01-08-2025, 09:32 AM
Admitted, my "must" in that post is like in "the Egyptians must have drawn detailed plans of the Pyramids on paper before they started building them". It does not mean "it is a fact that", but rather "it is highly likely based on logic and common sense".
And "surely" in English, bizarrely, means the same thing, or even worse. "The package surely has been shipped" is a somewhat less reassuring message than "the package must have been shipped", which is a lot less reassuring than "the package was shipped".
Whether you believe that Voynichese is an exotic or invented language, a complicated cipher, or an elaborate hoax, it is very unlikely that five European scribes would understand the text; much less the illustrations. So at least N-1 of the N scribes "must" have been just copying what they saw as a mere string of symbols and weird diagrams. Like I would do if I had to copy a Greek manuscript: I know the alphabet, but would not understand anything of the text, not even the most basic words. And thus I would not even notice if I write a nu instead of an upsilon, or a xi instead of a zeta; or if I skip a iota, or join two words that were meant to be separate, or split what was meant to be a single word...
Apart from that, there are several clues in the VMS that the Scribe did not understand what he or she was writing, whether in text or diagrams. Like the mis-aligned text in two columns on f34r, or the missing nymphs and stars in some Zodiac pages. For instance, here is a description of page f72r2 (Gemini) that I wrote years ago:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[...]
DESCRIPTION
[...]
Every nymph is holding or touching a standard star with the left
hand; except the outer one at 04:00 and the inner one at 01:30, who
are also missing their left arms entirely. The star of outer one at
04:00 is missing entirely. The stars of the the outer nymph at 09:30
and the inner one at 01:30 are missing the penned outline and
instead are fully painted with the yel. Most other stars have a yel
splot (which varies in intensity, sometimes being almost invisible),
and several have a dot core.
CW from each nymph, except the outer one at 08:30, there is a short
label.
The following table summarizes the nymph and star attributes. The
"brst" column says whether the figure has visible female breasts.
The "rays" column is the number of rays in each star; a "t" means
the star has a tail. The "hand" column gives the position of the
right hand; a hour value means that the arm is stretched out in
that direction relative to the nymph.
band place brst hand rays notes
------- ----- ---- ----- ---- ------------------------------
inner 10:45 yes belly 6 left knee raised
inner 11:45 yes hip 7
inner 00:45 yes belly 7
inner 01:45 yes butt 6 t no left arm, star only painted
inner 03:30 yes hip 8 left knee raised
inner 05:30 yes hip 7
inner 06:30 yes belly 7
inner 07:15 yes butt 8
inner 08:45 yes butt 7
outer 10:30 yes 08:30 7 right arm stretched, feet
outer 11:00 yes belly 8
outer 00:00 yes hip 7 t
outer 00:45 yes ribs 8
outer 01:15 no thigh 8 flat hips; shower cap; male?
outer 02:00 yes 08:00 8
outer 03:00 yes hip 9
outer 04:00 yes waist - no star, no left arm
outer 05:15 yes butt 7
outer 06:15 yes waist 7 standing on basin/carpet
outer 06:45 no 07:00 6 barrel; dress; male?
outer 07:15 no 06:30 6 barrel; dress; male?
outer 08:00 no 06:30 6 long dress
outer 08:30 no 06:15 7 no label; dress; belt; male?
outer 09:00 yes 06:15 7 feet visible
outer 09:30 no hip 6 star only painted
top 10:45 yes 07:00 7? left foot raised; grass
top 11:00 yes waist 7
top 11:45 yes belly 8 skinny legs
top 00:15 yes hip 7 left foot raised back
top 01:00 yes hip 8 left foot visible
INTERPRETATIONS
[...]
The two stars without penned outlines (inner at 02:00 and outer at
08:30) were presumably omitted by accident when drawing the diagram,
and corrected by the Yellow Painter. There seems to be a very faint
tail connecting the inner nymph at 02:00 with the star, perhaps to
make up for her missing left arm; but it may be just a defect of the
vellum. But even the Yellow Painter he missed the missing star and
arm of the outer nymph at 04:30.
This panel is only ~15 cm wide, hence narrower than the previous
ones in the Zodiac section (such as f72r1, ~17 cm wide); and, on the
other hand, it is the first where the Scribe tried to fit 30 nymphs
in a single diagram (instead of 15 each in two diagrams). This may
be the reason for the unusual layout with five nymphs at the top of
the diagram. However, the Virgo page, on the verso of this same
panel, manages to fit the 30 stars in the two bands of a single
diagram.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
("yel" is my shorthand for the transparent light yellow paint used on the hairs of most nymphs and in many other places. A "splot" is the largish and roundish spot of paint seen in the central part of most stars.)
