CHAPTER 77

On the plane, Teabing writes out the twenty-two-letter Hebrew alphabet from memory and explains that Hebrew spelling omits vowels. Because of this, the word Baphomet becomes five consonantal letters in Hebrew, matching the five-letter requirement of the cryptex password.

Sophie takes over the cipher work, showing a simpler “fold-over” method for constructing the Atbash substitution matrix. Langdon reflects on the historical use of Atbash, especially the decoding of Sheshach as Babel, which reinforces the likelihood that Saunière’s clue is meant to be solved this way.

Using Sophie’s matrix, the group applies Atbash to the Hebrew consonants of Baphomet. Teabing suddenly realizes the result is not random but ingenious: the letters can be read as an ancient word tied directly to wisdom.

Langdon and Teabing guide Sophie through the phonetic reading of the decoded letters. They explain that Hebrew sounds can shift, turning the result into “Sophia,” the Greek word for wisdom and the root of Sophie’s name.

Sophie is emotionally struck by the realization that her grandfather encoded the Priory keystone with her name. When she notes that “Sophia” has six letters and the cryptex has only five dials, Teabing points back to the poem’s phrase “ancient word of wisdom”: in ancient Greek, the word is spelled “SOFIA,” giving them a five-letter password.