
Atbash – Ancient Hebrew Cryptography - Kinnard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atbash
======
willvarfar
This wikipedia article doesn't describe its _History_ nor its _Use_ at all!

Its widely described in cryptography literature not as a security device but
as a literary one.

Atbash mostly survives in Jewish Kabbalahs, mystic and allegorical writings.
Two atbash phrases are used in just three places in one book of the bible
(Jeremiah), and these were probably added early on but not in there originally
(as they don't occur in the Septuagint, for example).

Here's The Code Book (Simon Singh) description:

"Atbash and other similar biblical ciphers where probably intended only to add
mystery, rather than conceal meaning"

~~~
yehosef
Often Atbash is used to "hide" a meaning - or refer to something that is
hidden.

An example of this additional meaning is the word "Mitzvah" is (mem-tzadi-vav-
heh) is usually translated commandment. The name of God is Yud-heh-vav-heh.
The atbash for mem is yud and atbash for tzadi is heh. So if you replace the
first two letters of "mitzvah" with the atbash conversion, you have the name
of God. This is an allusion that doing a mitzvah reveals God in the world,
though in a somewhat hidden way.

------
smithkl42
Funny - I'd noticed long ago that my NIV has a note for Jer. 25:26, saying
that "Sheshach is a cryptogram for Babylon". I've wondered how they came to
that conclusion - now I know. Very interesting.

------
stygiansonic
This would be my favorite ancient cipher:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scytale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scytale)

------
renlinx
Rot13 please :3

~~~
acqq
Although also substitution cipher like Rot13, this one was used in the Bible!
See smithkl42's comment.

Knowing how Bible poorly got the other science bits wrong, that's a
significant thing. The writers used at least a real substitution cipher (even
if it's a kind-of-simplest we know of today).

