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7 Mysterious Coded Texts that Defy Translation

Archaeologists find them; linguists try to read them, but even after years of study, some writings are indecipherable. Some are from unknown languages, others were written in code. All are baffling. An example is the Rohonc Codex.
This most peculiar script is written from right to left, and seems to mix up runes, straight and rounded characters in the style of Old Hungarian – but it defies all attempts at translation. This bamboozling manuscript was given to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences by Count Battyany in 1852, and is is believed to have been written in medieval times. Appearing to be hand-scripted, and illustrated with crude black and white sketches, the writing is simply not decipherable in any way. However, code-breakers have managed to at least ascertain that the language involved consists of 42 letters and over 200 different symbols, some non-alphabetic, as well as other symbols which see only occasional use.

The Rohonc Codex is just one of seven untranslated manuscripts in this list at Environmental Graffiti. Link -via the Presurfer

Comments (4)

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Newest 4 Comments

It's a children's toy (as far as I can tell from the photo). You drop a marble from the top and watch it roll all the way down without falling off. There's one at the local kids' museum where I live.
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This is pre-industrial revolution DNA. It used to be made of wood, which is why life expectancy was so short (termites and dry rot). Now we make DNA out of newfangled Deoxyribonucleic acids and whatnots...so fewer termites and longer lives. My grandma (who is really, really, really old--97) had her old wooden DNA replaced in the early 90s, and she keeps it as a lawn ornament; birds poop on it.

(Thesaurus Shirt, Grey, XL)
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I'm guessing part of a grain feed mechanism, or something along those lines.

The spirals converge towards the center like those on vacuum rollers today.

In a vacuum it would lead towards a sucky place, being wooden and from 1914 I am guessing it lead the stuff to either a drop or a conveyor belt.

Whatever it moved either had to be lots of something loose (like grain) or a few of something big (eggs?).
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It is obviously a medieval colon cleanser. People would swallow this and it would turn as it went through your bowels, pushing everything out. People who didn't know any better would insert it in the wrong end and end up with a really bad case of halitosis.

For my correct answer I would like a This is How I Roll shirt in large. TYVM
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Musical noise-maker thing. One or more balls are on the inside and when you turn it over, they roll down the spiral staircase of slats that protrude into the inside of it, making noise.
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Actually it is a shredder beater I forgot the actual name there for a second. basically it breaks up manure out of the back of a manure spreader.

Money is the Root of All Evil Large
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It's one of the very early Blendtec blender blades. The original "Will It Blend?" series used this device. Strangely, the answer to the question was always "no" back in the early episodes - except for the episode where they tried water.
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Oh, MAN! I finally knew the answer to one of these infernal "What Is It" posts -- first time in years -- and the second commenter had the correct answer already!

It's an Amish toy that kids roll marbles or small balls down. I gave one to my 15-month-old son for his birthday and he absolutely loves it. It can keep him occupied for MINUTES on end (quite the feat at his age).

Goes to show... sometimes the simplest things are the most interesting and elegant.
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I'm fairly sure this is a termite house (also can be used for ants by pulling the string at the top out, coating it in honey, and replacing). If you want to use it for termites, leave as is and place somewhere dark and termite-y, then once a ton of termites go inside (hence the small holes on the side) you can pick it up and carry it somewhere to release them into the wild (or throw it in the neighbor who never tends to their lawn and devalues the entire neighborhood's yard). It is the equivalent of a mouse trap that just cages the mice (doesn't kill them) or putting a spider in a cup and dumping it outside.
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It's a status monitor for woodpeckers; high-ranked woodpeckers will take a position near the top, while lowly woodpeckers must sit at the bottom. This device became the origin of the term "pecking order."
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It is a screw device used to elevate grain in a mill. I lived in a converted mill with one of these inside it. Kinda looks like the same one. Definitely used to elevate material in a mill.
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The 12th ugliest statue in the world.
Witchy, Medium (for my wife's twin sister, if you have an irregular one with a B instead of a W, Ill take that one)
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It is a device for de-pooping large farm animals in the constipation state.
It is inserted in the bum of let's say a cow, and then it cranks the poop out of them leaving them nice and cleaned out. It's for when there is not enough fiber in their diets....... I would like a science t-shirt
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It's one of those toy marble towers. You know, the ones where you put a marble on top and when it goes down, the sound of it hitting the wood slots is a steady plink-plink sound. Tons of "fun".
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