geoffreycaveney's Judaeo-Greek theory

[ChenZheChina]

…

I have in mind of course a late medieval Greek speaker and reader for whom reading and using such a pharmacopoeia was a regular part of their daily life experience and practice. It is more difficult for us in modern times, even for a native speaker, since we no longer need to use such pharmacopoeias on a regular basis. But if you lived in the 15th century, and the life and health of your family members depended on your ability to read and understand the pharmacopoeia, I bet you could learn to become surprisingly proficient in reading and understanding the meaning of such a text even in a 10-letter alphabet form.

Geoffrey

(continued)

5. Pharmacopœia?

My last concern is quite simple.

If the pharmacopœia is so important that the lives of your whole family is depending on it, why the writer had to obscure it in the first place? If I were the writer, I would make the book as clear as possible.

Yes, it is possible for me to read something like this, as long as I was the encrypter and I knew the context. But, everyone makes mistakes, especially when they are in a hurry. I don’t want to make any mistake when my family member gets sick and needs me to give them treatments as soon as possible (reads: in a hurry).

I wonder if there is any firm evidence that such obscured pharmacopœia has really existed.