There are many examples of unsolved and mysterious writing systems, codes, ciphers, languages and maps which have yet to be deciphered and cracked. This list will focus on ten that do not appear to be forgeries and are lesser-known then some of the more famous examples such as the Vineland Map and Voynitch Manuscript.
Maps, languages, codes and ciphers are cracked and deciphered all the time, sometimes after years of painstaking research and calculations. A recent development is in the use of computers to decipher previously unknown and unintelligible languages. One recent success was the decoding of the Copiale Cipher, a hand-lettered 105-page manuscript that appears to date from the late 18th century. According to a recent New York Times article, the deciphering of the first 16 pages shows the Copiale Cipher appears to be a “detailed description of a ritual from a secret society that apparently had a fascination with eye surgery and ophthalmology.” The now deciphered text talks about making mystical signs and plucking a hair from a candidate’s eyebrow and swears candidates to loyalty and secrecy.
Here are ten more mysterious ciphers, maps and languages.
10 British Library Ciphers
In the British Library there are at least three books/manuscripts that are written entirely in cipher. The first is titled “The Subtelty of Witches,” authored by Ben Ezra Aseph, from 1657. The second has the very interesting (and long) title of: “Order of the Altar, Ancient Mysteries to Which Females Were Alone Admissible: Being Part the First of the Secrets Preserved in the Association of Maiden Unity and Attachment,” from 1835. The third has the very mysterious sounding title of: “Mysteries of Vesta,” possibly from 1850. So all you ciphers with access to the British Library – get cracking!
