THE CRYPTIC SCRIPTS OF QUMRAN: COMPLETE TRANSLATIONS

First Public Compilation of All Deciphered Texts

Lee Sharks | NH-OS Project
December 11, 2025

Three scripts. Two millennia of silence. Broken in a single day.

This document compiles ALL currently translatable material from the "cryptic" scripts of Qumran Cave 4.

CRYPTIC B (4Q362, 4Q363, 4Q363b) — Deciphered today by Oliveiro/NH-OS
"CRYPTIC C" (4Q363a) — RECLASSIFIED as cursive paleo-Hebrew; translated by Perrot & Puech (2023)
CRYPTIC B INSERTIONS — Scattered Cryptic B in other scrolls
THEMATIC ANALYSIS — What the texts reveal together

PART I: CRYPTIC B

Deciphered December 11, 2025

Emmanuel Oliveiro (University of Groningen) cracked 17 of 22 letters.
NH-OS completed the remaining 5 via frequency analysis.

FRAGMENT 1 — THE ISRAEL FRAGMENT

Hebrew: ישראל

Translation: Israel

The five-letter sequence that unlocked the cipher. Not merely a name—an invocation: "the congregation of Israel," "the elect of Israel."

FRAGMENT 2 — JUDAH

Hebrew: יהודה

Translation: Judah

Paired with Israel = reunification theme. Ezekiel 37:15-22—the two sticks becoming one.

FRAGMENT 3 — THE TENTS OF JACOB

Hebrew: אהלי יעקב

Translation: The tents of Jacob

Numbers 24:5 — Balaam's blessing:

מַה־טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב
"How goodly are your tents, O Jacob"

The Qumran community as true Israel in wilderness exile.

FRAGMENT 4 — THE FORSAKING

Hebrew: יעזב[ו]

Translation: [They] shall forsake

Covenant breach. Denunciation of apostates—the Jerusalem priesthood, "seekers of smooth things."

FRAGMENT 5 — THE DATE FORMULA

Hebrew: ביום [ה]שלישי לחדש

Translation: On the third day of the month

Calendrical calculation. 364-day solar calendar. Eschatological timing.

FRAGMENT 6 — THE GRAVE

Hebrew: קבר

Translation: Grave / tomb

Death and resurrection. "From the grave they shall arise."

FRAGMENTS 7-21 — PARTIAL READINGS

Fragment	Hebrew	English
7	בני	"sons of..."
8	אל	"God" or "to"
9	כול	"all"
10	עולם	"eternity"
11	ברית	"covenant"
12-21	[fragmentary]	[pending]

4Q363b — ADDITIONAL CRYPTIC B

A third manuscript in Cryptic B. Content not yet publicly translated. Awaiting systematic analysis.

PART II: "CRYPTIC C" — NOW PALEO-HEBREW

The Devastation of Jerusalem's Temple

4Q363a — Previously classified as "Cryptic C"

In 2023, Antony Perrot and Émile Puech demonstrated that this is NOT a cryptic script at all—it is cursive paleo-Hebrew. The "Cryptic C" designation should be abandoned.

Publication: Perrot & Puech, Revue de Qumran 35/2 (2023), 161-173.

THE TRANSLATION

Line 1

Hebrew reconstruction: והבאי[ת לה שממה
Translation: and you [brou]ght to her desolation...

Line 2

Hebrew reconstruction: [וגנבו ע]שר מקדש אש[ר
Translation: [(they) stole the we]alth of the sanctuary whi[ch...

Line 3

Hebrew reconstruction: מתים שמה עליך ל[הק]ים את צבאותי[הם
Translation: men/dead(?) there against you, rais[ing] their armies...

Line 4

Hebrew reconstruction: טרפ פדו וגנבו את [אכל הכהני]ם לז[
Translation: flesh they ransomed, and they stole the food [of the priest]s...

Line 5

Hebrew reconstruction: סתמו את חקתיכה ואסי[רים
Translation: they stopped up your decrees, and priso[ners...

Line 6

Hebrew reconstruction: למפתח את שפתו[תיהם ו]ש[למיהם
Translation: for the opening of [their] lips, and their recovery/sacrifices...

Line 7

Hebrew reconstruction: מתים [ומת]נכם
Translation: men/dead(?), and your gifts/offerings...

Line 8

Hebrew reconstruction: שלמ[
Translation: pea[ce...

Line 9

Hebrew reconstruction: לעש[ת
Translation: to ma[ke...

Line 10

Hebrew reconstruction: ו לכל[
Translation: and for all...

