In an attempt to decode "Voynich manuscript", what really is written in "the world's most mysterious book"?

"Voynic manuscript"Is written in an unknown author unknown language and is called" the world's most mysterious book "because of a number of strange illustrations drawn. However, Nicholas Gibbs, a historian and a painter, analyzes what kind of books the Voynich manuscript is by conducting a survey with its own perspective.

The solution to the Voynich manuscript | Nicholas Gibbs
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/voynich-manuscript-solution/

The reason why the Voynich manuscript is considered to be "the world's most mysterious book" is that the language written in the book has "characteristics similar to actually existing languages, but nobody has seen it Because there was not ". Until now, cryptologists and linguists have been trying to decipher Voynich manuscripts, but they have not yet been completely decoded. Therefore, "Is not it intentionally encrypted to hide the contents?" "Have not fraudsters made up a bogus language to raise the value?" "It is not left as written language There are many hypotheses such as being written by an unknown language? " Also, as of 2017, it is not clear who the author is.

How did the Voynich manuscript become "the world's most mysterious book"? - GIGAZINE


Nicholas Gibbs, who is a historian, a mural painter and a war painter who understands the role of illustrations, is a person who is investigating since he met the Voynich manuscript in 2002. While being a historian but an understanding of the role of illustration in books as a painter, Mr. Gibbs' advantage is to analyze what the Voynich manuscript is like with its own perspective.

By 2014 the Voynich manuscript has been measured radiocarbon dating and was presumed to have been written in the early 15th century. However, according to Gibbs, it is possible to specify the time from the illustration drawn in the manuscript without the radiocarbon dating and the flow of medical books published in the past.

According to Gibbs, the Voynich manuscriptGalengosYaHippocrates,SolanosThe knowledge of doctors such as ancient Greek, etc., plant specimen collection,Zodiac zodiac, A description of a public bath,Play adesAnd the illustration on the influence of the medicine, and has the same characteristics as reference books on health and treatment in the Middle Ages. Its contents include bathing, hygiene, food, bleeding, laxatives,fumigation· Cosmetics etc are included, but these were caught as medical at that time.

Especially bathing has long been treated as a treatment method from the Greek-Roman era and from the illustration of bathing, Gibbs says that the main theme of the Voynic manuscript is "medicine". In addition, there is an illustration that the Voynich manuscript is wearing a naked woman on preparations, but this reflects that gynecologic medicine was distinguished from other fields in the Middle Ages.

byJennifer Burk

For example, I am a female doctor at Salerno Medical School which existed in the 11th centuryToltolaWas specialized in female diseases and diseases and recommended bathing as a treatment for a wide range of diseases. Trotora inherits the medical and health views of Galenos and Hippocrates. Her book "Women's Disease" will be widely used as a textbook until the 15th century, but the subject is mainly gynecology medicine · bleeding · bathing, and it is surprisingly similar to the contents of the Voynich manuscript . From this, Gibbs thinks that Trotora is a model of a woman drawn in Voynich manuscript.

Also, as a book that was influenced by Tottora, it was written about the effect of bathing "De balneis puteolanisIn this book, in particular the profits of "getting to a spa" and "drinking mineral water" are noted. There are many illustrations in De balneis puteolanis, and they reminded me of sleep, exercise, laxatives, bleeding, etc. which were written in the books of Galen and Hippocrates, Mr. Gibbs. And some of these descriptions are also imitated in the Voynich manuscript.

On the other hand, it is an ancient Greek physicianPedanius Dios ColidesThe book "De Materia Medica (About Materials of Medicine)", a book that was often imitated because it was widely read. He was active in the 5th and 6th centuriesPseudo-ApuleiusI am using the content of De Materia Medica in the book "Herbarium Apuleius Platonicus", and I wrote about "which plants are good for which disease" with a plant illustration.

byAshley Van Dyke

Furthermore, doctors who existed around the 7th centuryPaul of AeginaPublishes its own version of plant specimen collection. In this book, like the Herbarium Apuleius Platonicus, the name of one plant is briefly stated for each disease and sentences about the symptoms of the disease were also attached, but the sentences were stolen from the Galenus book at the word level I did it. However, this book is also widely used as a famous medical book, passes through Trotura, and is handed down to illustration of Voynich manuscript.

And the astrology depicted in the Voynich manuscript was also captured as medicine in medieval times. Unlike modern doctors at the time,Pleiades star clusterI believed in the movement of stars and the influence of a miserable day. Astrology was seen to affect the outcome of treatment including bathing.

By radiocarbon dating, it has been found that parchment used in Voynich manuscripts was made around 1404 ~ 1438, but in 1528, books on various treatments were published I will. The book titled "Claudii Galeni Pergameni: Liber De Plenitude Polybus De Victus Ratione Privatorum" could be said to be a text only version of Herbarium Apuleius Platonicus, which contained a list of the same herbs.

However, the characteristic is the list of 12 herbsZodiac ManIt was said that it was written with. Zodiac Man is one of the features of the Zodiac map chart in the Middle Ages and is an illustration that connects the human body and the constellation.


In the Voynich manuscript, Zodiac Man is stated in a container of medicine called bathtub or Alvarello, and Zodiac Man was written in the body of women during exercise and bathing. From these illustrations, you can see that the contents of the Voynich manuscript have been integrated contents of medicine, herbs, astrology, etc at that time.

Furthermore, there is a folding page describing nine spheres in the Voynich manuscript, but this figure is drawn in a Mediterranean style while being influenced by Persian culture, Mr. Gibbs saw It is. Nine spheresThird eyeEach sphere is connected by a road, and the fountain, fortress, wind direction etc. are written. Such illustrations are De Balneis Puteolanis, and the medical books written by the Arabs "Full Health BooksIt can be seen also. All health books inherit the view of Hippocrates, Galenos, Pliny's health.


Also, it is thought that the Voynich manuscript was written by several people, but this is also the case for illustration. Illustrations in manuscripts range from excellence to simple things, people drawing plants understand the depth, but artists who portray pipelines of plants and so on do not seem to have a sense of depth It is said that it is seen in. It seems that several artisans with various skills were in charge of illustration.

What we know so far is that the Voynich manuscript is a book that summarizes standard medicine treatments, health manuals, happiness in women, and so on. On the other hand, Mr. Gibbs noticed that the Latin words "Eius" and "Etiam" are included in the Voynich manuscript, although it is drawn in a difficult-to-decipher language. And as I continued the investigation, I guess that it is Latin abbreviations written in the Voynich manuscript. Abbreviations of plant specimens in the Voynich manuscript correspond to the abbreviations used in Herbarium Apuleius Platonicus, meaning aq for aqua (water), dq for decoque (decoction), con for confundo (mix) etc. I will.

On the other hand, it seems that the Voynich manuscript does not have the name of the plant or the name of the disease as a single body, and that the essential table of contents and the page number do not exist as reference books, which is deepening the mystery.