukkha-anātito

3 hutvā bhandāhaṃ kaleyyānaṃ kalomi kāyena vācā manasā

4 dèvadutāya nāma haṃ ahaṃ vandāmi sirasā || ahampti khōmºhi mā

5 ranadhammo mārana anātito hutvā haṃ kaleyyānaṃ

6 kalomi kāyena vācā manasā devadutāya nāma haṃ ahaṃ vandā

7 mi sirasā || gathºā devaduḍ cāṃrœnº ḍī dèlº X{ că cā ḍvayº₂ kinº dȏ₂ ýā kạr ĺ }

8 || ýā mudd khịḍ au grœṅº kho₂ rôṅº vā gá grœṅº hmā̆ pā vā gá grœṅº hănº ḍèṅº vā gá ṅvar hmū vā gá

9 sagānº vā gá mā b́ăkº tā̆ hèṅº₂ tāṃ phuń vaiyº₂ saiyº₂ nāṃ₂ ur kinº jū vănº hāyº ĺ || { bā̆ gá au rā̆}

10 hmā̆ nīvº vāṅº gá rā̆ tānº ǵôṅº mlā̆ gá rā̆ kā tā̆ pīkº gá rā̆ hmā̆ ṕăḍº hmā̆ bạý gá rā̆ kūḍ khyaŕ gá

11 tȏmº kinº hāyº ĺ || {bā̆ gá au rā̆ hyā klai₁ kạm tȏmº kin gá hāyº ĺ || {bā̆ gá au rā̆ hmā̆}

12 hāvº hāṅº nāṃ₂ gá rā̆ ḍặ ḍāyº hāṅº hmā₁ gá rā̆ mai₂ hmā̆ gạr hmā₁ gá mā hlāmº kinº hāyº ĺ || bā̆ gá

13 au rā̆ cāvº kènº sȏmº kapº₁ tȏmº kin hāyº ĺ {bā̆ gá au ṕhā̆} srī ga ṕhā̆ khạý gá ṕhā̆ gạm gá

14 mai₂ ǵāmº ǵāṃ 1 hlāmº kinº hāyº ĺ {bā̆ 1 au hvȃ gŭ hvȃ} gā hạm hvȃ gā gūm hvȃ dāyº hœnº

15 hvȃ hmā̆ tạṅ hvȃ pạr hạm pai sabāyº ǵvāyº tāṃ hmȃkº hnịṅº gạp hāyº ĺ || {bā̆ 1 au hnăṅ}

16 mai₂ pœkº ṕœyº pai hmā̆ kvayº₂ sīḍā khȏ₂ hmīr tāṃ hmȃkº gaḍºī hnịṅº gaḍºī gạp hāyº ĺ {bā̆ 1 au }

17 ((sideways: muddh khịḍº lȃmº)) pai giḍ kèvº₂ pai hmā̆ nīvº vāṅº₂ pai ḍặ ḱhīmº khāmº tāṃ hnȃkº găp hāyº ĺ { mudd khịdº lȃmº gīḍº}

• The circled writing in the margins does not seem a part of the original design, as the text does not make room for it.

  • It also appears to be in black ballpoint pen, and again newer and different from the original text. The writing in the margins corresponds with the sections of text which are circled in that line. This led us to the idea that the circler was creating an index of sorts to easily find certain sections of information which are otherwise disguised among a continuous block of text. This would be similar to how our books have chapter titles. In this context, the purpose of the index is amplified considering the lack of spaces between words in Tham orthography.

• Each indexed section appears to be a new ailment and its corresponding treatment.

