Pond creatures (f79v)

[Linda]

Ah, I see. Yes, that's only partially. Do you have any ideas about the peculiar way the water routes are represented? I.e why it's not just a map?

I think it was meant to be obscured and yet contain enough references to be understood by those already in the know, i.e. others familiar with maps and places. I see parts of it as being a commentary on existing maps of the time. Some of the diagrams seem to be exaggerated versions of the confusing images repeatedly portrayed in old maps. Some seem to remind us what certain sea bodies look like under different water level circumstances. I have yet to see an old map showing the red sea islands as they appear now, perhaps they knew that it was wrong and were commenting, but did not want to go against the powers that be, so kept their work exclusive by making a large body of water look like a pond to the casual observer.

It's very interesting looking at all the copied Ptolemy maps and their differences. I had recently rethought my identification of the Armenia page and decided that the 90 degree river was the Araxes and the big green lake was both Urmia and Van, because of the divide between the two parts, as I was wondering why Van wasn't represented, and so this seemed appropriate to me to look at it this way. To my astonishment I found this is indeed how the lakes are portrayed in some of the Ptolemiac maps, as one lake divided by a mountain, and with the 90 degree river leading from them. Today I was looking at the Tabula Asiae maps of India and also the Caspian Sea, and again I found some that show things I see in the manuscript, and some that don't.

I'm hoping there is a pattern to it and will show the same sets are what they saw, perhaps it can put a place and/or time to the manuscript's making. Some of the 14th and 15th century maps also show these details. So far this has bolstered my belief in what I think I see, so I'm trying to put together some of these examples into a new paper. Have been working on only 3 of the pages so far, and haven't yet documented the maps, so I have a long way to go before it will be ready in its entirety, but I'll try to put some images together soon to post here. I also see similar commentary in the rosettes especially in the swirly one with the T-O map attached, have a paper started on that too.