From the Riddles of Ancient Egypt to Cryptography in the Renaissance — 3500 Years in the Making - Codes: The Guide to Secrecy from Ancient to Modern Times - page 4

mology of the word is from the Greek kryptos , as above, and analyein , to untie .

Therefore, to say someone crypt-
analyzed a text, means they deci-
phered it. (Later in the text, we
will learn a great deal about crypt-
analytic techniques.) The term
cryptology is used to encompass
the study of both cryptography
and cryptanalysis. The (English)
term “cryptography” was coined in
1658 by Thomas Browne, a British
physician and writer, whereas the
term “cryptology” was coined by
James Howell in 1645. Yet, the
modern usage of the word “cryp-
tology” is probably due to the ad-
vent of David Kahn's encyclope-
dic book [131], The Codebreakers ,
published in 1967, after which the
word became synonymous with the
embodiment of the studies of both
cryptography and cryptanalysis. Of course, cryptographers , cryptanalysts , and
cryptologists are those practicing cryptography, cryptanalysis, and cryptology,
respectively. Lastly, the term cipher (which we will use interchangeably with
the term cryptosystem ) is a method for enciphering and deciphering. Later,
when we have developed more maturity in our cryptographic travels, we will be
more precise, but this will serve us for the current path we are traversing. Now
we continue with our discussion of antiquity and carry a new concrete set of
terms to help pave our way.
Not only do the Greeks of antiquity have stories about cryptography, but
also ancient Egypt has some fascinating history in the cryptographic arena. In
fact, the oldest text known to employ a deliberate disguise of writing occurred
almost 4000 years ago in Egypt. This is our next story.

Figure 1.4: Phaistos krater, Kamares style.

Ancient Egypt

A nobleman, Khumhotep II, was responsible for the erection of several mon-
uments for the Pharaoh Amenemhet II. In around 1900 BC, a scribe used hi-
eroglyphic symbol substitution (which, in this case meant the replacing of some
ordinary hieroglyphic symbols with some more exceptional ones) in his writing
on the tomb of the nobleman to tell stories of his deeds. (The term hieroglyph
means secret carving and is actually a Greek translation of the Egyptian phrase,
the god's words . Hieroglyphs are actually characters used in a system of picto-
rial writing, usually, but not always, standing for sounds.) The scribe was not
actually trying to disguise the inscription, but rather intended to impart some
prestige and authority to his writing. Think of this as resembling the use of