Thread 24549210 - /lit/ [Archived: 312 hours ago]

Anonymous
7/14/2025, 3:40:21 PM No.24549210
book-mysteries
book-mysteries
md5: c8b32b988faf6a5d85e52fe7337683b4🔍
are there any cool historical books with unsolved mysteries about them? the Voynich Manuscript always seemed very boring and gay to me
Anonymous
7/14/2025, 4:28:07 PM No.24549323
Yes — there are many fascinating historical books and manuscripts shrouded in mystery that go way beyond the Voynich Manuscript (which, fair enough, is a bit dry if you're not into linguistics or botany). Here are some truly cool, strange, or mysterious historical books, many with unresolved puzzles, lost origins, or weird contents:


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1. Codex Gigas ("The Devil's Bible")

13th century manuscript from Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic)

Weighs over 165 pounds and is made of over 160 animal skins

Contains the full Bible, ancient medical texts, exorcism rites, and a full-page portrait of Satan

Legend says it was written in one night by a monk who made a deal with the devil

Mystery: No one knows the scribe, or how it was made so quickly or preserved so long
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2. Rohonc Codex

Unknown origin, unknown language, written in an undeciphered script

Discovered in Hungary in the 19th century

Contains religious and military scenes that don’t match any known cultural context

Mystery: Is it real or a hoax? No one has cracked the writing system
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3. The Book of Basedga

Owned by John Dee, Queen Elizabeth I’s astrologer and occult scholar

Appears to be a treatise on angelic magic and cabalistic mathematics

Much of it is filled with mysterious letter grids no one understood until the 2000s

Dee claimed he could only read it with the help of angels summoned through ritual

Mystery: Its full purpose and coded structure are still debated
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4. The Popol Vuh (Maya "Bible")

A sacred text of the K’iche’ Maya, combining mythology, history, and cosmology

Written down in the 16th century after Spanish conquest, but based on earlier oral traditions

Contains bizarre tales of hero twins, the underworld Xibalba, and talking animals

Mystery: Parts of it seem deeply symbolic — some scholars believe it encodes astronomical or cosmological data we're only beginning to understand
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5. Sibylline Books (Lost Roman Prophecies)

Collection of prophecies consulted by ancient Roman officials during crises

Originally bought from a mysterious old woman (possibly a witch or oracle)

Most were burned, and the few remaining ones were lost in Late Antiquity

Mystery: No one knows exactly what they said or what knowledge was lost
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6. Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis

The longest Etruscan text known — written on linen wrappings of an Egyptian mummy

The Etruscan language is only partially understood

Seems to be a religious calendar or ritual manual

Mystery: No one knows the full meaning or how it ended up in an Egyptian burial
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Bonus Weird One:

The Urantia Book (20th century)

Not ancient, but full of pseudohistory, cosmic origin myths, and Jesus lore

Claims to be dictated by celestial beings

Still has a cult following — and no one knows who actually wrote it
Replies: >>24549350 >>24549353
Anonymous
7/14/2025, 4:34:45 PM No.24549350
>>24549323
>Rohonc Codex
>The Rohonc Codex is an illustrated manuscript book by an unknown author, with a text in an unknown language and writing system, that surfaced in Hungary
turns out it was just hungarian...
Anonymous
7/14/2025, 4:36:11 PM No.24549353
>>24549323
>3. The Book of Basedga
and Redpilledga
Anonymous
7/14/2025, 4:37:53 PM No.24549360
The Voynich manuscript was solved like 10 years ago it's on Youtube
Replies: >>24549389
Anonymous
7/14/2025, 4:56:31 PM No.24549389
>>24549360
It’s false that the Voynich Manuscript was definitively “solved” about 10 years ago—and certainly not in any conclusive, scholarly way that’s universally accepted today.

Here's a clear breakdown:


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Past Claims of “Solving” It

Gerard Cheshire (2019) claimed it was a proto‑Romance language compiled by 15th‑century nuns. His conclusions were quickly retracted by the University of Bristol after scholars widely criticized them as unsound .

Nicholas Gibbs (2017) proposed it was medieval Latin abbreviations on women’s health. That idea was debunked almost immediately by experts, especially by medievalists and Yale’s Beinecke Library .

Unpublished or less-known claims—like from Ahmet Ardıç (Old Turkic) and Greg Kondrak (Hebrew angles)—have gained very little traction in academic circles .
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Scholarly Consensus

Major institutions like Yale’s Beinecke Library and specialists still consider it **“the main unsolved problem in the history of cryptography”** .

According to experts, none of the proposed decryptions have held up under rigorous linguistic or historical review .
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Contemporary Developments

In September 2024, new multispectral imaging revealed hidden annotations suggesting someone in the 17th century may have tried to decipher it—but no definitive translation has emerged .

A new academic approach in April 2025 (suhaib A. Jama) proposes a structural, non-phonetic decoding method, but it's in early arXiv form and hasn't resulted in a consensus translation .
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Bottom Line

No, the Voynich Manuscript has not been definitively solved—either 10 years ago or recently. There have been numerous hopeful claims and interesting new analysis techniques, but no accepted, full decoding or clear understanding has been produced. It remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of cryptography and medieval studies.


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If you're seeing YouTube videos claiming it was "decoded," treat them with caution—they're entertaining, but not authoritative.

Want a deeper dive into any specific claim or the latest imaging and analysis? Just say the word!