Voynich Manuscript Decoded 2025: New Discoveries About History's Most Mysterious Book
The Voynich manuscript remains one of history's most enduring enigmas, defying attempts at translation for six centuries. This 240-page medieval codex contains bizarre illustrations of unidentifiable plants, strange astrological symbols, and numerous depictions of nude women in various bath-like structures. Despite extensive efforts by cryptologists, linguists, mathematicians, and even Alan Turing, the manuscript's unusual writing system has consistently resisted decipherment.
Divided into botanical, astrological, balneological, and pharmacological sections, the document showcases peculiar imagery throughout its crumbling pages. The botanical section features unknown plants with twisted stems and unusual characteristics, while the astrological pages contain complex star charts. The most famous balneological section depicts women in bathtub-like structures that sometimes resemble reproductive organs. Although numerous scholars have claimed to crack the code over the years, including recent attempts linking it to Hebrew, these solutions have invariably been debunked by experts, leaving the manuscript's true meaning as mysterious as ever.
Key Takeaways
The Voynich manuscript contains unique illustrations and an undeciphered writing system that has baffled experts for centuries.
The document is divided into distinct sections featuring botanical drawings, astrological charts, women in bath-like structures, and text-heavy pharmacological content.
Despite dozens of claimed decipherments over the years, including recent Hebrew-based theories, no solution has withstood scholarly scrutiny.
Background of the Voynich Manuscript
The Voynich Manuscript stands as one of history's most perplexing documents. This medieval codex, dating from the 15th century, consists of 240 pages crafted from vellum calfskin and filled with indecipherable text and bizarre illustrations.
The manuscript is traditionally divided into several distinct sections based on its content. These include verbal (containing unusual plant illustrations), astrological (featuring celestial charts), balneological (showing women in various baths), and pharmacological sections (primarily text-based).
The verbal section displays elaborate drawings of unidentifiable plants with unusual features—twisted stems, spiky leaves, and wide petals. One peculiar illustration even shows a dragon-seahorse hybrid creature gnawing on a leaf. The astrological portion contains fold-out charts of the night sky with unconventional constellations intertwined with drawings of nude women holding stars.
Perhaps most famous is the balneological section featuring women in various bathing situations. These illustrations show women floating, swimming, and resting in baths of different shapes and designs. Many of the baths resemble biological structures, particularly female reproductive organs. The pharmacological section consists almost entirely of text in the undeciphered "Voynich" language.
Linguistic analysis has determined that the Voynich text has a definite structure. It appears to use 20-25 distinct characters and reads from left to right. Despite this apparent organization, cryptologist Elizabeth Friedman declared in 1962 that anyone attempting to translate it "is doomed to utter frustration."
Numerous theories about the manuscript's origins have emerged over centuries. Some believe it contains philosophical knowledge encoded in secret language. Others propose more exotic origins, including extraterrestrial authorship—a theory based on the unidentifiable language and unusual astronomical charts.
The manuscript has defeated decoding attempts by impressive intellects. Cryptologists, FBI operatives, medievalists, scientific scholars, and even Alan Turing have all failed to crack its code. This consistent pattern of unsuccessful translation has only deepened its mystery.
Recent years have seen multiple claims of successful translation. In 2025, German Egyptologist Rainer Hantig proposed the text is based in Hebrew, though experts have questioned his conclusions. In 2019, David Cheshire suggested it was written in a proto-Romance language that predated modern Spanish and English, but this theory was quickly debunked.
Television writer Nicholas Gibbs proposed in 2017 that the manuscript was a women's health manual written in abbreviated Latin. While the women's health theory gained some traction due to the nature of the illustrations, Latin experts dismissed his translation as nonsensical.
At least 60 claimed solutions to the Voynich Manuscript have been published over decades. All have been subsequently debunked, leaving this mysterious document as impenetrable today as it has been for six centuries.
Attempts to Decode the Manuscript
The Voynich manuscript has baffled experts for six centuries. This 240-page medieval codex contains indecipherable text alongside bizarre illustrations of unknown plants, astrological symbols, and numerous depictions of nude women in various types of baths and vessels.
Countless experts have tried to crack its code. Cryptologists, FBI operatives, medievalists, mathematicians, linguists, and even the brilliant Alan Turing attempted to decipher the manuscript without success.
The text appears to have structure—researchers have identified 20-25 distinct letters written from left to right. However, understanding how these characters form a cohesive language has proven impossible. Cryptanalyst Elizabeth Friedman aptly noted in 1962 that anyone attempting translation is "doomed to utter frustration."
Theories about the manuscript's origins are diverse:
Secret philosophical code
Extraterrestrial creation (based on unknown star charts)
Lost proto-language
Women's health manual
Latin abbreviations
In June 2025, German Egyptologist Rainer Hantig claimed a breakthrough, suggesting the text is based in Hebrew. He identified connections between Voynich characters and Hebrew, translating initial words and sentences. However, Hebrew experts quickly contested his findings, noting significant liberties taken with linguistic interpretation.