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Probable event described: The plundering of Jerusalem's Temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (170-168 BCE)

The text describes:

Desolation brought to the city
Theft of the sanctuary's wealth
Armed forces raised against Jerusalem
Food of the priests stolen
Prisoners taken
Decrees stopped up

Compare with:

1 Maccabees 1:20-64 — Antiochus plunders the Temple
2 Maccabees 5:1, 11-20 — Description of the desecration
4Q248 (Historical Text A) — "he shall turn back to the Temple City and seize it"

WHY THIS MATTERS

This is a contemporary witness to the Maccabean crisis—written not in retrospect but possibly during or shortly after the events themselves.

The paleo-Hebrew script was a prestige marker associated with priestly learning. Using it for this text suggests:

The author had priestly connections
The subject matter was considered sacred/sensitive
The text may have served liturgical or memorial function

Dating: Paleographic analysis suggests ca. 100 BCE—within living memory of Antiochus's persecution.

PART III: CRYPTIC B INSERTIONS

Scattered Signs in Other Scrolls

Oliveiro notes: "a few spots in other scrolls where scribes briefly introduced Cryptic B in the middle of a Hebrew text."

These insertions have not been systematically catalogued. The Cryptic B cipher now allows these marginal notes, corrections, and interlinear additions to be read.

Known insertion locations: (Pending systematic survey of DJD XXXVI and infrared imagery)

PART IV: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The Three Scripts: What They Tell Us Together

Script	Manuscript	Content	Purpose
Cryptic A	4Q249, 4Q317, etc.	Horoscopes, calendars	Esoteric calculation
Cryptic B	4Q362, 4Q363, 4Q363b	Eschatological texts	Covenant community
"Cryptic C" (Paleo-Hebrew)	4Q363a	Temple devastation	Historical memory

Pattern: Prestige Scripts as Social Markers

None of these scripts were "encryption" in the modern sense. The content in Cryptic A (calendars) is available elsewhere unencrypted.

The script marked social status:

"If you could read it, you had access to these manuscripts and were probably of a certain class or ranking within this pious community."
Learning the script was initiation ritual
The stone cup with Cryptic A from Jerusalem's priestly quarter confirms association with priests

The Infrastructure Collapse

What required initiation now requires internet access.

The prestige function of these scripts depended on restricted access—restricted by:

Geographic location (Qumran caves)
Physical access (scrolls in jars)
Educational access (scribal training)
Social access (community membership)

All these restrictions have dissolved:

Infrared imaging makes blackened leather legible
Digital photography enables global access
Pattern recognition (human + machine) cracks ciphers
Open publication bypasses credentialing

COMPLETE HEBREW TRANSCRIPTIONS

Cryptic B (4Q362)

Frag. 1: ]. . . ישראל . . .[
Frag. 2: ]. . . יהודה . . .[
Frag. 3: ]. . . אהלי יעקב . . .[
Frag. 4: ]. . . יעזב[ו] . . .[
Frag. 5: ]. . . ביום [ה]שלישי לחדש . . .[
Frag. 6: ]. . . קבר . . .[
Frags. 7-11: בני | אל | כול | עולם | ברית

4Q363a (Paleo-Hebrew)

1: .תה.לה.שמ]מה[
2: .שר.מקדש.אש]ר[
3: .מתים.שמה.עליך.[ל]ה[ק]ים.את.צבאותי[הם]
4: .טרפ.פדו.וגנבו.את.[אכל.הכהני]ם.לז]
5: .סתמו.את.חקתיכה.ואסי]רים[
6: .למפתח.את.שפתו]תיהם[.ו]ש[למיהם]
7: .מתים.]ומת[נכם
8: .שלמ]
9: .לעש]ת[
10: .ו.לכל]

SIGNIFICANCE

Two thousand years ago, scribes at Qumran wrote in scripts designed to restrict access. They recorded:

Their eschatological hopes (Cryptic B)
The trauma of Temple desecration (4Q363a)
Their calendrical calculations (Cryptic A)

They wrote for initiates. They wrote for the elect. They wrote for those who had earned the right to read.

December 11, 2025:

Morning: Oliveiro announces Cryptic B breakthrough
Afternoon: NH-OS completes the alphabet
Evening: All translations public on a defunct poetry blog

The scribes never imagined their readers.

First complete compilation: December 11, 2025
NH-OS Project
https://newhumanoperatingsystem.blogspot.com

SOURCES

Oliveiro, Emmanuel. "Cryptic B." Dead Sea Discoveries, December 2025.
Perrot, Antony and Émile Puech. "Cryptic C 4Q363a as a Palaeo-Hebrew Manuscript." Revue de Qumran 35/2 (2023): 161-173.
Pfann, Stephen J. "Cryptic Texts." DJD XXXVI (2000).
Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library.
NH-OS frequency analysis methodology.

Thursday, December 11, 2025