Cryptologists, botanists, history buffs and alchemists have been trying to decipher this mysterious book for over a century. But no one has yet presented a clear result.
And now it looks like a breakthrough has been outlined in the decoding. Nikolai Anichkin offers his own version of the decryption of the manuscript. He suggests that the mysterious book was written in Russia in the XY century.
And so read on and enjoy.
The Voynich manuscript. Origin
It is widely known among historians, cryptologists, botanists, and ordinary lovers of the so-called. The Voynich manuscript (hereinafter referred to as RV) has not yet revealed the secret of its origin [1], [2]. That is why, and also because of its mysteriousness, it gained its fame as the most mysterious book. The fact is that RV was written by an unknown author, in an unknown language, using an unknown alphabet and no one knows where. All attempts to decipher it so far have not yielded positive results. A large number of works by specialists in various fields are devoted to the history of RV and its alleged content and origin. Nevertheless, there is still no consensus on these issues.
In working with this document, it is necessary to proceed from the following. The PB should contain vital information needed by descendants. The obtained selective translation of some words that we managed to translate confirmed this [3, p.25]. Consequently, the author had to provide for the possibility of translation. In principle, there are two possible approaches to finding the key to the PB cipher. The first. Direct search for the language used when writing it. For this, the text has a hint, which was used [3, p.25]. Second. Determine the place of writing and, according to the language used in this region at that time, find the one used in the RV. If there is a hint for the first option in the RT, therefore, for the second it should be. In this work, an attempt is made to substantiate the place of its origin based on the available reliable historical facts and information contained in the RV itself.
In short, the reliably known history of RV is as follows. In 1912, the Roman College suffered a financial crisis and it was decided to sell some of the property, and this had to be done under the cover of secrecy [1]. The library was the first to go on sale. One of the buyers was Wilfried Voynich, a well-known dealer in ancient books (husband of the famous writer E. Voynich). While reviewing the rarities from the Kircher collection for sale, he drew attention to a mysterious manuscript written in unfamiliar characters and decided to purchase it. Its true name is still unknown. After the death of V. Voynich, RV became the property of his wife. After the death of E. Voynich, the rarity passed into the property of her heiress Ann Neill, who in 1961 sold it, again to a bookseller, Hans Kraus. Hans Kraus could not find a buyer and in 1969 he donated it to Yale University, and specifically to the Beinecke library, where it is kept to the present day.
Promotional video:
When buying the book, V. Voynich discovered a letter enclosed in it, according to which at one time it belonged to the emperor of the Roman Empire Rudolph-2. Until this time, the history of the RV is practically unknown. The following is known about Emperor Rudolf-2 (1552 - 1612) [4]. In 1576, he took the imperial office in Prague. Prague at this time was considered the center of the occult. Alchemy and the manufacture of artificial gold were especially widespread here. Rudolph-2 was known as the patron and patron of the alchemists. His residence was the center of alchemical science at the time. Apparently, considering that RV is related to alchemy, it was offered to Rudolph-2 and he acquired it. It should be noted that even today the opinion about the belonging of RV to alchemy takes place.
Now we should pay attention to one seemingly insignificant fact. During this period, Poland was not as keen on alchemy as Prague, but, nevertheless, had its own specialists in this field. The most famous of them was Mikhail Tsenzivo [5]. There is no need to dwell on his achievements, it is only worth noting that at one time he was invited to Prague by Rudolph - 2. Together they worked until the death of Rudolph - 2, that is, until 1612.
Now let's turn to Poland at that time. In the period 1610 - 1612, the Polish garrison under the leadership of first Zolkiewski and then Gosniewski occupied the Moscow Kremlin [6]. And not only occupied it, but everything that could be taken out was taken out of it.
One remark needs to be made here. The carried out radiocarbon analyzes of the parchment, on which RV is written, showed that it was made in the period 1404-1438 [1]. Some experts consider this period to be the period when the PB was written. This is not entirely correct. This is the period during which all the parchment was made, which was later used to write the RV. There is information that sometimes archaeologists also find blank sheets of parchment. That is, we can say that parchment was sometimes made for future use. In addition, it is unlikely that RV was written over 34 years (1404-1438). Thus, the sheets of parchment made in 1404 have been waiting for some time (about 30 years). This suggests that it is not at all necessary that after production the parchment was immediately used for its intended purpose. Consequently,It would be more correct to assume that the RV was written in full no earlier than 1438, i.e. after making parchment for the last sheet of PB.
Now we should dwell on the history and move on to considering the content of the RT. Separate fragments of the figure placed on sheet 86 (reverse side) [2] (Fig. 1.) attract attention. It depicts nine seemingly independent fragments. On the other hand, they are all connected in a certain way, thus emphasizing that they represent something as a whole. Attention should be paid to fragment number 3. It shows the only, at first glance, easily recognizable structure with elements of architecture of the "dovetail" type. According to historical data, such architectural elements were used only in Italy until the 15th century. Bearing in mind the fact that the language used when writing the text of the manuscript is far from European, it gives reason to believe that the manuscript could not have been written in Italy. The next place where they began to use such architectural elements is Russia. Namely, when replacing the stone walls of the Moscow Kremlin with brick ones. These works were started in 1485 under the guidance of Italian architects [7].
