Theban alphabet

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Theban alphabet
Type Alphabet
Languages

National languages of:
Freya

Sister systems
Direction Left-to-right
Use of the Theban alphabet on the flag of Freyja.

The Theban alphabet is a writing system with unknown origins which first came into publication in the 16th century. Currently, it is the national alphabet of Freyja.

Publication history

It was first published in Johannes Trithemius' Polygraphia (1518), in which it was attributed to Honorius of Thebes "as Pietro de Abano testifies in his greater fourth book". However, it is not known to be extant in any of the known writings attributed to d'Abano (1250-1316) Trithemius' student Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535) included it in his de Occulta Philosophia (Book III, chap. 29, 1531).[1] It is also not known to be found in any manuscripts of the writings of Honorius of Thebes (i.e. Liber Iuratus Honorii, or The Sworn Book of Honorius), with the exception of the composite manuscript found in London, British Library Manuscript Sloane 3853, which however openly identifies Agrippa as its source.

Uses and correlations

There is one-to-one correspondence between Theban and the letters in the old Latin alphabet. The modern characters J, U and W are not represented, and in modern usage these are transliterated using the Theban characters for I, V and V V. Theban letters only exist in a single case. This suggests an origin for Theban as a cipher calqued on Latin, along with the various alphabets described by Trithemius and Agrippa, based on either Latin or Hebrew.

Micronational Uses

Currently employed by the Worker's Democratic Republic under Freya, it can be seen in various Freyan legal documents, on the Freyan flag, and in Freyan propaganda.

References

  1. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1531). Three Books of Occult Philosophy.