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The Written Word 文字 Mystery Cache

Hidden : 11/6/2016
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:


Note: The posted coordinates are not the actual cache location.

Besides geocaching, one of my other passions is language. Although humans have used verbal language for tens of thousands of years, the invention of written language about 5,000 years ago is considered one of mankind's greatest achievements. In fact, the presence of written sources denotes the technical dividing line between what scholars classify as prehistory versus what they call history.

For this cache, you must identify various types of written languages, and connect them with the countries where they're most commonly used.

The sample texts will have the name of the language written in the script used in that language. For example, "English" is the name of the language written in English, just as 中文 is the name of Chinese written in Chinese.

The actual cache location is:

N25° 02.XXX E121° 31.YYY

XXX = [A+C+E+G+I+K+M+O+Q+S+U+W] - 172
YYY = [B+D+F+H+J+L+N+P+R+T+V] + 109

A: Greece = 10; India = 11; Italy = 12; Russia = 13

B: Armenia = 14; India = 15; Indonesia = 16; Thailand = 17

C: China = 18; Japan = 19; Thailand = 20; Vietnam = 21

D: Canada = 22; Ethiopia = 23; Iran = 24; Israel = 25

E: Canada = 26; Ethiopia = 27; Indonesia = 28; Maldives = 29

F: Armenia = 30; Ethiopia = 31; Russia = 32; USA = 33

G: China = 34; Japan = 35; Korea = 36; Mongolia = 37

H: India = 38; Laos = 39 Mongolia = 40; Myanmar = 41

I: India = 42; Laos = 43; Mongolia = 44; Myanmar = 45

J: Bulgaria = 46; Latvia = 47; USA = 48; Wales = 49

K: Ethiopia = 50; Georgia = 51; Greece = 52; Papua New Guinea = 53

L: Cambodia = 54; China = 55; India = 56; Laos = 57

M: Ethiopia = 58; Myanmar = 59; Papua New Guinea = 60; Tibet = 61

N: Laos = 62; Liberia = 63; Mongolia = 64; Saudi Arabia = 65

O: China = 66; Ethiopia = 67; Morocco = 68; Papua New Guinea = 69

P: Maldives = 70; Morocco = 71; Papua New Guinea = 72; Saudi Arabia = 73

Q: Armenia = 74; China = 75; Georgia = 76; India = 77

R: Georgia = 78; India = 79; Mongolia = 80; Saudi Arabia = 81

S: Canada = 82; Morocco = 83; Papua New Guinea = 84; Philippines = 85

T: Canada = 86; Morocco = 87; Papua New Guinea = 88; Philippines = 89

U: Canada = 90; Morocco = 91; Philippines = 92; Qatar = 93

V: China = 94; Japan = 95; Korea = 96; Vietnam = 97

W: Bhutan= 98; Cambodia = 99; Georgia = 100; Papua New Guinea = 101

You can check your answer here: GeoCheck.org

Cache is a small plastic container. Please bring your own pen.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Va gerr purfg urvtug, oruvaq oevpxf.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)