Figure: 1. Fragments of the drawing on page 86/2.
For safety reasons, the walls were replaced in small sections. Bearing in mind that the RV was written no earlier than 1438, it can be assumed that it was written precisely during the construction of the brick wall of the Moscow Kremlin. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that it is a section of the wall that is depicted in RV.
Figure: 2. Facts confirming the connection of the drawing in the RV with the Moscow Kremlin.
Moscow Kremlin, already replaced by a brick one with elements of an old stone wall. (Fig. 2.). At the same time, it is not difficult to notice the identity of the image of the elements of the old stone wall in the manuscript depicting the same wall, restored by the architect M. P. Kudryavtsev is absolutely independent. (Here you should pay attention to the scrupulousness of the author, which will be confirmed later). Moreover, with a high degree of probability it can be assumed that the depicted site represents the modern Spasskaya Tower. This assumption can be made despite the fact that initially, according to historical data, the tower was half the size of the existing one and ended with a wooden tent, which housed the bell tower. And this practically corresponds to the picture. But two subtleties of the drawing cannot be ignored. First. In reality, there are six "dovetail" elements on the wall in this fragment, and there are only five of them in the picture. Second. The tower is not centered. There are two possible explanations for this: either it is simply the author's liberties, or the desire to deliberately introduce differences, or both. In addition, it should be noted that the image of the fragment itself is relatively small, rotated and placed so that when looking through several rather complex fragments it remains unobtrusive.that with a cursory scan among several, rather complex fragments, it remains unobtrusive.that with a cursory scan among several, rather complex fragments, it remains unobtrusive.
Fig. 3. Signs of an analogy between the real wall of Kitai-Gorod and in the figure in the Voynich manuscript.
You should pay attention to one more feature of this fragment. One more wall adjoins the already considered Kremlin wall, the construction of which is simpler than the Kremlin one (Fig. 3). It is known for certain that in ancient times the Kitay-Gorod wall adjoined the Kremlin wall. The presented figure clearly shows the analogy of the image of the wall in the RV and the actually existing wall of Kitai-Gorod.
Next, you should pay attention to the image, similar to the elements of the towers of a religious building (Fig. 4). These elements are located outside the Kremlin wall. Examining the maps of ancient Moscow, it is easy to see that the only religious building near the Kremlin wall, but outside it and with a similar set of towers, is the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed. In addition, again according to the maps, it is located within Kitay-Gorod.
Fig. 4. The analogy of the details of the drawing of the manuscript and real-life & nbsp; and existing temples.
But it should be noted that the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed in the form in which it exists today with some changes, was built in the period 1551 - 1556, i.e. after writing RV. But, until that time, a temple dedicated to the Holy Trinity was previously built on this site [8]. That is, in any case, at the time of writing the PB, there was a temple on this place.
All of the above gives reason to believe that the Moscow Kremlin at least has a certain relation to the RV. This is probably the starting point for her "migration" since the occupation of the Moscow Kremlin by the Polish garrison. Moreover, it is possible at this stage that the missing pages of the manuscript were lost. After all, it is possible that at first it fell into the hands of illiterate soldiers, who could use them for other purposes. One sheet with the figures of women is missing. Then she was taken to Poland, where she fell into the hands of Mikhail Sendzivy, then to Rudolf-2, etc. It is possible that it was she who became the reason for the close relationship between Emperor Rudolf-2, the patron saint of alchemists, and the alchemist of the Pole Mikhail Sendzivy.
It makes sense at this stage to pause the analysis of the features of this fragment of the RV figure. Moreover, not all of its elements that attract attention are considered. Among them, for example, small stars and small text among them. The stars are placed randomly, so they cannot be identified as any constellation. Therefore, they have a different meaning. By the way, in RV there are no images in which stars would be used to represent any constellation.
It makes sense to note that, in general, the entire figure on sheet 86 (reverse side) is very informative, but this is a topic for a separate discussion.
From all of the above, with a high degree of probability, it is permissible to conclude that before the Voynich manuscript fell into the hands of Emperor Rudolph - 2, it was in the Moscow Kremlin. And this gives reason to assume that it owes its origin to Russia.
In this regard, the figure on page 86 (reverse side) is quite informative, but this is a separate topic.
Anichkin N. M.
Literature
[Electronic resource]. Access mode: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuscript_Voinich (date of access: 02.12.2016).
Voynich Manuscript. Cipher Manuscript (eng.). Beinecke Digital Collections. Yale University Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, 2014.
[Electronic resource]. Access mode: https://scientificresearch.ru/images/PDF/2016/11/ru … (Date of access: 10.12.2016).
[Electronic resource]. Access mode: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_II#. D0.9E. D0 … (Date of access: 2015).
[Electronic resource]. https://www.vehi.net/brokgauz/all/002/2383.shtm (Retrieved 10.12.2016).
[Electronic resource]. Access mode: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polsko-Litovskaya_ok … (Date of access: 2015).
[Electronic resource]. Access mode: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moskovsky_Kreml#XI … (Date of access: 2015).
[Electronic resource]. Access mode: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Blessed_Basil_Chrine … (Date of access: 2015).
PS The manuscript itself can be viewed at this link.