The Voynich manuscript is written in an unknown script and filled with drawings of strange plants, stars and bathing women. Its vellum dates to the early 1400s. Codebreakers, linguists and computers have all failed to crack it.
Truth label: Established. Strong evidence and broad agreement among experts.
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Language or hoax?
The text follows patterns real languages have, which makes a meaningless hoax less likely. But no proposed decoding has held up.
Famous failures
Top Second World War codebreakers tried and gave up.
Learn
- Where it is. It lives at Yale University's Beinecke Library, and every page is online to view.
Test yourself
Has the Voynich manuscript been deciphered?
No. No proposed solution is accepted.
Sources
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