[quote pid='3427' dateline='1461047689']
Koen Gh.Vviews,
I agree terminology is important, but exactly because of this mixture of languages and background, there will be confusion at times. But you are right that we should strive for clarity and neutrality. That is also why I stronlgly dislike terms like 'pharma vessels' because I think most of them are not - but that's a different question.
Maybe it would be easier to talk about European author vs. European copy of non-medieval-European work.
Rene
Yes, I agree with your paraphrase. It's a less likely scenario. But then again, it's the Voynich.
What makes this possibility a bit more likely is the hypothesis that the work mostly relates to practical matters of navigation and intercontinental trade. This info would have been useful for many centuries, allowing for the material to have been copied a number of times in between.
I think it's important to clarify these things. When I am pointing out parallels with Hellenistic culture, I'm not just freely associating - I know what I'm doing. I'm trying to uncover what I think is the first layer of this section, and I'm triyng to be consistent in that.
But of course I always follow the evidence, which is why recently moved it to Alexandria. They happened to have a decent library there, where books from all kinds of ships were copied, which is a nice bonus. But if I find an unambiguous reference to Christ on the cross, I will adjust again where necessary.
[/quote]
They had an extraordinary library in Alexandria. So much so, that precious manuscripts of which there was probably only one copy were entrusted to the library. In modern terms, it would be like burning the U.S. Library of Congress, the Vatican Library, or the British Library.
Scholars debate the various accounts of the most famous burning in the 7th century and are skeptical that it took six months to destroy this invaluable and irreplaceable resource but even if it didn't take six months, it's possible it took some time (days? weeks) because it was a significant collection.
Koen Gh.Vviews,
I agree terminology is important, but exactly because of this mixture of languages and background, there will be confusion at times. But you are right that we should strive for clarity and neutrality. That is also why I stronlgly dislike terms like 'pharma vessels' because I think most of them are not - but that's a different question.
Maybe it would be easier to talk about European author vs. European copy of non-medieval-European work.
Rene
Yes, I agree with your paraphrase. It's a less likely scenario. But then again, it's the Voynich.
What makes this possibility a bit more likely is the hypothesis that the work mostly relates to practical matters of navigation and intercontinental trade. This info would have been useful for many centuries, allowing for the material to have been copied a number of times in between.
I think it's important to clarify these things. When I am pointing out parallels with Hellenistic culture, I'm not just freely associating - I know what I'm doing. I'm trying to uncover what I think is the first layer of this section, and I'm triyng to be consistent in that.
But of course I always follow the evidence, which is why recently moved it to Alexandria. They happened to have a decent library there, where books from all kinds of ships were copied, which is a nice bonus. But if I find an unambiguous reference to Christ on the cross, I will adjust again where necessary.
[/quote]
They had an extraordinary library in Alexandria. So much so, that precious manuscripts of which there was probably only one copy were entrusted to the library. In modern terms, it would be like burning the U.S. Library of Congress, the Vatican Library, or the British Library.
Scholars debate the various accounts of the most famous burning in the 7th century and are skeptical that it took six months to destroy this invaluable and irreplaceable resource but even if it didn't take six months, it's possible it took some time (days? weeks) because it was a significant collection.