Old Russian Cryptography

Nikolai Butskikh is a culturalist, translator, founder of the Center for the Study of Old Russian Culture "Zelo", author of the tutorial "The Church Slavonic Language of Old Russian Monuments of the XI – XVIII centuries", as well as courses dedicated to various aspects of Old Russian visual culture. The book is dedicated to one of the most fascinating phenomena of Old Russian culture – cryptography. Despite the fact that encrypted texts have been found since the beginning of writing in Rus' and are actively used in the Old Believer community even in the 20th century, this topic remains underexplored. The names of outstanding scribes, owners and readers, records of an intellectual and entertainment nature, as well as secret messages are hidden on the pages of books, the walls of Old Russian cathedrals, icons, crosses, bells, utilitarian objects, and still remain unsolved. The publication presents the most significant systems of Old Russian cryptography accompanied by original records (XI–XX centuries) and their decipherments. Many of them have been completed by the author and are published for the first time. The book will be of interest both to professional researchers and to anyone interested in the culture of medieval Rus'.