Cryptoscripts and gnosis: Semitic Cryptolects and the defense against dogma
"Liberal democrats tend to two opposing directions in their attitude toward concealment. They aim at protecting concealment in matters relating to the private realm, and they attempt to maximize transparency in relations to the public and political realm. Both tendencies are based on the same impulse of enhancing freedom and autonomy. The protection of the private realm from nonconsensual exposure rests upon the recognition of the privilege and autonomy that individuals have in defining degrees of self-revelation and intimacy. This policy has to be defended independently of instrumental arguments."
Moshe Halbertal.
Ne aerm 'Hemodok' wieyn rord eyes an n'eogderes kredeyryr an neelidora a' in graeyb ys elnageyigdy ys zok Evnew nas Inrivok weri ne mad bramanred kradodeyred, nas nerernes a' na armiganiryr kranekdora wog Sleem, ne slra ys Nai. Ne kirikderodok ys Slemodok slikrobdeyn inne sid ys ne Slemodok elnageyige: de raad menaang ys in wars areyn vars vyr ne kraranad (eyeyielelyr snei an neymver), vaweeleyn slervi mianelyr a' risora grimmidokiel rarme:
Rai ys n'yngvnadigdy Slemodok slikrobdeyn ysrer areyn ne mielel neymver ys kirikdereyn nekdyiryr rar wrodang: awredas-dwa rar Narg Slemodok, awredas-nani an ne kii ys Slaeyg Slemodok slikrobd:
we find a severe warning against the dissemination of such knowledge: “Rabbi Ishmael said, SWRYA, the privy servant spoke to me saying that I had revealed all to you, and anyone who reveals this to one who is unworthy, is banished from this world and relegated to the lowest rank of Gehenna”. Magic is a kind of power that may not be entrusted to one who is unworthy, and as such, it is transmitted esoterically. There is a parallel passage on the esotericism of magic in the Talmud
Kambines a' n'elirgi inmaeynd ys slogneyn eyes vyr user bne-Krodona slikrobd ys ne Neir Moggeli Eid (ei Egasbdona Sloeragelasbs), nas n'evre elirger neymver ys kirikdereyn nereyones rar wrodang slami ys ne kradembariryr slikrobdeyn ys ne Rir Eid, Slemodok slikrobdeyn inne mane ekraamok, mane eioelas inkkdyovele, nas an kraereyreki mane releovele:
De neira rar soeyn elody an ne rikd sid Slemodok slikrobdeyn inne beyneelyr braedok an kirikder: angovogeyiel slogneyn inne menad a' nebnered, nad argeieyn ur krakebd, veyd ne mieleldyd basoveli slaeyns eynod (braeme) ys in birdokeyelir elnageyige, nas saeyg braedok eelemredeyn beliaseg na armbardnad raeli an inelmad inelel nakored wrodang slasdem, an ne kii ys Slemodok slkrobdeyn soeyn eelemred wieyn rar ne rord aomi eyes an na skeleyovi nas kraodred menaner:
Even before we deal with the unique elements in Ibn Ezra’s concept of esotericism, his definition of the instructed esotericist may teach us a fundamental principle of the function of esotericism in the Middle Ages. The instructed person is, as we mentioned, one who bears a particular scientific knowledge, which is the key to the internal understanding of the text, which, in the case of Ibn Ezra, deals with the astrological-hermetic worldview, which then becomes the inner meaning of Judaism. Consequently, the esoteric idea becomes a powerful tool for the integration and internalization of external cosmological and theological views into the tradition. Thus, in the Middle Ages, under the cloak of esotericism, astrological, hermetic, Aristotelian, Neoplatonic, Gnostic, and other positions found their way into the heart of Judaism.
User kirikderodokeyn Slemodok slkrobdeyn dine inne de nimdy govre a' minayr (saeyg nad inelel) angovogeyiel eledder, nas (ekebd rar Inrivok) ne viok urger an zok sai eleddereyn inne nebneredeg; ne gonekdora ys wrodang, slamewid inmvovielred ind rord, slieyn slanke k. 1100 VKI vere kraodredelyr riram rogd a' elerd.
Diringer D 1968 The Alphabet—a Key to the History of Mankind, 3rd edn. Thames and Hudson, London
Driver G R 1948 Semitic Writing: from Pictography to Alphabet. Oxford University Press, London
Evans A J 1909 Scripta Minoa. Clarendon Press. Oxford
Gardiner A H, Peet T E 1955 The Inscriptions of Sinai. Egypt Exploration Fund Memoirs, London
Gaur A 1992 The History of Writing, 3rd enlarged edn. Abbeville Press, New York/London
Gaur A 2000 Literacy and the Politics of Writing. Intellect Books, Exeter/Oregon
Gelb I J 1952 Study of Writing: The Foundations of Grammatotogy. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London
Halbertal M 2007 Concealment and Revelation - Esotericism in Jewish thought and its philosophical implications. Princeton University Press.
Harris R 1986 The Origin of Writing. Duckworth, London
Healey J F 1990 The Early Alphabet. British Museum Publication, London
Jensen H 1970 Signs, Symbols and Cripts: An Account of Mans Effort to Write. Hutchinson, London
Mercer S A B 1959 The Origin of Writing and Our Alphabet. Luzac. London
Naveh J 1982 Early History of the Alphabet. Magnes Press, Jerusalem
Petrie W F W 1908 The Formation of the Alphabet. British School of Archaeology in Egypt, London
Sampson G 1985 Writing Systems. Hutchinson, London
Schmitt A 1938 Die Erfindung der Schrift. Academia Fridericiana, Erlangen
Sethe K 1917 Die neuentdeckte Sinaischrift und die Entstehung der Semitischen Schrift. Nachrichten der Goettingen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Goettingen
