Decoding the Past
The ancients recorded their knowledge on scrolls, artifacts, and even cave walls. In some cases, the passage of time has erases our ability to understand a disused alphabet. In other cases, knowledge is purposely encrypted in complex codes understood by only a select (and long dead) few.
There are many such ancient writings, pictographs, and ciphers that still defy understanding. Whenever one is cracked, it almost always yields exciting new information. Here are 10 decoded books, paintings, scrolls, and artifacts that allow us an unprecedented glimpse into the secret societies, lost libraries, beliefs, and rituals of Antiquity.
10 Egyptian Book Of Spells
A 400-year-old book about botany could be holding an extraordinary treasure—a portrait of William Shakespeare. It’s the only portrait known to have been created during the playwright’s lifetime. Since it was done during his living days, researchers believe that it shows what he really looked like—handsome, aged 33, and soon to pen Hamlet.
The now rare book, The Herball, came to the attention of historian Mark Griffith (also a botanist) when he was busy studying author John Gerard’s life. Griffith became convinced that four faces depicted on the title page weren’t merely decorative but rather were long-lost portraits of actual people. Griffith deciphered surrounding imagery connected to heraldry and emblematic flowers before their real identities emerged, namely the author of the book, another prominent botanist, and Queen Elizabeth’s lord treasurer.
Finding Shakespeare among them knocked Griffith’s socks off. What apparently identifies Shakespeare is the fact that he’s holding a fritillary and an ear of sweetcorn, both references to his works. Griffith also recognized an Elizabethan cipher beneath the Bard, which gave credibility to the discovery.
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