Line: Transliterations

1 ((sideways: muddh khịḍº lānº)) j/d/ṅè₂ lȃmº gaḍºī au jū2ā liṅº pœkº khī hleḥ₂ ṅvar hmū tȃmº kinº hāyº ĺ || {mudd kh?? lānº dăṅº ǵiṅº}

2 ((sideways: lȃmº kāmº₂)) nănº au₂ pai kvāṅº kvā lī pai tyaṿ lāyº tāṃ lupº hāyº ĺ rā̆ tȃmº kinº ĺ || {lȃmº kāmº₂ ýū dạṅ₂}

3 ((sideways: lȃmº găḍ ȃkº)) ýū hlăṅº nănº au₂ kèvº₂ 8 tȃnº pȃḍº sai₁ bikº nạý khīṅº gèṅ₂ b́ănº phăkº kāyº ? nāṃ mănº ṅā tăḍº kinº dā hāyº

4 ĺ || {lȃmº găḍº ȃkº au hlăp} mị̄nº khăḍº mạr hyā₂ phăkº ǵvāyº hạm kyaṿ tȃmº khyaṿ ik khīṅº kœạ kăḍº kīnº

5 ((sideways: lȃmº) hāy || {lȃmº ănº ṕenº lū̆} dȏ₂ hmā̆ kyań lènº khịnº lènº liṅº cepº ḍăṅº cai₂ că khāsº

6 au jī bŭ lū̆ hmā̆ jăkº hvānº ṕȃnº sai₁ nāṃ ĺvº au hrīn kạr₁ 3 kạr pho₂ ǵai₂ ĺvº dạḍ lȃṅº

7 nāṃ₂ hănº ĺvº kīnº hāyº ĺ || {lȃmº sĕpº dạṅ} khị̄nº bāyº hnœạ au pœkº hạý pie pho₂ ǵai₂ pȃḍº

8 sainºnāṃ sȃmº cạm kīnº hāyº ĺ || lȃmº khăḍ ýū dạṅ nai₂ èv§ au rā̆ grai nạý b́ā ṕèn₂ hūń ĺvº

9 ((sideways: lȃmº khăḍº) tăḍº sikº khīnº kīnº hāyº ĺ || { cĕpº èvº jăkº au} jenº ḍāṃ hmīr gèṅº₂ rāṅº₂ ǵvā thānº fai₂ ṕlā

10 jā phī (ṭī?) tāṃ kăpº kănº sai nai₂ hmā̆ kvayº₂ sabbo₂ hmȃkº fai₂ hị̄ sŭ ĺvº gạp èvº hāyº ĺ

• One of the most obvious diacritics is the long diagonal line above the text.

• Occasionally, there are two parallel lines.

  • A singular diagonal line represents either the vowel diacritic for ă or the second Tai tone marker, mai₂ dō.

  • When both lines appear, both of these diacritics are intended; when only one appears, it is ambiguous.

• Same principle as the previous pages but no inner circles except for one in the first line. The rest of the circles are in the left margin.

• Blocks of text such as this one, which seem more sparse, use the same script, Tham, to write Pali instead of Dai Lue.

• Indic languages have significantly smaller vowel inventories and no tone markings, which explain why certain and overall less markings are present in these Indic sections.

• “Chant for prolonged life of rice.”

Line: Transliterations

1 (sidebar: ýā kyaṿ) au pökº dăm₂ 2 khīpº pökº khāmº 2 khīpº pök gạm 2 khīpº au ănº₂ 9 khīpº mā piṅº hị̄ sŭ ĺvº dăṅº sŭ dăṅº ḍīpº

2 mā dupº kăpº kăḍº ĺvº ĺvº jè nāṃ₂ jāṃ kīnº hāyº ĺ || kyaṿ₂ khȏ₂ sai₂ că ṕā au hạm kyaṿ tạṅ

3 (sidebar: marènº ǵuḍ) mī 1 khā₁ khyaṿ 3 yạḍ tȃmº brik nạý khīṅº gèṅº₂ tăḍº kin hāyº ĺ || marèṅº ǵuḍº ǵạâ bhạṅ bāṅº

4 kăpº ṕā̆ pâ ḍai₂ că ṕā au ḍạ˘ ǵāṃ hnvaṅ₂ hmā̆ dănº jī bŭ ḍạ˘ ḍāyº ḍèṅ hāṅ hmā₁ căḍº ḍèṅº

5 (sidebar: lȃmº 2 lvaṅ) rā̆ phăkº grèpº ṕhȃnº saiºnāṃ pī hmī kīnº ĺvº dā ḍvayº₂ hāyº ĺ || lȃmº 2 lvaṅ că ṕā au rā̆ mai₂

