Atbash

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Atbash is a simple substitution cipher for the Hebrew alphabet. It consists of substituting aleph (the first letter) for tav (the last), beth (the second) for shin (one before last), and so on, reversing the alphabet. A couple of words in the Book of Jeremiah, Leb Kamai and Sheshakh, are atbash for Kasdim/Kasdin (Chaldeans) and Babel respectively, probably written thus (Jer. 25:26; 51:1, 41). It has been associated with the esoteric methodologies of Jewish mysticism's interpretations of Hebrew religious texts as in the Kabbalah.

An atbash cipher for the Roman alphabet would be as follows:

A=Z | N=M

B=Y | O=L

C=X | P=K

D=W | Q=J

E=V | R=I

F=U | S=H

G=T | T=G

H=S | U=F

I=R | V=E

J=Q | W=D

K=P | X=C

L=O | Y=B

M=N | Z=A

See also: Hebrew language

Atbash can also be used to mean the same thing in any other alphabet as well. This is a very simplistic substitution cipher.

It is a very weak cipher because it only has one possible key, and it is a simple monoalphabetic substitution cipher. However, this may not have been an issue in the cipher's time.

Atbash was also featured in Dan Brown's bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code.

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