Hantig's attempt joins a long list of failed decoding efforts. At least 60 purported solutions have emerged in recent decades—all eventually debunked.
Other notable failed attempts include:
Year Researcher Theory Outcome 2019 David Cheshire Lost proto-language predating English and Spanish Quickly debunked 2017 Nicholas Gibbs Latin abbreviations in a women's health manual Dismissed by Latin experts as nonsense 2016 Computer scientists Hebrew translation using Google Translate Rejected by scholars
The pattern remains consistent: initial excitement followed by thorough debunking. Despite centuries of effort and modern technology, the Voynich manuscript continues to guard its secrets.
Contents of the Voynich Manuscript
The Voynich Manuscript, a 240-page medieval codex dating back to the 15th century, remains one of history's most perplexing documents. Written in an undecipherable script and containing numerous peculiar illustrations, the manuscript has confounded experts for six centuries. Despite extensive analysis by cryptologists, linguists, mathematicians, and even computer scientists, its true meaning continues to elude scholars. The document has been organized into four distinct sections, each with its own unique characteristics and visual elements.
Plant Documentation
The manuscript's largest section features detailed illustrations of unidentifiable botanical specimens. These plants display unusual characteristics—twisted stems, spiky protrusions, dripping leaves, and abnormally wide petals—unlike any known flora. Some illustrations incorporate fantastical elements, including what appears to be a reptilian sea creature with dragon and seahorse characteristics consuming plant material. The detailed renderings suggest the author possessed significant artistic skill, though the plants' identities remain as mysterious as the text describing them.
Celestial Mappings
This section contains elaborate fold-out charts depicting celestial bodies and star patterns. The pages feature complex constellations interwoven with unusual illustrations, including figures holding stars or emerging from cylindrical structures. Some recognizable zodiac symbols appear throughout—Pisces, Taurus, and Sagittarius—though they're presented with notable deviations from traditional depictions. Many scholars consider this the most potentially interpretable section of the manuscript due to these partial connections to known astronomical concepts.
Bathing Illustrations
Perhaps the manuscript's most distinctive section displays numerous figures in various bathing scenarios. The illustrations show individuals floating, swimming, or resting in differently shaped receptacles. These bathing vessels take diverse forms:
Ground-embedded pools
Elaborate pipe systems
Structures resembling human reproductive organs
Containers with unusual windows or openings
This section has drawn particular attention from researchers due to its anatomical imagery and the author's apparent fixation on bathing rituals or practices.
Medicinal Entries
The manuscript's final section contains minimal illustrations and consists primarily of text blocks written in the unidentified Voynich script. This writing system appears to follow consistent patterns:
Left-to-right orientation
Approximately 20-25 distinct character symbols
Structured paragraph formatting
Researchers have identified clear linguistic patterns but remain unable to decode the actual content. Some theories suggest this section might contain pharmacological recipes or medical treatments, possibly connecting to the botanical illustrations in the earlier section.
The manuscript's script presents a systematic structure that indicates it's not random markings, yet it corresponds to no known historical language. Despite numerous claimed translations over the decades—including recent attempts using Hebrew, abbreviated Latin, and computer analysis—none have gained widespread scholarly acceptance.
Theories Regarding the Manuscript
The Voynich manuscript continues to baffle experts across numerous disciplines. This 240-page medieval codex, dating to the 15th century and written in an undecipherable script, has resisted analysis by cryptologists, linguists, mathematicians, and even FBI code breakers. Even the brilliant Alan Turing attempted to decode it without success.
Numerous theories attempt to explain the manuscript's origins and purpose. Some scholars propose it contains philosophical writings in a deliberately complex cipher. Others suggest more exotic explanations, including extraterrestrial origins—pointing to the manuscript's unique language system and unusual astronomical illustrations as potential evidence of non-Earth authorship.
The manuscript's content is divided into several distinct sections. The herbal section features elaborate drawings of unidentifiable plants with unusual characteristics. The astronomical portion contains fold-out charts of celestial objects and constellations that don't quite match known star patterns. The biological section notably depicts numerous women in various baths and liquid-filled vessels, some anatomically shaped. The final pharmacological section consists primarily of text in the mysterious "Voynichese" script.
Linguistic analysis has identified approximately 20-25 distinct characters in the manuscript's writing system. The text shows clear structural patterns and appears to be written from left to right, suggesting an organized language rather than random markings. However, as cryptanalyst Elizabeth Friedman noted in 1962, anyone attempting translation faces "utter frustration."
Recent years have seen multiple claimed breakthroughs, all subsequently dismissed. In 2019, David Cheshire from the University of Bristol proposed the text represented a lost proto-Romance language. His theory generated significant media attention before being thoroughly debunked by experts. Television writer Nicholas Gibbs suggested in 2017 that the manuscript was a women's health manual written in abbreviated Latin—a theory that Latin scholars quickly rejected as nonsensical.
