The Voynich Ninja

Several symbols from the Syrian manuscript are similar or identical to letters from various alphabets. The plant cipher looks somehow like the Ogham script from Ireland. It's hard to tell if the parallels are entirety coincidental...

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Quote:The tradition according to which the name of the letters of the Ogham alphabet comes from names of trees originated in this document (The Book of Ballymote. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS. 23 p 12)

[attachment=10539]

If we turned this 90' to horizontal, ascenders and descenders would become our left and right branches.
So, "takey" and "folcg" would be the same once deciphered. It would waste a lot of paper.. but would make a pretty cool alphabet.

The example you show seems to have an example of this with ascending IIII being "c" and descending IIII being "r". 

Don't mean to suggest this is what the VM text is doing, just interesting to think about I guess.

I worked on page 218 of the pdf document at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., , which includes symbols resembling v101-h and v101-8.

Attached is OCR of the main Arabic text (excluding the small rotated section on the right). I corrected the OCR on the basis of an interpretation by an Arabic-speaking friend, who is a professional translator. He characterises the main Arabic text as an argument between two Arab linguists.

The OCR has 38 words, 158 characters excluding spaces, and 191 characters including spaces. The seven lines written in an apparent code have about 150 symbols; so they appear to represent a 1-to-1 encoding of the main Arabic text excluding spaces.

The English text below is my synthesis of Google Translate and my friend's interpretation.

In the last line, some Arabic words are not yet identified. The reference to lam alif means the Arabic letter which combines lam and alif.

[attachment=10916]

Someone on reddit commented (snipped from the full thing) "I had a friend read it in Arabic, it's kind of about an assistant and his 'master' asking him to decode each character set or something" what you found seems to follow this, a master setting the "puzzle" and the student working tirelessly over it and exclaiming some of it was misspelled which caused them unnecessary problems etc.

I guess one interesting point is that presumably these glyphs were not plucked from thin-air. The left side of "EVA: t" is really a compelling match. Obviously with a million examples random matches happen, but even so, it makes you wonder.

(01-05-2025, 11:34 PM)Bluetoes101 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Credit to original poster on reddit - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

I'm not sure if this has been posted here before (can't find if so).
Some info below, if you would like anything further it will (hopefully) be contained within the links.

Collection of encrypted correspondence - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Summary
Collection of encrypted correspondence between the compiler and various correspondents, in approximately 150 alphabets, accompanied by transcriptions of the letters in Arabic. The compiler cites Shihāb al-Dīn al-Jindī al-ʻAlāʼī, Burhān al-Dīn al-Qudsī, and Taqī al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Jaʻfar al-Ḥusaynī as authorities for some of the alphabets. The manuscript is incomplete, lacking its beginning and end. Occasional marginal notes. Some worm damage in margins.

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania

Language
Arabic

Origin
Possibly written in Syria, in the 15th century.


Script
Written in naskh script.



LJS 51
About the Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
In 2011, University of Pennsylvania Libraries Board members Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Schoenberg donated their manuscript collection of nearly 300 manuscripts and documents to the Penn Libraries, half of which are from medieval and Renaissance Europe. With its emphasis on the history of science and the transmission of knowledge across time and geography, the Schoenberg Collection brings together many of the great scientific and philosophical traditions of the ancient and medieval worlds. Documenting the extraordinary achievements of scholars, philosophers, and scientists active in pre-modern Europe, Africa, and Asia, the collection illuminates the foundations of our shared intellectual heritage.


Here are some glyph comparisons which I find interesting to one extent or another, I like EVA: "t" and "qo" most.
I have left out "extended EVA" and other odd glyphs other than the first page weirdo, there's probably more good comparisons others can find.

I went to around 38v, plus some near the end. There's a lot of pages in between. 

I've found versions of the original which are copied into LjS 51:
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From the bottom of the same page:

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. [page 248]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. [ half gallows in page 50]

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[Page 212]

I don't have time to go through it all now, but I've found the equivalent gallows in all 3..  apparently it is the symbol for Zay or 7 in Arabic 


In fact looking at this website, there's a treasure trove to mine at some point...

