Since the manuscript is now, if my translations are anywhere near accurate, herbal-bath themed, perhaps the 'map' is not a map.
Map > plan > scheme > schematic
Perhaps the 'map' is a sketch, schematic or layout of the parts of proposed public baths.
Does the linked image show, bottom right, a canopy for a bath-house?
It looks like the illustrations likely show an invention to efficiently supply clean water to communal Jewish baths called mikvah:
Title: “Author of mysterious Voynich manuscript was Italian Jew, says scholar”
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/05/author-of-mysterious-voynich-manuscript-was-italian-jew-says-scholar
Extract: “The scholar draws evidence for his theory of the author’s identity from a range of illustrations in the manuscript, particularly a section in which naked women are depicted bathing in green pools supplied by intestinal-like pipes.
The doctor, whose work includes editing the spiritual diaries of the Tudor mystic John Dee, believes the illustrations show communal Jewish baths called mikvah, which are still used in Orthodox Judaism to clean women after childbirth or menstruation.
…
He believes the drawings were of an invention designed by the mysterious author that aimed to ensure an efficient supply of clean water to a mikvah. “I think there is no other explanation for what they are: it is either rank fantasy by the author – which doesn’t really fit with the medical, herbal and cosmological sections of the manuscript – or it is a mikvah,” he said.
…
He admitted his theory will have to be rigorously tested by other scholars, but added that he felt “85% certain” he was right. Skinner, who is an expert in medieval esoteric manuscripts, said he was now searching European Jewish books from the period for similar language, codes, scripts or linguistic patterns to those in the Voynich.”
That "Jewish author" story has been reported around the planet. Some of Skinner's assertions were rebutted in a Guardian comment by
C Cohen.
""The pictures show only nude women and no men." = FALSE. Look again.
“The only place you see women like that bathing together in Europe at that time was in the purification baths that have been used by Orthodox Jews for the last 2,000 years.” = FALSE. According to this, sauna, spa, and banya simply never existed.
“I think there is no other explanation for what they are.” = FALSE. The biggest mistake of nearly every scholar: tunnel vision.
"The unusual design, Skinner believes, is a Ghibelline fortification found only in castles in northern Italy in the 15th century." = FALSE. Swallowtail crenellations can be found as far north as the Kremlin and as far east as the Khanate of Kazan.
“There are no saints or crosses, not even in the cosmological sections.” = FALSE. Please explain within a Hebrew context the woman holding a cross and the women's faces in the center of most of the star charts."
I have found no words suggestive of a Jewish connection. There are hundreds of instances of words which have to do with herbs, wild (of herbs), water, baths, health.
Below the image of a woman with a cross is an image of a woman with a large ring. In islamic baths this was the symbol of a jew. The author could have been christian, moslem, pagan, vegan: we know not. However, if the 'map' is a design and if the cross and ring are significant, the design may have been aimed at the building of a
hammam.
Many thanks for your thoughts. I miss being able to respond to comments in my blog. (Thinks: 'must get it sorted'.)
