HIRAM CIPHER

Take me to the 2nd "Official" Israel Cache, by docdesi (waypoint: GCH514) in Israel. When I reach this cache, I will be as close to home as possible.

Ciphers (secret codes) are probably as old as the written word. The first recorded use of ciphers dates as far back as 1900 BC when a scribe in Egypt first used a derivation of the standard hieroglyphics of the day to communicate his secret messages.

There are many notable persons who participated in the evolution of ciphers and cryptography (the science of encrypting and decrypting information). Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) used a simple substitution cipher to send secret messages to his generals at the battlefront. In 1623, Sir Francis Bacon described a cipher, which now bears his name -- a biliteral cipher, known today as a 5-bit binary encoding. Even one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, invented a wheel cipher in the 1790's, which would be redeveloped as the Strip Cipher, M-138-A, used by the US Navy during World War II.

“Hiram” is a simple substitution cipher. Some will recognize it immediately, though perhaps by a different name. Millions, in fact, have seen it though probably very few have ever used it. The message is clear and simple. Its truth is self-evident and universally accepted among craftsmen and artificers.

If you have no interest in cryptography, don’t loose any sleep over this one. Just help move Hiram closer to his goal. If, however, you are interested in cryptography in general, or this cipher in particular, I’ll be happy to send you more information about it.