No text, but a visual code

[Linda]

So why in quire 13 would there be such scant plantlife if it is about stars and plants? You say they travel in tubes, and yet they don't actually seem to get to anywhere a plant might be, nor do all of them do so. I think you have to show what exactly is going on with each drawing, whereas yours is an overall assessment that to me does not pan out.

 

Can you give me an alternative iconographic reading to the one I do, a reading that is consistent with the rest of the book and with the culture of its time?

In terms of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. i still think it is the Caspian sea, part of a trip around the world by following the many bodies of water. The tent appearing thing is the variety of river deltas that flow into the sea from the north, with the main rivers pianted blue to indicate fresh water replenishment, the top left iconography explains the mountain runoff which occurs towards the northwest shore, the nymphs in the water show depth, the nymphs along the shore identify other interesting hydrological features, like on the right side where the river diverted at the time to the Caspian intead of the Aral, which was also dry in that time and yet was drawn full, but lower, to show where the water went, and the Gorgan gulf at the southeast corner which is drawn as a protected port by use of tub-like iconography. The iconography is repeated in various places in the quire and in the rosettes and mean the same things, mountains, rivers, gulfs, freshwater, seawater, etc.

 Plants need water more than they need stars, so i think my interpretation works just as well in that regard. The culture at the time was seafaring and colonizing, and portolan maps were well established, so i think that fits too.