The words of the sator square may be read in any direction

SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS (sometimes called the sator square) is a Latin palindrome, the words of which, when written in a square, may be read top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top, left-to-right, and right-to-left, as illustrated here. It's an example of a word square. A Sator square. ... A Sator square. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Look up Palindrome in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see square. ... A word square is a kind of acrostic. ...

Translation

The usual translation is as follows:

Sator 

'Sower', 'planter'

Arepo 

Likely an invented proper name; its similarity with arrepo, from ad repo, 'I creep towards', is coincidental

Tenet 

'hold'

Opera 

'work', 'care', 'effort'

Rotas 

'wheels'

Two possible translations of the phrase are 'The sower Arepo holds the wheels with effort' and 'The sower Arepo leads with his hand (work) the plough (wheels).' C. W. Ceram read the square boustrophedon (in alternating directions), with tenet repeated. This produces Sator opera tenet; tenet opera sator, translated: 'The Great Sower holds in his hand all works; all works the Great Sower holds in his hand.' (Ceram 1958, p. 30) C. W. Ceram (January 20, 1915 - April 12, 1972) was the pseudonym of Kurt Wilhelm Marek, a German journalist and author known for his works in popular Archaeology. ... Boustrophedon is an ancient way of writing manuscripts and other inscriptions in which, rather than going from left to right as in modern English, or right to left as in Arabic, alternate lines must be read in opposite directions. ...

The word arepo is enigmatic, appearing nowhere else in Latin literature. Most of those who have studied the sator square agree that it is a proper name, either an adaptation of a non-Latin word or a name invented specifically for this sentence. Jerome Carcopino thought that it came from a Celtic, specifically Gaulish, word for plough. David Daube argued that it represented a Hebrew or Aramaic rendition of the Greek Αλφα ω, or "Alpha-Omega" (cf. Revelation 1:8) by early Christians. J. Gwyn Griffiths contended that it came, via Alexandria, from the attested Egyptian name Ḥr-Ḥp, which he took to mean "the face of Apis". (For more on these arguments see Griffiths, 1971 passim.) Jérôme Carcopino (1881 - 1970) was a French historian and author. ... The Celtic languages are the languages descended from Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, spoken by ancient and modern Celts alike. ... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (Latin: ) was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... David Daube DCL, FBA (8 February 1909, Freiburg, Germany-24 February 1999) was Regius Professor of Law at the University of Oxford and later Professor-in-Residence at the University of California, Berkeley. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... Aramaic is a group of Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. ... Visions of John of Patmos, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ... Alexandria Modern Alexandria. ... In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis (alternatively spelt Hapi-ankh), was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region. ...

Appearances

The oldest sator square known was found in the ruins of Herculaneum; others were found in excavations at Corinium (modern Cirencester) and Dura-Europos (in modern Syria). Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) was an ancient Roman town, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano. ... Corinium is the name of the Roman town that stood on the site that is now occupied by the town of Cirencester. ... Cirencester is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles (150 km) west northwest of London. ... The Temple of Bel at Dura-Europos Dura-Europos (Fort Europos)[1] was a Hellenistic and Roman walled city built on an escarpment ninety meters above the banks of the Euphrates river. ...

Other sator squares are on the wall of the Duomo of Siena, on the pavement outside the church of the Knights in Valetta, Malta and on the tombstone of composer Anton von Webern, who experimented with the sator square in a musical way. Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Anton Webern (December 3, 1883 – September 15, 1945) was a composer of classical music and a member of the so called Second Viennese School. ...

A sator square found in Manchester is considered by some authorities to be the earliest evidence of Christianity in Britain [1] Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, North West England. ...

Other authorities believe the sator square was Mithraic in origin [2]. Mithraism was an ancient Iranic religion, based on worship of a god called Mehr who apparently derives from the Persian god Mithra and other Zoroastrian deities. ...

The sator square is a four-times palindrome, and some have attributed magical properties to it, considering it one of the broadest magical formulas in the occident; for example, the 19th-century Pennsylvania Dutch used it to protect cattle from witchcraft [3]. Occident has a number of meanings. ... The Pennsylvania Dutch (perhaps more strictly Pennsylvania Deitsch or Pennsylvanian German) are descendants of German speaking immigrants who came to Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. ...

In Popular Culture

The fictional city of Ankh-Morpork in the Discworld series has a town square named Sator Square [4]. Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ... // This article is about the novels. ...

The Sator Square appears at least once in Manly Wade Wellman's "Silver John" stories. Manly Wade Wellman (May 21, 1903 - April 5, 1986) was an American writer of fiction and non-fiction. ... Silver John is a fictional character from a series of fantasy stories by Manly Wade Wellman. ...

Anton Webern's Concerto Op. 24 is apparently based on the square, and the square is displayed on a memorial[5] near the site where he was shot in Mittersill in 1945. Anton Webern (December 3, 1883 – September 15, 1945) was an Austrian composer and conductor. ...

Sator Square is also a San Diego metal band.

Rosa Montero's dwarf character, Airelai, in her novel Bella y oscura writes the sator square on a piece of paper to insure her safety as she and the protagonist go out into the night in Madrid in search of another sinister character, el Portugues.

Anagrams

Anagram formed by the letters of the sator square

It is possible to write a horizontal and a vertical 'Pater Noster' with the letters of the sator square, forming a Greek cross. The two As and two Os which remain are then taken as Alpha and Omega (see above). Image File history File links image I have created File links The following pages link to this file: Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas ... Image File history File links image I have created File links The following pages link to this file: Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas ... Representation of the Sermon on the Mount The Lords Prayer (Greek: Η Κυριακή Προσευχή, transliterated as i Kiriakí Prosevhí) (Latin: Oratio Dominica), sometimes also known amongst English speakers as the Pater Imon, the Pater Noster or the Our Father, is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Alpha (uppercase Α, lowercase α) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Look up Ω, ω in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Other anagrams include Satan, ter oro te, reparato opes! (Satan, I bid you thrice: Return my fortune back to me!) and ' Petro et reo patet rosa sarona (the saronic rose is open (or obvious) to [Saint] Peter and the guilty one.) The Saronic Gulf or Gulf of Aegina in Greece forms part of the Aegean Sea and defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Corinth. ... Species Between 100 and 150, see list A rose is a flowering shrub of the genus Rosa, and the flower of this shrub. ... Saint Peter, also known as Simon ben Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha — original name Simon or Simeon (Acts 15:14) — was one of the Twelve Apostles whom Jesus chose as his original disciples. ...

Oro te, pater

There are also several other possible combinations of the letters in a square form. One of them is as follows. If we take the letter o as the basis and then move on the grid as one would move the knight in a game of chess, we get twice the Latin words Oro te, pater (I beg you, father). The unused letters are s, a, n, a, s, which form the word sanas (you heal). Image File history File links Modified from [[Image:Sator_square. ... Image File history File links Modified from [[Image:Sator_square. ...

See also

magic square It has been suggested that Date magic square be merged into this article or section. ...

References

• "'Arepo' in the Magic 'Sator' Square'": J. Gwyn Griffiths, The Classical Review, New Ser., Vol. 21, No. 1., March 1971, pp. 6-8

External links

Duncan Fishwick, An Early Christian Cryptogram? (PDF)
Duncan Fishwick, An Early Christian Cryptogram?(HTML)