And "surely" in English, bizarrely, means the same thing, or even worse. "The package surely has been shipped" is a somewhat less reassuring message than "the package must have been shipped", which is a lot less reassuring than "the package was shipped".
Whether you believe that Voynichese is an exotic or invented language, a complicated cipher, or an elaborate hoax, it is very unlikely that five European scribes would understand the text; much less the illustrations. So at least N-1 of the N scribes "must" have been just copying what they saw as a mere string of symbols and weird diagrams. Like I would do if I had to copy a Greek manuscript: I know the alphabet, but would not understand anything of the text, not even the most basic words. And thus I would not even notice if I write a nu instead of an upsilon, or a xi instead of a zeta; or if I skip a iota, or join two words that were meant to be separate, or split what was meant to be a single word...
Apart from that, there are several clues in the VMS that the Scribe did not understand what he or she was writing, whether in text or diagrams. Like the mis-aligned text in two columns on f34r, or the missing nymphs and stars in some Zodiac pages. For instance, here is a description of page f72r2 (Gemini) that I wrote years ago:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[...]
DESCRIPTION
[...]
Every nymph is holding or touching a standard star with the left
hand; except the outer one at 04:00 and the inner one at 01:30, who
are also missing their left arms entirely. The star of outer one at
04:00 is missing entirely. The stars of the the outer nymph at 09:30
and the inner one at 01:30 are missing the penned outline and
instead are fully painted with the yel. Most other stars have a yel
splot (which varies in intensity, sometimes being almost invisible),
and several have a dot core.
CW from each nymph, except the outer one at 08:30, there is a short
label.
The following table summarizes the nymph and star attributes. The
"brst" column says whether the figure has visible female breasts.
The "rays" column is the number of rays in each star; a "t" means
the star has a tail. The "hand" column gives the position of the
right hand; a hour value means that the arm is stretched out in
that direction relative to the nymph.
band place brst hand rays notes
------- ----- ---- ----- ---- ------------------------------
inner 10:45 yes belly 6 left knee raised
inner 11:45 yes hip 7
inner 00:45 yes belly 7
inner 01:45 yes butt 6 t no left arm, star only painted
inner 03:30 yes hip 8 left knee raised
inner 05:30 yes hip 7
inner 06:30 yes belly 7
inner 07:15 yes butt 8
inner 08:45 yes butt 7
outer 10:30 yes 08:30 7 right arm stretched, feet
outer 11:00 yes belly 8
outer 00:00 yes hip 7 t
outer 00:45 yes ribs 8
outer 01:15 no thigh 8 flat hips; shower cap; male?
outer 02:00 yes 08:00 8
outer 03:00 yes hip 9
outer 04:00 yes waist - no star, no left arm
outer 05:15 yes butt 7
outer 06:15 yes waist 7 standing on basin/carpet
outer 06:45 no 07:00 6 barrel; dress; male?
outer 07:15 no 06:30 6 barrel; dress; male?
outer 08:00 no 06:30 6 long dress
outer 08:30 no 06:15 7 no label; dress; belt; male?
outer 09:00 yes 06:15 7 feet visible
outer 09:30 no hip 6 star only painted
top 10:45 yes 07:00 7? left foot raised; grass
top 11:00 yes waist 7
top 11:45 yes belly 8 skinny legs
top 00:15 yes hip 7 left foot raised back
top 01:00 yes hip 8 left foot visible
INTERPRETATIONS
[...]
The two stars without penned outlines (inner at 02:00 and outer at
08:30) were presumably omitted by accident when drawing the diagram,
and corrected by the Yellow Painter. There seems to be a very faint
tail connecting the inner nymph at 02:00 with the star, perhaps to
make up for her missing left arm; but it may be just a defect of the
vellum. But even the Yellow Painter he missed the missing star and
arm of the outer nymph at 04:30.
This panel is only ~15 cm wide, hence narrower than the previous
ones in the Zodiac section (such as f72r1, ~17 cm wide); and, on the
other hand, it is the first where the Scribe tried to fit 30 nymphs
in a single diagram (instead of 15 each in two diagrams). This may
be the reason for the unusual layout with five nymphs at the top of
the diagram. However, the Virgo page, on the verso of this same
panel, manages to fit the 30 stars in the two bands of a single
diagram.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
("yel" is my shorthand for the transparent light yellow paint used on the hairs of most nymphs and in many other places. A "splot" is the largish and roundish spot of paint seen in the central part of most stars.)