January 1st, 2021
Goodbye 2020!
Today, we noticed that the plants were indicative of sailing boat masts, sails and sailing rope. Some roots (ropes) have knots in them – sailing knots are speed. The leaves and flowers seem to be how many sails need to be up per mast and which direction they need to point. In the back of the manuscript is words for each meaning of these types of instructions. Also, in the back there are what appear to be anchor windlass rotation instructions as well as capstan (these appear on the left side of the page from the roots.)
The panels on page 124 we had identified as Jerusalem. But further looking at them could also represent the Madeira Islands based on latitude of the star coordination. The Madeira islands were accidentally discovered in 1418 during a sailing accident and by 1420 Prince Henry the Navigator sent 3 captains to claim the islands for Portugal – afterwards they used the islands for trade and agriculture and were a major part of Portugal’s wealth. In looking at the Catalan Atlas the Madeira islands are present, giving further proof that the original date for the Catalan map is wrong or that the discovery of the Islands by Henry the Navigator is false?
Tucker STEM Team 