(29-01-2026, 03:47 PM)DG97EEB Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

(01-05-2025, 11:34 PM)Bluetoes101 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Credit to original poster on reddit - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

I'm not sure if this has been posted here before (can't find if so).
Some info below, if you would like anything further it will (hopefully) be contained within the links.

Collection of encrypted correspondence - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Summary
Collection of encrypted correspondence between the compiler and various correspondents, in approximately 150 alphabets, accompanied by transcriptions of the letters in Arabic. The compiler cites Shihāb al-Dīn al-Jindī al-ʻAlāʼī, Burhān al-Dīn al-Qudsī, and Taqī al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Jaʻfar al-Ḥusaynī as authorities for some of the alphabets. The manuscript is incomplete, lacking its beginning and end. Occasional marginal notes. Some worm damage in margins.

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania

Language
Arabic

Origin
Possibly written in Syria, in the 15th century.


Script
Written in naskh script.



LJS 51
About the Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
In 2011, University of Pennsylvania Libraries Board members Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Schoenberg donated their manuscript collection of nearly 300 manuscripts and documents to the Penn Libraries, half of which are from medieval and Renaissance Europe. With its emphasis on the history of science and the transmission of knowledge across time and geography, the Schoenberg Collection brings together many of the great scientific and philosophical traditions of the ancient and medieval worlds. Documenting the extraordinary achievements of scholars, philosophers, and scientists active in pre-modern Europe, Africa, and Asia, the collection illuminates the foundations of our shared intellectual heritage.


Here are some glyph comparisons which I find interesting to one extent or another, I like EVA: "t" and "qo" most.
I have left out "extended EVA" and other odd glyphs other than the first page weirdo, there's probably more good comparisons others can find.

I went to around 38v, plus some near the end. There's a lot of pages in between. 

I've found versions of the original which are copied into LjS 51:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

From the bottom of the same page:

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. [page 248]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. [ half gallows in page 50]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
[Page 212]

I don't have time to go through it all now, but I've found the equivalent gallows in all 3..  apparently it is the symbol for Zay or 7 in Arabic 


In fact looking at this website, there's a treasure trove to mine at some point...

Wow, I thought it would be interesting, but I've just found a mid 15th century Italian manuscript with almost  these exact same Arabic symbols in it, which proves that they were circulating at the time.. including a nice charm for Koen

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[attachment=13737]
[attachment=13736]
[attachment=13735]
[attachment=13734]
[attachment=13731]
[attachment=13732]
[attachment=13733]

Nice! It's all charms, actually. Various methods to make someone fall in love with you mostly. The magic symbols were to be written on a note to be used along with further steps.

(29-01-2026, 06:07 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Nice! It's all charms, actually. Various methods to make someone fall in love with you mostly. The magic symbols were to be written on a note to be used along with further steps.

The very first one (highlighted in blue) is to make someone fall asleep, and the charm is to be written on the handle of a knife, starting from the blade end on one side then the other way on the other side.

On the next page there is a charm to make a woman barren; the charm is to be written on a strip of lead or tin...

All the best, --stolfi

Ironically, I used to work for Larry Schoenberg and I studied and described this very manuscript for him in the mid-1990s, before he donated his collection to Penn! Here's my description...although I should add that I last saw this manuscript thirty years ago, so I don't remember much about it and some aspects might have been updated since then:

