If you think you know a lot about books, these will put you to the test. The following are six mysterious books that you probably haven’t even heard exist.
In some cases it is possible that they are the work of alchemists, who could not publish their scientific findings in known languages because they were considered heresy. In others, the languages are so old that no one knows what their words mean, and in still others there even seems to be a record of a spaceship. These are the six mysterious books…
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1. The Voynich Manuscript
This book remains undeciphered. No one knows when it was written or who it authored. Carbon-14 tests determine that the scroll dates to between 1404 and 1438. Its name comes from the Lithuanian book specialist Wilfrid M. Voynich (1865-1930), who acquired it in 1912. No specialist has been able to decipher a single word of the text.
It is also ruled out that it is a bunch of meaningless symbols, according to Zipf’s law, which states that in all languages the most frequent word appears twice as often as the second most frequent and three times as many as the third most frequent. There are those who believe that it comes from Mesoamerica because of the type of plants that appear there. The 240-page book has six sections: herbalism, astronomy, biology, cosmology, pharmaceuticals, and recipes.
2. The Codex Rohonczi
This codex appeared in Hungary, in the city of Rohonczi, in 1838, hence its name. No one has been able to decipher it. Many scholars believe it is a hoax, fabricated by Samuel Literati Nemes (1796-1842), an antiquarian who is known for forgeries that deceived many in his time. The paper appears to have been made in the year 1430 or so.
Those who defend its authenticity believe that it is a coded text and it is even very likely that they have almost broken the code. The latest results indicate that it is a code that does not explain the internal structure and artificial language. It is dated 1593 and would be a Catholic pamphlet or breviary with a paraphrase of the New Testament.
3. The Linen Book of Zagreb
This was the garb of a mummy; It is the longest text in the Etruscan language and is the only book written in linen. It has been dated to the first century and is written on 12 cloth columns. It was used to bandage the body of a woman. Very little of what is written in it has been understood, but it is believed to be about Etruscan rituals, religion, and knowledge.
4. The Ripley Scroll
This is a book of alchemy. The text written in poetic form is so enigmatic that it has not been read. Ripley’s scrolls are as mysterious as their author’s life. They were written by the alchemist Sir George Ripley in the 15th century. There are 25 volumes of recipes and formulas. In his time, he was believed to have succeeded in creating humans in test tubes.
5. Rongo rongo
Kohau rongo rongo are wooden tablets from Easter Island. There are 25 of them, but their meaning is indecipherable. No one knows what is written on them, because being isolated from any other culture, there is no indication of what the symbols mean.
6. Prodigiorum Ac Ostentorum Chronicon
This book is a Renaissance book written by Conrad Lycosthenes in 1557. It could well be a science treatise or a science fiction book. There are drawings of animals, natural phenomena and astronomical events.
The beings included are in great detail, but they never inhabited the region. Some of the creatures are not even known to science. There is also believed to be a “spaceship” that appeared in 1497.
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