6 khvāṅº rā̆ mai₂ hvānº hvāsº hạm kènº khȏ₂ ḍvaṅ grāvº nā rāṅº mạṅ hmai rāyº

7 (sidebar: marèṅº gruḍ) tīvº mai₂ rva gā nī tȃmº kè 8 tȃnº₂ tăḍº kīnº hāyº ĺ || marèṅ gruḍ tā

8 tèkº cepº tè ǵạˆ khị̄nº thị̄ṅº hvȃ lȃṅº tȃkº tāṃ₁dăṅ 2 nănº că ṕā au hvȃ thvȃ bū rā̆

9 (sidebar: ýā bhai) phăkº hvānº hlăp mị̄n khăḍº mạr hyā sav rā̆ rā̆ ḍạ˘ ḍāyº ḍèṅ hāṅº hmā₁hnvaṅ₂jai₂

10 hmā̆ băkº hmȃr ṕhȃnº sainºāṃ khȏ₂cāv kīnº ḍè dā ḍvayº₂hāyº ĺ || ýā bhai au

11 (sidebar: sānipāḍº vị̄n) pœkº mai tīnº ṕeḍº ĺ rā̆ hạm jāṅ₂ṕhȃn₁hāyº ĺ

16 sa dœạ || ?? || că sị̄pº jātā khȏ₂ vā ḍăṅº nī || mā khayo mā vayo

17 (sidebar: sị̄pº jātā khȏ₂) meyhaṃ mā ca koci uppaddavā dhañadharā pavasantu meṇḍa

18 kassa yathā ghare || mā khayo mā vayo meyhaṃ mā ca??

19 ci uppaddavo sabbaghanāni pavisantu cittakassa yathā ghare

20 mā khayo mā vayo meyhaṃ mā ca koci uppaddavo kaha???

Line: Transliterations

1 ni pavasantu manthātu seva yathā ghare || mā khayo mā vayo ???

2 yhaṃ mā ca koci uppaddavo sattaratanayasantu vessantarassa ??

3 re || mā khayo mā vayo

• Blue ink appears on the right side of the page.

• Top of page (from the photo's perspective) has lots of black coloring. We wonder if that's caused by the black ink used by the author to write with or if there was fire damage.

• There is blue showing on the right side of page that looks like blue ink from a ballpoint pen that was exposed to water.

• Near the bottom of this page is a series of the same diacritic over different letters. This is part of a chant which has no discernible literal translation aside from its phonemic rhythm. It reads as follows: Ni hi si ri mi ni vi ri ti (scratched-out syllable) pi si hi.

  • Rhythmic chants like this are common. Occasionally in the Southeast Asian context, syllables can come to represent much longer words, especially Indic words, and those words’ associations.

  • In this particular case, however, since there is such clear repetition, it is more likely that this is not an extended list of abbreviations.

• Writing is a lot more spaced out than the previous pages, which suggests that the author knew that they were almost done with their writing and did not need to squish their writing as much to fit the pages they had.

Line: Transliterations

1 ...hontu sukhita...

2 … tadānaṃ dadantassa āyºuvaṇṇaṃ sukkhaṃ balaṃ

3 ...naṃ mahappalaṃ yo dadāti sakkacaṃ sīlavantesu

4 tādisu nā2 dānaṃ datvā jivitadānaṃ mahappalaṃ evaṃ mahiddhi

5 yā esā yadidaṃ puñasampadā tasmā dhirā pasaṃsanti paṇḍi

6 tā katapuñatanti || atha sakko devaputtona saddhiṃ

7 bhagavato dhammaṃ sutvā sănnacinatoruhutvā manten

8 na dibbapujupakārena pujesi || so āyºu purikkhalo

9 devaputto bhagavato dhammaṃ sutvā buddhassa vacanaṃ katvā

10 punnapi dve buddhantarakappāyukaṃ patilabbhati tena

11 jivitadānā buddhānubhāvena sabbe tena dhammānubhā

12 vena sabbe tena jivitadānānubhāvena sabbe uppada

13 vā vinassanti || sakko devaputtona saddhiṃ bhagavantaṃ vănºditvā

14 padakkhiṇaṃ katvā pasannacitto hutvā mahante āpucchitvā

Upper Row

Cell = ຫອງ

July = ຊຍເຢ

August = ອາອຸດ

September = ເຊຕອມ

October = XXXX

November = ໂນວາມ

December = ເດຊາມ

• The numbers on the page start with 8. In the Julian/Gregorian Calendar, the 8th month of the year is August. This contrasts the Lao lunar calendar because the lunar calendar has its first month between the end of November and the middle of December, which makes the two kinds of calendars off with their numerical markings.

