--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From the early days of its existence…" description: "\"“From the early days of its existence, cryptology had served to obscure critical portions of writings dealing with the potent subject of magic—divinati..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/david-kahn-13896_life_from-the-early-days-of-its-existence-cry_1720750.jpg" --- # From the early days of its existence, cryptology had… ![“From the early days of its existence, cryptology had served to obscure critical portions of writings dealing with the potent subject of magic—divinations, spells, curses, whatever conferred supernatural powers on its sorcerers. The first faint traces of this appeared in Egyptian cryptography…” quote by David Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/david-kahn-13896_life_from-the-early-days-of-its-existence-cry_1720750.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/david-kahn-13896_life_from-the-early-days-of-its-existence-cry_1720750.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/david-kahn-13896_life_from-the-early-days-of-its-existence-cry_1720750.jpg) > ““From the early days of its existence, cryptology had served to obscure critical portions of writings dealing with the potent subject of magic—divinations, spells, curses, whatever conferred supernatural powers on its sorcerers. The first faint traces of this appeared in Egyptian cryptography. Plutarch reported that “sundry very ancient oracles were kept in secret writings by the priests” at Delphi. And before the fall of the Roman empire, secret writing was serving as a powerful ally of the necromancers in guarding their art from the profane. One of the most famous magic manuscripts, the so-called Leiden papyrus, discovered at Thebes and written in the third century A.D. in both Greek and a very late form of demotic, a highly simplified version of hieroglyphics, employs cipher to conceal the crucial portions of important recipes.”” [David Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kahn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Throughout history, secret writing has been used to hide magical knowledge, linking cryptology with ancient mysticism. **In simple terms:** Secret writing historically protected magical knowledge. Key Takeaway Recognize the ancient link between cryptography and mysticism. Themes history cryptology magic secrecy Mood inquisitive analytical Type historical technical When to use this quote - academic study - museum curation - fiction writing - cryptanalysis Key Concepts ancient ciphers ritual knowledge protective secrecy Questions to Reflect On - What modern parallels exist between secrecy in magic and data security? - How does understanding ancient ciphers inform current cryptographic practice? A Different Perspective The focus on magic may overlook practical security uses of cryptography. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Vātsyāyana’s famous textbook of erotics, the Kāma-sūtra, lists secret writing as one of the 64 arts, or yogas, that women should know and practice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kahn/v-tsy-yana-s-famous-textbook-of-erotics-the-k-ma-s-tra-lists-secret/) [David Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kahn/) > [Nu shu means women's writing. And it was a secret writing system that was invented by women, used by women and kept a secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/nu-shu-means-women-s-writing-and-it-was-a-secret-writing-system-that/) [Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/) > [I came out with a book called The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life with Language. 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