LJS 51. A BOOK OF ALPHABETS AND ENCODED LETTERS], IN ARABIC, MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER
[Syria?, s. XV]
106 folios, collation:I2, II10, III-IV8, V10, VI4, VII6, VIII-XII10, XIII8 , with catchwords in the lower left corner of each verso, 1 column, 13 lines, written in black naskhi and a variety of other scripts, some with the Arabic equivalent written above in red, occasional notes in the margins, half-leather binding, stamped, over plan varnished wood, with paper endsets, some staining and damage, lacking at beginning and end, 178 x 133 (119 x 82) mm.
PROVENANCE:
1) Christie’s 1996.
2) Acquired from Sam Fogg, June 1996.
TEXT:
A remarkable record of encrypted correspondence together with Arabic translations. This volume records communications written between the compiler and various correspondents. The original communications are in approximately one hundred and fifty invented and different ‘alphabets’, some of the letters of which have had the Arabic equivalent written above in red, possibly at a later date. They are decoded and transcribed also in Arabic. Islamic science is an important branch of Arabic medieval knowledge. It was an integral part of Islamic agriculture, chemistry, medicine and mathematics. Islamic culture developed numerous cryptograms for use by close social groups including scholars and magicians as well as tradesmen. They developed arcane scripts for bookkeeping and recording numbers. There are several other Islamic works on cryptograms including Ibn Wahshiyyā’s Kitāb Shauq al-mustaham fi Ma ‘rifat Rumuz al-Aqlam and the book called the Book by Ishrasim.
There is no colophon and neither the author nor the copyist is named in the text. The author’s correspondents include Sharaf al-dīn Mūsā ibn Ijli al-Baridi, shams al-Dīn al-Ridha and, probably the most frequent, al-Shaykh Shihab al-Dīn Ahmad al-Mutarjim who is also called al-Makhdumi al-Ala’i. This is a slightly corrupted form of the name Shibab ad-Dīn al-Djundi al-Ala’i who is also the author’s major authority for the codes. Other authorities mentioned include Burhan al-Dīn al-Qudsi al-Hanafi and Taqi al-Dīn Muhammad ibn Ja’far al-Husayni. The text mentions the towns of Aleppo and Damascus and one of the passages recounts something that occurred in ‘the 730s’ (AH, 1330s AD). This date would be consonant with the script and format of the book. The material is similar to the manner of explanation and arranging of Aydamir Djildaki, a well-known Arab alchemist who died in Cairo in 1342.
One of the alphabets employed, the ‘tree-like’ alphabet (al-qalam al-mushajjar) is identical to one of the same name given in the Kitāb Shawq al Mustaham fi ma’rifat rumuz al-aqlam (Book of the frenzied devotee’s desire to learn about the riddles of ancient scripts) written in about 241 AH (855 AD), where its invention is ascribed to Abū Bakr Ahmad ibn ‘Alī ibn Wahshiyah; edition and English translation by J. Hammer-Purgstall, Ancient Alphabets and Hieroglyphic Characters Explained; with an Account of the Egyptian Priests, the Classes, Initiation and Sacrifices (London 1806), p. 38. Features of some of the other alphabets employed in this manuscript are also to be found in the treatise attributed to Ibn Wahshiyah but many of the alphabets are quite different.
While some of the characters in the alphabet used bear a structural or aesthetic resemblance to characters of the Arabic or Hebrew alphabets, the primary influence on their forms seems to be from the old square inscriptional forms of Aramaic. Some of the characters are composed of lines and combinations of lines ending in small circles, a resemblance to the Kalmosin or Angelic script used among Jews for cabalistic, alchemical and astrological symbolism and occasionally for ciphers. It is thought that these may have evolved from the copying onto papyrus or vellum of the hieroglyphic script of the Akkadians.
In the medieval Christian world cipher-alphabets were not frequently used. The preferred method was the systematic substitution of each Latin or Coptic letter by another. The nature of Arabic script, which involves many compulsory ligatures between neighboring letters and the use of variant forms at word-endings, was not conducive to the application of this kind of substitution cipher, encouraging the use of these arcane alphabets as an alternative method.

(30-01-2026, 02:55 AM)LisaFaginDavis Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Ironically, I used to work for Larry Schoenberg and I studied and described this very manuscript for him in the mid-1990s, before he donated his collection to Penn! Here's my description...although I should add that I last saw this manuscript thirty years ago, so I don't remember much about it and some aspects might have been updated since then:

