[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: VMs: Medeltidshandskrift 47




Compare the dice table to page 48v. http://laurentius.lub.lu.se/storage/Mh_47/Mh_47-f_48_v.jpg

The days of the year are given spiraling inwards from the far right middle cell.
The days are numbered a b c d e f g.
The cycle repeats after 59 days, twice 29 1/2 being the period of the moon. By pointing the central pointer to a day the appearance of the moon will appear in the circular window. I don't know latin, but I'ld guess the other windows show moon rise and moon set. The circular disk also points to an inner band of numbers, a permutation of the numbers 1 thru 19. These are the "Golden numbers". Given for one certain year the golden number to be eg. 13, than the moon will be full on days radiating from 13.


Now the table with the dice (f47v) has a similar permutation of the numbers 1 - 19. However they are not the golden numbers for the years 1505-1523, since they should be the year modulo 19 plus one. The letters are days (a b c d e f g) I'ld say. fe, dc, ba, ag meaning two consecutive days, or the night between. I think the 19 numbers concern the the period of 235 lunations fitting into 19 years, the Metonic cycle, and relate to the appearances of the moon.

Of the digits underneath the letters, the second one closely follows the letters a=0 to g=6, with a difference of at most one. They might as well signify the days. One looks like a small correction to the other. The first number (5 - 10) could be related to the six periods of 59 days

I have still no idea what the dice mean in this connection, but for the columns indicating the total thrown. Does the table then give the day on which certain things must be done?

Ger


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.801 / Virus Database: 544 - Release Date: 24-11-2004


______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx with a body saying:
unsubscribe vms-list