• Interestingly, all the translated months had an etymology of French. This might give some indication to the region, since there is French influence in the author’s rhetoric. This would fit into our current timeline. We identified the years on the front of the manuscript to be 1949 CE and the French invaded and took control of Laos to be a part of the Indochinese Union sometime between 1893 and 1907.

Second (Lower) row

Laotian month/moon = ເດືອນ ລາວ

daytime = ວັນ

24-hour day = ມື້

• Assuming that the calendar was made some time around 1948 (the year on the first page of the manuscript), there was likely a unified national system of time-keeping. Then, this calendar seems to be translating between the Laotian calendar and the Julian Calendar.

• As for the difference between “ວັນ” and “ມື້”: The first is being used to mark the 7-day cycle, and the second for the 10-day cycle (part of a larger 60-day cycle). In ordinary Lao usage, expressions like "today" use ມື້ , and words like Monday use ວັນ, which is etymologically related to "sun."

Body of the Page

• Seven-length cycles going down the columns.

• For further understanding of the dates and intercalation used for this calendar, refer to the next annotation.

We used a Thai lunar calendar that goes back to the years of 1949 for comparison with our Lao lunar calendar.

• The Thai calendar seems to also signify the full moon with an orange circle and a new moon with a black circle.

• When we translated the Thai calendar into English, one thing that was interesting was that within the days under July, some days say the eighth month and other days in July say the ninth month. Even in August, it has some days that say the ninth month and other days that say the tenth month.

• Finding:

  • Looking at the Thai and manuscript calendars, it seemed to be easiest to look at their markings of the supposed moon. So for the full moon, our manuscript symbolize a full moon with a circle with a black dot in the middle. For a new moon, the manuscript uses a circle without a dot in the middle.

  • The first number before the slash signifies the month as well and the number after the slash signifies the day of the waxing or waning moon.

• Key Pieces of Evidence:

  • The calendars seem consistent this way. In July, both calendars had 15 days in between the full moon and new moon.

  • July 10th says “the 15th day of waxing of the eighth month,” which matches up with our 8/15. So in our manuscript, the title of the column signifies the month.

[Orientation flipped upside down for easier read]

• We can track the manuscript’s calendar most easily by where it indicates that the moon phases change. The calendar notes a full moon before 4\1, which likely corresponds to March 28, 1949 in the website calendar. In that case, the calendars agree for the next fifteen days—then there is a new moon, as noted in both of the calendars (on April 12). However, the manuscript’s calendar tracks 15 days before the next moon phase, but in reality there were only 14 days before the new phase on April 26. That seems almost like an accidental mistake (i.e., it was difficult to identify the precise day that the moon was completely dark). But, I’m not sure about that theory. In any case, the days seem to “drift” almost immediately.

• Author's error with the new year: 5/1, 5/2, 5/3.

[Orientation flipped upside down for easier read]

• The dates circled look a lot like the dates that we see on the first page of the book. The description accompanying the excerpted calendar above explains that the first date range (2563–64) is a year range in the Buddhist calendar and the second date range (1382–83) is in the Old Lunar calendar.

• On page 31, the numbers are 2491–92 and 1310–11. A Buddhist calendar year seems to overlap with the Gregorian calendar year, and is offset by 543 years (i.e. year 543 in the Buddhist calendar overlaps with 0 CE). This means that this manuscript was likely made in the year 2491 – 543 = 1948.

• Date: 2491 (measured from the buddha's birthday) 1948/1949 CE and astrological calendars the year of the rat and the year of the OX.

  • Year of rat translation is Javat(n) - pronounced like suat / suot - similar to Chuot (in Vietnamese rat).

• The female deity is identified as Nang Songkran. In this manuscript, she is flying while waving a flag that includes inscriptions. The deity is rejoicing the Laos Lunar New Year for the town of, supposedly, Luang Prabang.

