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Cryptography's origins
Apr. 3rd, 2010 11:06 pmTHOUGHT
"Live in a way that your fellows will get bored when you die." (J.Tuwim, the Polish poet)
INTRO
Between making one cake and another for my (usually very heavy) Easter table (as I've got a pretty big family:) ), while trying to save at least a bit of that pogies from my siblings, I recalled some interesting curiosities about cryptography that I've recently come across.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT...
...cryptography.
The beginning of cryptography is probably dated around 2000 B.C. in Egypt, where encrypted hieroglyphics were used to decorate the tombs of kings and rulers. Interestingly, it wasn't rather used to hide information from enemies, but just to make the writings more intriguing.
The first European cryptography is estimated to be used in Vth century B.C. as a spartan Scytale, a transcription cipher tool. It consisted of a leather with the written message and a cylinder that was the "key" to decrypt the cipher and was kept by officers.
The nominal method used in order to decrypt the information was to scroll the leather on the cylinder and read the phrases that made no sense while reading succeeding letters, but was mapped to the horizontal words after being scrolled on that special cylinder.
If it was safe in those days or not-I don't know. However - the main case that I wanted to focus on has its origins in IV c B.C. India:
One of the oldest information about transcription cipher are found in "Kamasutra". Kamasutra's writer, Vatsyayana, recommends that women should know 64 arts, such as cooking, dressing, make-up, massage, perfumes preparation, etc. Among these, there are also some less conventional ones like wizardry, chess playing, bookbinding or woodwork.
Meanwhile the position no. 45 is mlecchita-vikalpa, the art of encrypted handwriting, that would help women to hide their relationships and affairs.
(info - according to The Code Book, Simon Singh).
"Live in a way that your fellows will get bored when you die." (J.Tuwim, the Polish poet)
INTRO
Between making one cake and another for my (usually very heavy) Easter table (as I've got a pretty big family:) ), while trying to save at least a bit of that pogies from my siblings, I recalled some interesting curiosities about cryptography that I've recently come across.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT...
...cryptography.
The beginning of cryptography is probably dated around 2000 B.C. in Egypt, where encrypted hieroglyphics were used to decorate the tombs of kings and rulers. Interestingly, it wasn't rather used to hide information from enemies, but just to make the writings more intriguing.
The first European cryptography is estimated to be used in Vth century B.C. as a spartan Scytale, a transcription cipher tool. It consisted of a leather with the written message and a cylinder that was the "key" to decrypt the cipher and was kept by officers.
The nominal method used in order to decrypt the information was to scroll the leather on the cylinder and read the phrases that made no sense while reading succeeding letters, but was mapped to the horizontal words after being scrolled on that special cylinder.
If it was safe in those days or not-I don't know. However - the main case that I wanted to focus on has its origins in IV c B.C. India:
One of the oldest information about transcription cipher are found in "Kamasutra". Kamasutra's writer, Vatsyayana, recommends that women should know 64 arts, such as cooking, dressing, make-up, massage, perfumes preparation, etc. Among these, there are also some less conventional ones like wizardry, chess playing, bookbinding or woodwork.
Meanwhile the position no. 45 is mlecchita-vikalpa, the art of encrypted handwriting, that would help women to hide their relationships and affairs.
(info - according to The Code Book, Simon Singh).
