Why the rosettes image may not be a map at all

[EllieV]

Another possibility is that the T-O map does not represent "planet Earth" but Earth as one of the four elements. This hypothesis is maybe slightly less weak if one considers the circle at the bottom left of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and the possible "water" You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. at the bottom left of the Rosettes page.

Possible. I mentioned earlier in this thread that I thought the TO map in question to indicate 'the oecumene' as the part of the world with inhabitants (Asia, Aftica and Europe) basically a tag indicating planet Earth in the current form

Thanks, I really like this idea - the TO map (inhabited part of the world) is next to the rosette representing North and the "water" glyph is next to the one representing South (Marco, I probably missed where you explain this - why do you believe this glyph represents water?). There is possibility that the author viewed the model of the Earth as the one presented by Nicola Oresme (who believed the bottom half of the Earth sphere is covered with water). You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.