• The inscriptions on the flag read, “The first day of Lunar New Year is on first waxing day, occurring on a Wednesday. The second day of the three-day new year is on the first waning day, occurring on a Thursday. The last day is on the second waning day, occurring on a Friday.”

• Box 2 reads ເປິກໄຈ້ , one of the Lao years in the 60-year cycle.

• Box 3 reads ລາວ in this context Lao, the language/ethnic group/nation.

• Box 4 reads ສຼູ , meaning year of the ox, (salu in Lao, chlu in Khmer, related to Mường klu/tlu, or ṭṣu, and surprisingly very different than Vietnamese bò).

• Box 5 reads "French."

• Box 6 reads year that refers to the decimal system.

• Boxes 7-9 are grouped together and read "New Year's day starts on the first waxing day and occurs on Wednesday."

  • Box 7 reads New Year's Day (however, this refers to the first day of the Lao three-day lunar new year).

  • Box 8 reads ຂຶ້ນ ໑ ຄ່ຳ , meaning the first lunar day of the bright (waxing) half of the month.

  • Box 9 reads Wednesday.

• Boxes 10-12 are grouped together and read "Middle day (or second day of the Lao three-day lunar new year) starts on the first day of the waning moon (second half of the lunar month) and occurs on Thursday."

  • Box 10 reads middle day.

  • Box 11 reads first day of waning moon.

  • Box 12 reads Thursday.

• Boxes 13-15 are grouped together and read "Last day (or the third day of the Lao three-day lunar new year) starts on the second waning day and occurs on Friday."

  • Box 13 reads last day.

  • Box 14 reads second waning day.

  • Box 15 reads ສຸກ , meaning Friday.

• Box 16 reads fifth lunar month under the Lao system.

• Boxes 17-22 are grouped together and read "For the sake of school in Luang Prabang."

  • Box 17 reads for the sake of.

  • Box 18 reads school.

  • Box 19 reads "Pali."

  • Box 20 reads "Luang."

  • Box 21 reads "Pra" and Box 22 reads "Bang" (making "Prabang").

• Box 23 is the female deity Nang Songkran.

[Orientation flipped upside down for easier read]

[Orientation flipped upside down for easier read]

Line: Transliterations (Upside Down)

1 katvā gadhamudhulaṃ iva gipºbhiniyākiñcāyadutthaḥ vacanaṃ ja

2 nakāyamajjheyº tantesasā bhavantu te jeyyaḥ maṁgalºāni

[Orientation flipped upside down for easier read]

Line: Transliterations (Upside Down)

5 b́ū dāyº phū ḍai₁ mā dhāṃrāy hị vināsantu ?? būhaṃ sahassāmabhinimitassa

6 vudhantaṃ girimikhalaṃ uǵitaghorassasenºāmalaṃ dānadhammāvijinā

7 jitavāmunindo tantesasābhavantu te jeyyaḥ maṁgalºāni ||

8 mālātirekamūbhiyujitasabbarattiṃ gholāṃ panāravaka

9 makhaḥmadhăḍº ghayakhaṃ khantīsutantaṃ vijinājitavāmunindo tantesa

10 sā bhavantu te jeyyaḥ maṃgalºāni || 3 nālāgiliṅ– kaj́jhayºaḥ valaṃ a

11 timadabhūtaṃ dhāvagīkassavasakivasudhārunantaṃ miḍºtāṃ bhū

12 sekavijinā jitavāmunindo tantesasā bhavantu te

13 jeyyaḥ maṁgalºāni || uǵitakhaḥ gamatihaṭṭhaṃ sudhārunantaṃ dhāvanti

14 yo janapaṭṭhaṃ gurimāravantaṃ itipi saṃkhattamano jitavā mu

15 nindo tantesasā bhavantu te jeyyamaṅgalºāni ||

[Orientation flipped upside down for easier read]

[Orientation flipped upside down for easier read]

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• Many holes occur at the bottom of the pages. We hypothesize these holes are from insects consuming the pages.

[Orientation flipped upside down for easier read]

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• There's some writing that's been noted, but it's difficult to read.