The most recent major claim came from German Egyptologist Rainer Hantig, who proposed in 2023 that the manuscript's script is based on Hebrew. After identifying potential connections between Voynichese characters and Hebrew letters, he claimed to have translated several sentences. However, Hebrew specialists have criticized his methodology, noting significant liberties taken with linguistic interpretation to force meaning where it may not exist.
The pattern of announced "solutions" followed by expert debunking has become familiar in Voynich research. At least 60 proposed solutions have appeared in recent decades, with none surviving scholarly scrutiny. This cycle of excitement and disappointment continues to characterize the ongoing mystery of this remarkable document.
Claims of Decipherment
The Voynich manuscript, a 240-page medieval codex, has remained undeciphered for six centuries despite attempts by cryptologists, linguists, mathematicians, and even Alan Turing. The document contains bizarre illustrations of unidentifiable plants, astrological symbols, and numerous depictions of naked women in various types of baths and containers. Scholars have divided the manuscript into several sections: herbal, astrological, balneological (related to bathing), and pharmacological.
The language, dubbed "Voynichese," appears to have 20-25 distinct letters with a recognizable structure, written from left to right. Yet despite its apparent organization, it has resisted all attempts at translation, leading to numerous theories about its origins and meaning.
Rainer Hanig's Hebrew Connection
In 2025, German Egyptologist Rainer Hanig proposed that the Voynich manuscript's text is based on Hebrew. His research led him to conclude that the document must be written in a Semitic language, and given the European imagery in the illustrations, he narrowed his focus to Arabic, Aramaic, or Hebrew—languages commonly used by European scholars during the Middle Ages.
Hanig claimed to have identified connections between certain Voynich characters and Hebrew letters, allowing him to translate the first few words and eventually complete sentences. He cautioned that full translation would require years of additional work.
However, experts in ancient Hebrew have expressed significant doubts about Hanig's claims. They identified numerous problems with his translation methodology and suggested he had taken substantial liberties with the language to force meaning where none existed.
David Cheshire's Proto-Romance Theory
In 2019, David Cheshire, a research associate at the University of Bristol, proposed that the manuscript was written in a proto-Romance language—a predecessor to modern English and Spanish that had been lost to time. Cheshire described experiencing a "Eureka moment" when he realized the significance of his discovery.
His announcement generated substantial media attention but was quickly and thoroughly debunked by experts. Critics pointed to flawed research methodologies and hasty publication as factors contributing to what became an embarrassing scholarly episode.
The academic community's response was captured by one publication that remarked: "Another day, another dubious claim that someone has decoded the Voynich manuscript."
Nicholas Gibbs' Women's Health Manual Theory
Television writer Nicholas Gibbs made headlines in 2017 when he claimed to have solved the Voynich mystery. His theory proposed that the book functioned as a women's health manual, with the text composed primarily of Latin abbreviations.
While the women's health interpretation gained some traction due to the manuscript's numerous illustrations of female figures and shapes resembling reproductive organs, Latin experts quickly dismissed Gibbs' translation as nonsensical. His lack of formal experience in historical text analysis and cryptography undermined his credibility in academic circles.
Gibbs' approach was particularly questioned because he had developed his theory while researching for a television program rather than through rigorous scholarly investigation.
Contemporary Views on Decipherment
The Voynich manuscript continues to challenge scholars and enthusiasts alike with its mysterious content and undecipherable text. In recent years, numerous researchers have claimed to unlock its secrets, yet none have gained widespread acceptance from the academic community.
In 2025, the debate remains active with several competing theories. German Egyptologist Rainer Hartig proposed a Hebrew-based interpretation, suggesting the text employs a Semitic language framework. His approach identified potential connections between Voynich characters and Hebrew letters, allowing for partial translations of sentences. However, Hebrew language experts have identified significant flaws in his methodology.
Prior attempts at decipherment have followed similar patterns of initial excitement followed by scholarly rejection:
Year Researcher Theory Outcome 2019 David Cheshire Proto-Romance language predecessor to modern Romance languages Quickly debunked by linguistic experts 2017 Nicholas Gibbs Latin abbreviations in a women's health manual Dismissed as nonsensical by Latin scholars 2016 Computer scientists Hebrew translation via algorithm Methods (using Google Translate) considered inadequate
The manuscript's sections—botanical, astrological, biological (featuring numerous bathing women), and pharmacological—continue to perplex experts. With its strange plant illustrations, unusual constellation diagrams, and peculiar bathing scenes, the content defies easy categorization.
Cryptologists, linguists, mathematicians, and even FBI operatives have attempted to crack the code over the centuries. Even Alan Turing, the famed code-breaker, was unable to decipher the text. Analysis has determined the manuscript contains approximately 20-25 distinct characters following consistent patterns, suggesting an actual language rather than random symbols.
More exotic theories have emerged from non-academic circles, including speculation about extraterrestrial origins based on the manuscript's unique language and unfamiliar astronomical charts.
For now, the 240-page medieval codex maintains its secrets. As cryptanalyst Elizabeth Friedman noted in 1962, any attempt to translate the Voynich manuscript seems "doomed to utter frustration."
