07-08-2026, 07:22 PM
The symbol z looks like a small version of k and appears very rarely in the manuscript. I counted it 3 times; only 2 are present in the transcription by Tahakasi.
It appears once in Botany (f17r), f58r–f58v, and on the diagram f67v1, and it is repeated twice in the word.
And this is definitely not k, since the scribe of Astrology has no problem writing this gallows. This is also not a distorted ch à la Ih, because there is a loop there.
However, this sign does not appear on f57v, where x is featured.
Of course, ch doesn’t appear there either, but still…
I suggest that this letter is similar to i/n or r, because in all cases (except for f17r) it comes after a.
What do you think about this letter? What can it tell us about the manuscript’s cipher?
It appears once in Botany (f17r), f58r–f58v, and on the diagram f67v1, and it is repeated twice in the word.
And this is definitely not k, since the scribe of Astrology has no problem writing this gallows. This is also not a distorted ch à la Ih, because there is a loop there.
However, this sign does not appear on f57v, where x is featured.
Of course, ch doesn’t appear there either, but still…
I suggest that this letter is similar to i/n or r, because in all cases (except for f17r) it comes after a.
What do you think about this letter? What can it tell us about the manuscript’s cipher?