cryptography - Mysteries

The Rohonc Codex: 448 Pages Nobody Can Read

November 11, 2026 by Tommy Hayes

Reproduction of four pages from the Rohonc Codex, showing dense rows of unknown symbols and framed illustrations of figures and buildings

About 6 min readA small book of 448 pages, written in a script that matches no known writing system, has sat in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences since 1838. No one knows who wrote it, what language it is in, or even which way up to read it.

The Voynich Manuscript: The Book No One Can Read

November 8, 2026November 6, 2026 by Tommy Hayes

Folio 1r of the Voynich manuscript, showing its unknown script and a plant illustration

About 4 min readCarbon-dated to 1404–1438, written in a script no one recognises, and filled with plants that match no known species, the Voynich manuscript has defeated a century of codebreakers — and no one agrees what it even is.