LJS 51. A BOOK OF ALPHABETS AND ENCODED LETTERS], IN ARABIC, MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER
[Syria?, s. XV]
106 folios, collation:I2, II10, III-IV8, V10, VI4, VII6, VIII-XII10, XIII8 , with catchwords in the lower left corner of each verso, 1 column, 13 lines, written in black naskhi and a variety of other scripts, some with the Arabic equivalent written above in red, occasional notes in the margins, half-leather binding, stamped, over plan varnished wood, with paper endsets, some staining and damage, lacking at beginning and end, 178 x 133 (119 x 82) mm.
PROVENANCE:
1) Christie’s 1996.
2) Acquired from Sam Fogg, June 1996.
TEXT:
A remarkable record of encrypted correspondence together with Arabic translations. This volume records communications written between the compiler and various correspondents. The original communications are in approximately one hundred and fifty invented and different ‘alphabets’, some of the letters of which have had the Arabic equivalent written above in red, possibly at a later date. They are decoded and transcribed also in Arabic. Islamic science is an important branch of Arabic medieval knowledge. It was an integral part of Islamic agriculture, chemistry, medicine and mathematics. Islamic culture developed numerous cryptograms for use by close social groups including scholars and magicians as well as tradesmen. They developed arcane scripts for bookkeeping and recording numbers. There are several other Islamic works on cryptograms including Ibn Wahshiyyā’s Kitāb Shauq al-mustaham fi Ma ‘rifat Rumuz al-Aqlam and the book called the Book by Ishrasim.
There is no colophon and neither the author nor the copyist is named in the text. The author’s correspondents include Sharaf al-dīn Mūsā ibn Ijli al-Baridi, shams al-Dīn al-Ridha and, probably the most frequent, al-Shaykh Shihab al-Dīn Ahmad al-Mutarjim who is also called al-Makhdumi al-Ala’i. This is a slightly corrupted form of the name Shibab ad-Dīn al-Djundi al-Ala’i who is also the author’s major authority for the codes. Other authorities mentioned include Burhan al-Dīn al-Qudsi al-Hanafi and Taqi al-Dīn Muhammad ibn Ja’far al-Husayni. The text mentions the towns of Aleppo and Damascus and one of the passages recounts something that occurred in ‘the 730s’ (AH, 1330s AD). This date would be consonant with the script and format of the book. The material is similar to the manner of explanation and arranging of Aydamir Djildaki, a well-known Arab alchemist who died in Cairo in 1342.
One of the alphabets employed, the ‘tree-like’ alphabet (al-qalam al-mushajjar) is identical to one of the same name given in the Kitāb Shawq al Mustaham fi ma’rifat rumuz al-aqlam (Book of the frenzied devotee’s desire to learn about the riddles of ancient scripts) written in about 241 AH (855 AD), where its invention is ascribed to Abū Bakr Ahmad ibn ‘Alī ibn Wahshiyah; edition and English translation by J. Hammer-Purgstall, Ancient Alphabets and Hieroglyphic Characters Explained; with an Account of the Egyptian Priests, the Classes, Initiation and Sacrifices (London 1806), p. 38. Features of some of the other alphabets employed in this manuscript are also to be found in the treatise attributed to Ibn Wahshiyah but many of the alphabets are quite different.
While some of the characters in the alphabet used bear a structural or aesthetic resemblance to characters of the Arabic or Hebrew alphabets, the primary influence on their forms seems to be from the old square inscriptional forms of Aramaic. Some of the characters are composed of lines and combinations of lines ending in small circles, a resemblance to the Kalmosin or Angelic script used among Jews for cabalistic, alchemical and astrological symbolism and occasionally for ciphers. It is thought that these may have evolved from the copying onto papyrus or vellum of the hieroglyphic script of the Akkadians.
In the medieval Christian world cipher-alphabets were not frequently used. The preferred method was the systematic substitution of each Latin or Coptic letter by another. The nature of Arabic script, which involves many compulsory ligatures between neighboring letters and the use of variant forms at word-endings, was not conducive to the application of this kind of substitution cipher, encouraging the use of these arcane alphabets as an alternative method.

That's so cool, Lisa. Thank you.  Out of interest was that before your time at the Beinecke? Had you spotted the similarities in letter forms, or as a paleographer do you think it's just coincidence?  I find the second manuscript I posted quite persuasive. Clearly drawing from the same pool, at broadly the same time, which suggests that these symbols were known and incorporated in to works.

Btw, I saw the other day you mentioned you were working with Colin on "being able to read it". I knew you were looking at Quire ordering, but have you managed to make further leaps?

Thanks 

Ed