17-04-2016, 04:16 PM
Marco, I didn't know the parallel with the Pharos was proposed before. Do you have links to all these hobbyists?
I used the picture of the reconstruction because it provided a clean, schematic view. I did, of course, confirm that the general structure of the proposed reconstruction was consistent with:
- That on relevant contemporary sources like these 2nd c. CE Alexandrian coins:
![[Image: PhareAlexandrie.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/PhareAlexandrie.jpg)
- Other modern reconstructions like this one from 2006:
![[Image: PHAROS2006.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/PHAROS2006.jpg)
Especially the coin on the right clearly shows the same three-tier structure as the Voynich Pharos. Of course I also saw the Arab source you quote. That is also relevant, in that it shows how the Pharos was depicted by those less familiar with it. In other words, if I want to argue the VM Pharos was first drawn by someone in Greco-Roman Alexandria, I have modern experts as well as first hand contemporary sources on my side. While you were doing my work for me, you failed to include the most relevant sources: those made by people who saw the Pharos every day.
But you are right that I should probably include more of my heuristics.
What I am doing is not free association. In my blog post, I show continuity of Egyptian crowns until Greco-Roman times. About the plant, I trace the history of the image, and explain every part of it, how it ended up in the Alexandrian carving and how the plant was made to evoke it. Could you show me some of these snakeweeds? Do they look like a cobra, and is the plant on top drawn with exactly the same lines as the Tyche's headgear? Of course not. What you don't understand, alchemical herbals being your favorite hobby, is that these images were emblematic, and would have been recognized immediately by contemporaries, even when drawn into the shape of a plant.
I used the picture of the reconstruction because it provided a clean, schematic view. I did, of course, confirm that the general structure of the proposed reconstruction was consistent with:
- That on relevant contemporary sources like these 2nd c. CE Alexandrian coins:
- Other modern reconstructions like this one from 2006:
Especially the coin on the right clearly shows the same three-tier structure as the Voynich Pharos. Of course I also saw the Arab source you quote. That is also relevant, in that it shows how the Pharos was depicted by those less familiar with it. In other words, if I want to argue the VM Pharos was first drawn by someone in Greco-Roman Alexandria, I have modern experts as well as first hand contemporary sources on my side. While you were doing my work for me, you failed to include the most relevant sources: those made by people who saw the Pharos every day.
But you are right that I should probably include more of my heuristics.
What I am doing is not free association. In my blog post, I show continuity of Egyptian crowns until Greco-Roman times. About the plant, I trace the history of the image, and explain every part of it, how it ended up in the Alexandrian carving and how the plant was made to evoke it. Could you show me some of these snakeweeds? Do they look like a cobra, and is the plant on top drawn with exactly the same lines as the Tyche's headgear? Of course not. What you don't understand, alchemical herbals being your favorite hobby, is that these images were emblematic, and would have been recognized immediately by contemporaries, even when drawn into the shape of a plant.