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Made up of 25 letters in a 5\u00d75 grid, the Sator Square is no ordinary palindrome. Far more sophisticated than the average \u2018racecar\u2019 or \u2018top spot\u2019, this is made up of five words in Latin that all interact with each other. The words \u2013 Sator, Arepo, Tenet, Opera and Rotas \u2013 can be read horizontally and vertically, from the top and left, and the bottom and right.<\/p>\n
Those words, especially the middle one, will be familiar to fans of Christopher Nolan\u2019s time-reversing science-fiction thriller, Tenet<\/em> (2020), as they all appear in the course of the movie. Sator is the name of the villain (played with menace by Kenneth Branagh); Arepo is a shadowy art forger; the opening scene takes place at the opera; Rotas is the name of an important security company; and Tenet, of course, is the title. By no means, however, was the Sator Square invented for the movie.<\/p>\n It is an ancient artefact, seen in myriad cultures over many centuries. Examples have been found all over Europe and beyond, from England to Syria and Sweden to North Africa, and dating from as early as the first century AD. Squares have been etched into clay tablets, roof tiles and walls, or written on papyrus, amulets and medieval textbooks.<\/p>\n Over the centuries and throughout the Middle Ages<\/a>, the Sator Square was imbued with magical properties, seen as a charm to ward off evil or illness. It was believed it could cure anything from dog bites and rabies (by eating a piece of bread inscribed with the 25 letters) to toothaches, a fear of water, and insanity. In medieval Germany, a disc carved with the square was believed to be able to put out fires.<\/p>\n As to its meaning, breaking down the individual words offers a useful starting point. In Latin, \u2018Sator\u2019 means \u2018sower\u2019 or \u2018seeder\u2019, which could be a reference to a farmer. The meaning of \u2018Arepo\u2019 is unknown, but it could be a person\u2019s name. \u2018Tenet\u2019 means \u2018to hold\u2019; \u2018Opera\u2019 can either be \u2018with care\u2019 or \u2018work\u2019; while \u2018Rotas\u2019 is thought to refer to \u2018wheels\u2019.<\/p>\n So, if read top to bottom \u2013 although most commonly known today for starting with \u2018Sator\u2019 at the top, there are existing examples beginning with \u2018Rotas\u2019 \u2013 it is possible to construct a sentence along the lines of: \u201cThe sower Arepo holds the wheels with care (or works the wheels).\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, the Sator Square has not survived this long, across multiple civilisations, for an all-too brief story about a farmer called Arepo. The studies and debates into its meaning goes on, with the word \u2018Arepo\u2019 alone being subject to numerous theories and interpretations. Yet there is no question that it took on significant meaning in Christianity, since squares have been found in churches and in the pages of Bibles.<\/p>\n This may be down to the fact that the letters can be rearranged to make the words \u201cPater Noster\u201d \u2013 meaning \u201cOur Father\u201d, the first words in the Lord\u2019s Prayer \u2013 twice, with them intersecting at the N to form a cross. This leaves two As and two Os left over, which could be used to stand for Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet<\/a> used to refer to God (the beginning and the end). Much like the fish symbol, the Ichthus, Christians may have co-opted the Sator Square as a secret form of communicating with each other at a time when they were being persecuted.<\/p>\n