03-07-2021, 08:38 PM
One detail mostly missing here is the distinction between the standard T-O images, where the lower half has been subdivided, and the *inverted* T-O version, where the upper half is split.
Regular T-O versions do tend to be geographic, with Asia at the top, while inverted representations are often elemental, with water at the bottom. (BNF Fr. 565 & Harley 334) Generally there are also sufficient visual clues to tell one version from the other.
The VMs is an *inverted* T-O. However it is not a pictorial representation. The switch to a linguistic description removes all chance of visual comparison. A person intent of making a copy of a pictorial illustration is likely to make another pictorial representation. The change from pictorial representation to linguistic description is called a code shift. It is not accidental. What remains in the VMs is the inverted T-O structure.
The VMs cosmos is a concerted effort to present a visually diverse, cosmic representation that contains the same structural elements (inverted T-O earth, surrounding stars and a cosmic boundary) as the BNF and Harley mss above.
Regular T-O versions do tend to be geographic, with Asia at the top, while inverted representations are often elemental, with water at the bottom. (BNF Fr. 565 & Harley 334) Generally there are also sufficient visual clues to tell one version from the other.
The VMs is an *inverted* T-O. However it is not a pictorial representation. The switch to a linguistic description removes all chance of visual comparison. A person intent of making a copy of a pictorial illustration is likely to make another pictorial representation. The change from pictorial representation to linguistic description is called a code shift. It is not accidental. What remains in the VMs is the inverted T-O structure.
The VMs cosmos is a concerted effort to present a visually diverse, cosmic representation that contains the same structural elements (inverted T-O earth, surrounding stars and a cosmic boundary) as the BNF and Harley mss above.

