I agree that especially certain parts of the trade routes would have seen violent changes, even if we take just the political situation into account. But those parts which have been maintained in the manuscript would have been relatively stable. If we assume that the material was actively kept up to date by professionals, they could do so with minimal changes. I also have no idea to what extent the contents of the text is original, if at all. The current script is almost certainly relatively late. For all we know, the text comments on which parts of the images are still valid and which have changed, but that's pure speculation.
Relatively stable things would include:
- celestial navigation (though over these time spans one would have to take precession into account)
- flood cycles and navigation of the Nile (canals changed but the flood cycle was only interrupted by the Aswan Dam)
- Useful plants in and around India, for example to repair a ship's ropes. Some of the plants in the MS are still used today by local villagers for similar purposes. Certain timbers, like teak, are still valued today. Certain spices, like saffron, are still as expensive as ever.
- Many other things would also have remained the same. Many harbors remained harbors, and cities remained cities. Though of course others vanished as well.
The kind if information would not be something like "Johnny sells the cheapest wine in city x" , but rather something like "if you need to repair your ship in place x, ask for a timber the locals call dal tikku, it is the best for the hull."
Anyway to get back to the nymphs, this exactly is the reason why people have recognised the similarity between the VM and the Vat. Gr. Sol miniature nymphs. Of the latter, we know that the roots of the image are Hellenistic. I believe the same is true for the VM. This isn't so strange if one can let go of the idea of a 15th century auteur and think in terms of commissioned copyists instead.
Relatively stable things would include:
- celestial navigation (though over these time spans one would have to take precession into account)
- flood cycles and navigation of the Nile (canals changed but the flood cycle was only interrupted by the Aswan Dam)
- Useful plants in and around India, for example to repair a ship's ropes. Some of the plants in the MS are still used today by local villagers for similar purposes. Certain timbers, like teak, are still valued today. Certain spices, like saffron, are still as expensive as ever.
- Many other things would also have remained the same. Many harbors remained harbors, and cities remained cities. Though of course others vanished as well.
The kind if information would not be something like "Johnny sells the cheapest wine in city x" , but rather something like "if you need to repair your ship in place x, ask for a timber the locals call dal tikku, it is the best for the hull."
Anyway to get back to the nymphs, this exactly is the reason why people have recognised the similarity between the VM and the Vat. Gr. Sol miniature nymphs. Of the latter, we know that the roots of the image are Hellenistic. I believe the same is true for the VM. This isn't so strange if one can let go of the idea of a 15th century auteur and think in terms of commissioned copyists instead.