About the first question: I think the text and imagery belong together. The script is another matter:
- I am certain that it is based on Latin script.
- I am certain that whoever devised it, knew what he was doing and understood the source text.
- I am not certain as to why the script was created. What I do know for sure, is that the labels in the root-and-leaf section are the names for the plants in their local language. This knowledge could have been handy for a trader or some official from a Greek centre like Byzantium who was involved in the trade routes. Plants from the Eastern parts of the trade routes are written in their original Indic language. Names for plants from other areas (closer to home) are in their relevant language. Perhaps the Voynich script was devised to uniformise and simplify the sound inventories of these various languages, to make it easier on the one who wanted to learn them. The focus on mnemonics (memory hints) points in this direction. But this is speculation.
Your question about the imagery is a good one, and as for now I don't have a definite answer. Until recently, I assumed the original sources came from further East, like the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, where these images would have been common. However, lately several people, including two historians, have told me independently that my findings point towards Byzantium.
I drop my assumptions readily when confronted with such advice, so I will need to investigate the Byzantian option. I am trained in linguistics, not history, so I don't have a ready knowledge about Greek imagery and Eastern trade in Byzantium. So many different kinds of people lived there, including groups that came in from the East.
Which centuries can I assume for the sources? Who was involved in the international trade when, and what did they know? Which imagery were they familiar with? When did the knowledge of Hellenistic imagery fade entirely? I'll be honest with you and say that for now, I don't know.
What I do know, is that the root-and-leaf section was made for Greek speakers who were schooled in Greek culture and professionally involved in the international trade. This could be people from local officials to traveling traders.
But just because I don't know the exact place and time when these sources were first made, doesn't mean that I can't keep studying them and picking out the bits of which I'm certain. If someone comes along and provides a suitable historical context, I'll gladly accept it. That's the advantage of not having a theory
- I am certain that it is based on Latin script.
- I am certain that whoever devised it, knew what he was doing and understood the source text.
- I am not certain as to why the script was created. What I do know for sure, is that the labels in the root-and-leaf section are the names for the plants in their local language. This knowledge could have been handy for a trader or some official from a Greek centre like Byzantium who was involved in the trade routes. Plants from the Eastern parts of the trade routes are written in their original Indic language. Names for plants from other areas (closer to home) are in their relevant language. Perhaps the Voynich script was devised to uniformise and simplify the sound inventories of these various languages, to make it easier on the one who wanted to learn them. The focus on mnemonics (memory hints) points in this direction. But this is speculation.
Your question about the imagery is a good one, and as for now I don't have a definite answer. Until recently, I assumed the original sources came from further East, like the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, where these images would have been common. However, lately several people, including two historians, have told me independently that my findings point towards Byzantium.
I drop my assumptions readily when confronted with such advice, so I will need to investigate the Byzantian option. I am trained in linguistics, not history, so I don't have a ready knowledge about Greek imagery and Eastern trade in Byzantium. So many different kinds of people lived there, including groups that came in from the East.
Which centuries can I assume for the sources? Who was involved in the international trade when, and what did they know? Which imagery were they familiar with? When did the knowledge of Hellenistic imagery fade entirely? I'll be honest with you and say that for now, I don't know.
What I do know, is that the root-and-leaf section was made for Greek speakers who were schooled in Greek culture and professionally involved in the international trade. This could be people from local officials to traveling traders.
But just because I don't know the exact place and time when these sources were first made, doesn't mean that I can't keep studying them and picking out the bits of which I'm certain. If someone comes along and provides a suitable historical context, I'll gladly accept it. That's the advantage of not having a theory