This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mbeerman (talk | contribs) at 05:35, 22 January 2005 (Add information about the Ancients' language). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 05:35, 22 January 2005 by Mbeerman (talk | contribs) (Add information about the Ancients' language)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
The Ancients are a fictional race in the Stargate universe.
The Ancients are the race credited with building the system of Stargates. Dr. Daniel Jackson translated many and various writings where the Ancients were referred to as "builders of roads" and thoughout SG-1's travels they gathered more information about them. All discoveries relative to the early Ancient race indicate that they were nearly human in form, albeit a kind of superhuman with increased resilience and near magical technological powers. They had evolved originally on Earth several million years ago.
The Ancients explored our galaxy, leaving Stargates wherever they went. They established colonies on many of these worlds, which helps to explain why most of the worlds with Stargates are generally hospitable to humanoid life.
Eventually, there came a time when the Ancients began to research "Ascension" to a higher plane of existence, to escape a mysterious plague that was infiltrating their population. Around this time, one of the Ancients' cities, Atlantis, left Earth and went to the Pegasus Galaxy, where it settled on a huge ocean planet with little land. Overconfident, the Ancients seeded humans across Pegasus, and eventually encountered the vampire-like Wraith, a humanoid species that feed off of the humans the Ancients had seeded. The Wraith leave enough of their prey alive to repopulate, hibernate, then return again several hundred years later for another round of Culling.
After a long siege, the Ancients of Atlantis returned to Earth via the Stargate. Atlantis they sank into the sea, surrounded by a force field, where would await the return of the Ancients (or their descendants) for some 10,000 years.
When the Atlantean Ancients returned, the plague was still spreading. After breeding with the humans who had the same physical appearance, they ascended, and became god-like beings.
The Ancients' ascended form, pure energy, allows them to be seen and heard by ordinary humans and then disappear at will. Most, however, adhere to a sort of "Prime Directive" which forbids them from influencing the unascended. Near the end of Season Five, Daniel Jackson became exposed to a lethal amount of radiation and was approached just prior to his death by an ascended Ancient, whom he had previously met on the planet Kheb, named Oma Desala. With her assistance Daniel ascended and joined the Ancients, but in an early Season Seven episode Daniel was cast down out of his ascended state for over-stretching his authority in an attempt to help SG-1 and to save Abydos.
The Ancients were a member of the alliance of four great races. In addition to the Stargates, the Ancients left behind the Repository of the Ancients and the city of Atlantis, as well as many other lesser relics of advanced technology.
Like most of the other races in the Stargate universe, the Ancients are identified with one of Earth's early civilizations; in this case, the Roman Empire. They share the epithet "builder of roads", and the Ancients' language appears to be a precursor of Latin. In one episode, while under the influence of the Ancients' repository, O'Neill is heard to say "aveo amacus", which is translated as "goodbye friends".
Category: