The mystery and possible solution to the Shugboro code (6 photos)

Keys, ciphers and codes, from the ancient Caesar cipher to the portable encryption device called the Enigma, have left their mark on this world.





But one of the most famous and still unsolved codes is not carved on a precious tablet or hidden in a high-tech machine, but engraved on a monument in Britain.



Amid the garden landscapes and architectural curiosities of the Shugborough estate in Staffordshire stands a monument to a shepherd. An unknown artist carved eight mysterious letters here - O U O S V A V V - between two other letters, D and M.

That was more than 200 years ago, and ever since then, the seemingly random group of letters has continued to puzzle historians from around the world, joined by such eminent figures as Dickens and Darwin. Could it contain the key to the Holy Grail? Or is it just a bizarre piece of 18th-century graffiti?





Bletchley Park, the top-secret codebreaking network of World War II, suggests that all elements are considered part of a whole. The letters are carved beneath the Shugborough relief, an adaptation of Nicolas Poussin's painting The Shepherds of Arcadia. It bears the words "Et In Arcadia Ego", Latin for "I am also in Arcadia" or "I am, even in Arcadia". It is a memorial to the shepherds of the estate, commissioned by Thomas Anson between 1748 and 1763.

What could they mean?



Nicolas Poussin's painting "The Shepherds of Arcadia"

A. J. Morton, an expert on graves and monuments, believed that the letters were engraved by George Adams and his wife Mary Vernon-Venables, residents of Shugborough and relatives of Thomas Anson. But many have suggested that the writing is a clue to the location of the cup into which Jesus' blood flowed from the wounds of his crucifixion. Another theory is that it is a love letter in Latin, while another theory links it to the Knights Templar's "Jesus H Defy" letter, which confirmed the Templars' belief that Jesus was an earthly mortal.



The Shugborough relief, adapted from the second version of Nicolas Poussin's "The Shepherds of Arcadia"

Over the years, other theories have emerged, though most are just guesswork. Cryptographers have deciphered the letters D and M as Dis Manibus, meaning "for the Manes." It is a Roman acronym often found on Christian tombs, as the Manes were considered spirits of the underworld.

The only person who has allegedly cracked the Shugborough code is an American scientist named Keith Massey. Massey worked for America's top-secret National Security Agency after 9/11 and is a highly qualified Latin teacher. According to him, the letters stand for "Oro Ut Omnes Sequantur Viam Ad Veram Vitam", or "I pray that all may walk on the Path to true life". The sentence is grammatically correct and, according to him, refers to the biblical passage from John 14:6: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (Ego sum Via et Veritas et Vita).



Despite the active work on deciphering the inscription, the majestic estate, which once belonged to Lord Lichfield, continues to arouse interest and questions from the whole world. And today, tourists and locals alike strive to get here to look at the stone letters and try to understand their true meaning.