Difference between revisions of "Pillar 7"

From Decrypting the NKRYPT sculpture
Jump to: navigation, search
(Numerical Grid)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
[[File:Pillar_07-Daytime.jpg|thumb|right]]  
 
[[File:Pillar_07-Daytime.jpg|thumb|right]]  
Pillar 7 is the shortest pillar. It contains a numerical cipher ('''Unsolved'''), a Caesar/Vigenere cipher ('''Solved''') and a series of numbers around the bottom which probably form part of a cipher ('''Unsolved''').
+
Pillar 7 is the shortest pillar. It contains a numerical cipher ('''Solved'''), a Caesar/Vigenere cipher ('''Solved''') and a series of numbers around the bottom which probably form part of a cipher ('''Unsolved''').
  
  
Line 63: Line 63:
 
* Grass adjacent to Pockett Avenue and Wilson Crescent, Banks
 
* Grass adjacent to Pockett Avenue and Wilson Crescent, Banks
  
==Transposition (Caesar) cipher - Solved==
+
==Transposition (Caesar) cipher==
 
The remainder of the pillar is filled with a simple cipher - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_cypher the Caesar cipher].
 
The remainder of the pillar is filled with a simple cipher - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_cypher the Caesar cipher].
  

Revision as of 18:59, 18 March 2013

Pillar 07-Daytime.jpg

Pillar 7 is the shortest pillar. It contains a numerical cipher (Solved), a Caesar/Vigenere cipher (Solved) and a series of numbers around the bottom which probably form part of a cipher (Unsolved).


It also explains the method it uses to encrypt the alphabetic text. It is presumably a pillar to introduce participants to the concepts of encryption.


Numerical Grid

The numerical grid on Pillar 7

At the top of the pillar is a grid of numbers of 5 rows and 26 columns. A triangular glyph surrounds a number (rather than pointing as in other pillars).

35248614916353547101490974

24725391509414892533731941

14909573522681490367353636

41635353213194116435346709

81491040353180149092635377

Decoded labyrinth style by Neonsignal to read as a series of numbers that resemble geographical coordinates of the Canberra area:

35.2742 149.1373

35.2984 149.1312

35.3180 149.0926

35.3778 149.1040

35.3536 149.0764

35.3461 149.0974

35.3636 149.0957

35.2268 149.0519

35.2486 149.1635

35.4710 149.0974

When plotted onto a map, the coordinates point to 10 locations in the Canberra urban area specifically:

  • Ainslie Arts Centre
  • Questacon
  • Royal Australian Mint
  • Grassed area adjacent to Lambrigg St, Farrer
  • Intersection of Macfarland Crescent and Eggleston Crescent, Chifley
  • Philip Enclosed Oval, Philip
  • Intersection of Mawson Drive and Hurley Street, Mawson
  • Intersection of Ratcliff Crescent and Krefft Street, Florey
  • Intersection of Madigan Street and Rivett Street, Hackett
  • Grass adjacent to Pockett Avenue and Wilson Crescent, Banks

Transposition (Caesar) cipher

The remainder of the pillar is filled with a simple cipher - the Caesar cipher.

At the top is a plaintext which makes an obvious reference to Caesar:

A LETTER SHIFT A CIPHER MAKES

A FAMOUS ROMANS NAME IT TAKES

Then below that, it pictorially depicts a letter shift. In this example, A>B, B>C, C>D and so on, with Z>A.

Below this is a cipher text:

B MFUUFS TIJGU B DJQIFS NBLFT

B GBNPVT SPNBOT OBNF JU UBLFT


C UJKHV QH VYQ AQW PQY ECP DTGCM

DWV QVJGT OQXGU C EQFG ECP OCMG


KRZHYHU WKHB EH VZDSSHG DERXW

D NXID PDQ FRXOG ILQG WKHP RXW


RPKR QMWJZZKRG WYMABY

INGY PZBZIE XROZA

OPK RNQV SA ENMPL

XVZIZ GBHV ERIQIF

Using a simple online Caeser cipher calculator, this decrypts using various shifts to read

(With a shift of 1)

A LETTER SHIFT A CIPHER MAKES

A FAMOUS ROMANS NAME IT TAKES


(With a shift of 2)

A SHIFT OF TWO YOU NOW CAN BREAK

BUT OTHER MOVES A CODE CAN MAKE


(With a shift of 3)

HOWEVER THEY BE SWAPPED ABOUT

A KUFA MAN COULD FIND THEM OUT

Kufa most likely refers to Kufa, Iraq which was home to famed Arab cryptanalyst al-Kindi who pioneered frequency analysis.

The final four lines resist any number of simple shifts. It is possible that it is encoded using something like a Vigenere cipher.

An analysis using an online Vigenere breaking tool conducts frequency analysis to try to determine a key. It responds with a lot that start with "VIG", leading me to guess "VIGENERE".


(Using the Vigenere cipher with a key of "vigenere"):

WHEN DIFFERENT SHIFTS

EACH LETTER TAKES

(and resetting at the end of the two lines)

THE NAME OF WHICH

GREAT CODE AWAKES

Base

A string of numbers runs around the base.

10 11 9 11 9 12 13 17 28 29 15 17 11 12 11 12 11 13 20 24 9 13 11 11 7 93 11 11 14 17