The Borg cipher is an encrypted manuscript, probably from the 1600s, describing treatment of symptoms and diseases. The manuscript consists of 408 handwritten pages. The only unencrypted parts are the first page in Arabic, some fragments and headings in Latin, and the last two pages in Italian. It is stored at the Vatican Library under the name MSS-Borg.lat.898.[1][2]

Borg cipher
Vatican Library, MSS-Borg.lat.898
Date1600s
Language(s)Arabic, Italian, Latin, encrypted in abstract symbols and Roman letters with diacritics
Size408 pages
ContentsMedical recipes for treating symptoms and diseases
OtherDeciphered in 2016

Cipher

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The cipher includes 34 different characters, including graphic signs and Roman letters with diacritics. It was decoded in 2016 by Nada Aldarrab, Kevin Knight and Beáta Megyesi.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. Yin, Xusen; Aldarrab, Nada; Megyesi, Beata; Knight, Kevin (20–25 September 2019). "Decipherment of Historical Manuscript Images". 2019 International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition (ICDAR). IEEE. pp. 78–85. doi:10.1109/icdar.2019.00022. ISBN 978-1-7281-3014-9.
  2. "Plots, love letters and remedies: The medieval secrets being revealed by AI". www.bbc.com. 28 May 2026. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
  3. "The Borg Cipher - Stockholms universitet". www.su.se. Retrieved 31 May 2026.