From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 94 11:48:00 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: "The Book of Encyphered Names"
Message-ID: <199409121806.LAA28195@netcom16.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Somebody asked me what the name "Cyphernomicon" means, another said it
was not at all an obscure reference. And another asked if I was
claiming that encyption is in some way "evil."

I merely borrowed the name from the original "Cyphernomicon," also
called "The Book of Encyphered Names." It came to us early this
century via the Black Russian anarchist Peter Krypotkin, who had
obtained his copy from Sheik Ibn al-Taz Khallikak, the Pine Barrens
Horror.

It apparently originated in ancient Sumeria, where the cuneiform
writing lent itself to encypherment, and spread from the gates of
Ishtar to the back alleys of Damascus. A knock-off of it was done by
the Mad Arab Al-hazred, and translated by John Dee (better known for
his work with Kool John Dee and the Rappin' Cryps).

The Cyphernomicon was apparently the basis for the crypto system used
by King Solomon for his "Keys of Solomon" (Solomon-Strasser primality
test).

The original manuscript is on display in the Crypto Museum in
Twenty-Nine Primes, California (a few miles from the NSA SIGINT post
at Zzyzx).

I got this information from my friend Klaus! von Future Prime.

--Tim 


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."