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Published: 2007-09-17 10:17:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 2314; Favourites: 19; Downloads: 105
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Description
The Klein Codex was discovered by Oxford University student and amateur archaeologist Iago Klein in the early summer of 1909. It is believed to be a 13th or 14th century replication of an earlier document that made its way from eastern India to Europe sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries.The codex was the first artifact ever to evidence the existence of the Butured culture, and remains by far the most valuable. From what little is known of the Butured, they were a small, wealthy, and extremely discreet religious sect that existed a millennium ago in the vicinity of what is now Kolkata, India. Their religion seems to have combined elements of Hinduism, Taoism, and perhaps even Sufism.
The Butured language is likely ceremonial in nature, as the only other samples of it ever to be found were at religious sites, and it differs greatly from (and is, perhaps, intentionally obfuscated with regard to) all other known languages of the Indian subcontinent.
Transliterated, the codex bears the title "dhawñah[pir]ah vi[mid]am butu[red]em" (in IPA, /ɖɑɲa' pira ʋiˈmidɔm butuˈredem/), which has been translated to mean "The Book of Unseen Things". (Note that the name "Butured" - that is, "unseen" - is taken from this title, as we do not know the name these people used to refer to themselves.) The book contains a lengthly and detailed discourse on Butured alchemy and mysticism, and it would appear to be a primer used by initiates into the Butured sect.
On the left hand side, you will notice some annotation in Latin script, which was clearly made at the same time that the text was copied. Considering this, and evidence to suggest that the transcriber went to great lengths to duplicate the original document as precisely as possible, there is a strong likelihood that this writing existed in the master copy.
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Oh man, it's good to finally be done that. The Klein Codex is a tie-in with a story I'm writing... er... planning on writing. It's a loving tribute to Indiana Jones, centered on an intrepid archaeologist named Ambrose Powell, whom I hope will become a recurring character. In the first installment, if you haven't guessed, Iago Klein happens to fill an antagonistic role. (With a name like that, how couldn't he?)
I constructed the language you see here over the past couple weeks, and it's a fairly full-fledged language, but perhaps for having a rather limited vocabulary at the moment. I think I'll put up a tutorial later on how to read, write and speak it.
I won't bother putting a full transliteration of the inscription at the bottom of the page, but here's a fairly faithful English translation:
"Student. Now, forget your knowledge of the world. Your training has made you ready for understanding, and understanding is contained in these pages! Regard each word with fear and awe."
Note also that I planned it so the inscription would contain exactly 108 letters.
All of the writing was produced using a calligraphic dip pen. I scanned it in, and produced all of the aging effects using Photoshop. The background is the cover of an actual medieval codex.
Well, it's 4:15 in the morning. I think that's quite enough for tonight. I hope you appreciate my work!
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Comments: 8
Vindblain [2012-03-28 00:56:34 +0000 UTC]
I'm absolutely fascinated. Have you made any additional progress since you posted this in 2007?
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
pifactorial In reply to Vindblain [2012-03-28 23:38:54 +0000 UTC]
You may find this clearer version of the inscription interesting, though: [link]
(I wrote a script to render the text, I think the code for that has been lost.)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Vindblain In reply to pifactorial [2012-03-29 00:02:37 +0000 UTC]
Very creative. What inspired the script?
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pifactorial In reply to Vindblain [2012-03-30 03:31:37 +0000 UTC]
All sorts of inspirations. (Being a linguistics major helps.) Brahmic abugidas were the largest inspiration, particularly with the system of vowel markings. The right-to-left writing and final forms of the letters were inspired by Arabic and Hebrew. There is a letter which represents no sound, used like a comma; Classical Chinese has something similar. The letter shapes took some inspiration from Demotic. The script as a whole bears a striking (coincidental) resemblance to Limbu.
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pifactorial In reply to Vindblain [2012-03-28 02:48:22 +0000 UTC]
Alas no, one of far too many abortive projects. I think I still have the notes in a folder at my parents' house somewhere.
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pifactorial In reply to Judetherat [2007-09-17 21:48:46 +0000 UTC]
^^ Thanks, Jude. Though, for all the hours and hours I put in, I hoped it would get a teensy bit more attention.
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