Codex Rohonczi

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Open Code (replica)
Pages 51v and 51r of the Rohonczi Codex
Page 15r: The main character rides a donkey to a sun temple, which is also decorated with a Christian cross and a crescent moon , as well as an unknown fourth symbol. The path is covered with crosses and two wavy threads. In front of him is a moving tree, possibly a fir. A ritual takes place inside the temple.
Page 41r: The main character is talking to a king somewhere in an ambiguous temple. The temple is crowned with two lotus flowers facing away from each other. The left has 8 spines, the right 9. The king also holds a lotus flower in his hand while the main character asks him something or blesses him. The architecture is similar to the Moldavian monasteries from the period 1500–1550

The Codex Rohonczi , named after the former west Hungarian town of Rohonc (today: Rechnitz , Austria ), is a 448-page manuscript containing 87 illustrations . It was bequeathed by Count Gusztáv Batthyány to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1838 as part of the donation of his private library . The further origin of the manuscript is unknown, as is the script and the language in which it is written. The number of used therein character is at least 150 about six to eight times as large as the German (or Latin ) alphabet with its 26 basic letters. Various attempts at deciphering have been made.

description

The Codex Rohonczi is a book consisting of 224 sheets with 448 pages ( verso , recto ) in the format 12 × 10 cm. Each page is described with nine to fourteen lines. The material of the leaves is a type of paper that was common in northern Italy in the early 16th century. Some pages have a watermark in the form of a circled anchor under a six-pointed star. More recent findings indicate a place of manufacture in the Republic of Venice , which invalidates earlier assumptions about an origin before the Middle Ages.

The direction of writing is the subject of discussion. The noticeable right alignment of the lines could indicate that the text should be read from right to left. Likewise, every second page could have been integrated “upside down” (this is, however, doubted by the alignment of some of the drawings). On a total of 87 pages you can find the text and miniature drawings in black and white. In contrast to the Voynich manuscript , according to Klaus Schmeh, “the motifs are in most cases identifiable”: biblical scenes and figures, v. a. of the New Testament , like the wise men from the Orient ( Holy Three Kings ) in the stable at Bethlehem, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem (see the picture opposite), his condemnation by Pontius Pilate and the crucifixion of Jesus . On the other hand, the miniatures at the back of the code are more difficult to interpret. In addition to recurring figures, which may represent the main characters of the plot, you can see landscapes, angels , crowned kings, figures of priests, and often churches or religious temples. These are marked with various religious symbols, including crosses , crescents and sun symbols . It seems that the miniatures are either a description of a syncretistic religion or sect, or the experiences of the main characters in a multi-denominational environment in which Christians, Muslims and pagans occur. Since the text has not yet been deciphered, all attempts at interpretation concentrate on the drawings.

The text of the Codex is written in an unknown script consisting of 150 to 200 characters. It has not yet been possible to clarify whether it is an unknown ancient script or a secret script deliberately chosen by the writer (s ). Among other things, researchers are following similarities with Hungarian runes , Dakoruman or other (possibly a priori ) languages. The number of characters used suggests, among other things, that it could be a syllabic script .

According to the deciphering attempt by LZ Kiraly and G. Tokai (published in Cryptologia in 2018 , but not yet completed), it is encryption with a code book , not a transposition . The content is of a Christian religious nature ( liturgical texts, including biblical passages). In deciphering them, the identification of the numerals played a key role, not so much the images. According to the authors, the writing direction is right to left. According to the authors, important preliminary work came from Otto Gyürk 1970 (identification of numerals), Miklos Locsmandi (2006, multi-digit numbers, language not Hungarian due to a separator he discovered) and Benedek Lang (from 2010). According to Lang there was nothing comparable in the 16th and 17th centuries for either the codex or the secret writing. He didn't think it was a hoax and suggested three options for the cipher system: monoalphabetic substitution with homophones , dazzlers and nomenclators , artificial language, or shorthand . Kiraly digitized the text and examined its structure on the computer, confirmed the Locsmandi separators and a chapter structure, a symbol for biblical passages (suggested by Lang), which, like pictures, introduced chapters.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Rohonci-kódex  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Description of the picture: Codex Rohonczi, pag. 15a. In: dacia.org, accessed February 15, 2017 (Romanian). - The scene is interpreted more closely to the entry into Jerusalem of Jesus riding on a donkey, with the cross nimbus , in front of whom palm branches that have just been cut are scattered. Klaus Schmeh: Not to be cracked. Munich 2012 ( preview in Google Book Search).
  2. ↑ Description of the picture: Codex Rohonczi, pag. 41a. In: dacia.org, accessed February 15, 2017 (Romanian).
  3. ↑ Klaus Schmeh: Not crackable. Munich 2012 ( preview in Google Book Search).
  4. ↑ According to the catalog of the watermark researcher Charles-Moïse Briquet , a watermark used in Venice dates from 1529 to 1540. Klaus Schmeh: Not to crack. Munich 2012 ( preview in Google Book Search).
  5. ↑ Klaus Schmeh: Not crackable. Munich 2012 ( preview in Google Book Search).