Decipherment

:Decipher, Inc. is also the name of a game publisher

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Decipherment is the analysis of documents written in ancient languages, where the language is unknown, or knowledge of the language has been lost.

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It is closely related to cryptanalysis — the difference being that the original document was not deliberately written to be difficult to decipher.

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The term has also been used to describe the analysis of the genetic code information encoded in DNA - see the Human Genome Project article for more on this.

Related Topics:
Genetic code - DNA - Human Genome Project

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Some people have also used the word metaphorically to mean something like 'understanding'.

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Examples of document decipherment:

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• Cuneiform writing
• Harappan writing
• Egyptian hieroglyphic writing
• Indus script
• Kharoshthi script
• Linear A
• Linear B
• Maya writing
• Olmec writing

Famous documents that have been the subject of actual or attempted decipherment:

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• the Dresden Codex
• the Phaistos Disc
• the Rosetta Stone
• the Behistun Inscription
• the Voynich Manuscript
• the Rohonczi Codex

Famous decipherers:

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• Michael Ventris
• Jean-François Champollion
• Georg Friedrich Grotefend
• Yuri Knorosov
 
Decipherment: See also ►