Comparability oft the Voynich Complex

[Emma May Smith]

I dare say that the Indus script is the most directly comparable thing. It is certainly contentious both in its nature and its meaning. Researchers cannot agree whether it is a script for writing a language or simply a system of prelinguistic symbols. Furthermore, there is a great deal of cultural nationalism attached to the identity of the underlying language.

Sadly, the sheer bigness of the task for deciphering the script (if it is one) dwarves the Voynich manuscript. The inscriptions are short, without a great deal of context, and were made over a great span of time and place. The payoff will be much bigger, however, as the Voynich manuscript is unlikely to be greatly interesting once it can be read. Yet the Indus script will open up a whole civilization once we understand it.