Ancient

"Jack, the Others are the Ancients. The original creators of the Stargates."

- Daniel Jackson

The Ancients, also known as the Alterans, Atlanteans and Ancestors among other names, who called themselves Anqueetas or Alteras in their language, were the most technologically advanced race of Humans, and the creators of the Stargate and Atlantis.

The Alteran Home Galaxy
Millions of years ago, the Alterans, the first evolution of humans, lived together as one society on an evolutionary path to Ascension in the Alteran Home Galaxy. A split then occured among the Alterans, dividing them into two factions: the Ancients (who still called themselves the Alterans), who "believed" more in science, and the Ori, who became more religious.

Eventually, the Ori became so extreme in their belief that they tried to wipe out the Ancients. To avoid a war, the Ancients left, while the Ori remained. They both eventually ascended, but their paths continued to differ.

The Milky Way
"Once upon a time, there was a race of people that went on a great journey through space, across the universe. They were called the Altera."

- Daniel Jackson

After many thousands of years the Ancients discovered the Milky Way, which they named Avalon, and first colonized Earth, which they named Terra. They also built many Astria Porta, developed Zero Point Modules, and established colonies on many of the planets of the Milky Way, most notably Earth, Proclarush Taonas, Dakara, Vis Uban, P3R-272 and Heliopolis. The earliest outposts were established approximately thirty to fifty million years ago.

Approximately five million years ago, a virulent plague infected the Ancients that nearly wiped out the species. Originating at the construction site for their new capital known as Vis Uban, the deadly disease would spread across much of the galaxy. They attempted to travel back in time, to stop the plague from spreading, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Unable to cure it, the surviving Ancients left Earth in a huge space-borne city, which they called Atlantus.


 * Though the theory was postulated by Dr Jackson that the Ori plague and the plague that infected the Ancients were similar; nothing confirms that the Ori were responsible for sending it to the Milky Way galaxy.

Pegasus Galaxy


"Why'd they leave? Um, who knows? We know the Ancients on Earth were suffering from a plague. Uh, maybe some of them were trying to start over, seeding life in a new galaxy."

- Daniel Jackson

After leaving the Milky Way and arriving in the Pegasus Galaxy, the Ancients settled on a planet named Lantea, and came to be known as the Atlanteans or Lanteans. Finding Pegasus devoid of sentient life, the Atlanteans seeded Pegasus with humans. The humans seeded by the Ancients came to call them the Ancestors.

However, one of the planets seeded held a creature called the Iratus bug, which began feeding off the humans seeded there. Eventually, the Iratus bugs began to mutate, taking on advantageous human characteristics. This resulted in a hybrid species, the Wraith. For over a century, the Atlanteans and the Wraith warred with each other.

While the Atlanteans had technological superiority, the Wraith were too many. Desperate, they turned to extreme measures, such as Project Arcturus, an attempt to extract Zero Point energy from their own universe, and created the Asurans, nanites designed to destroy the Wraith from within. Both attempts failed, with disasterous consequences.

Seeing no way to win the war, the remaining Ancients submerged Atlantis and returned via Stargate to Earth.

End of the Ancients
Upon arriving at Earth, they quickly realized that there was no hope of rebuilding their society, as Earth was too harsh and the Humans too primitive. Some chose to go to other worlds, others secluded themselves in meditation and ascended, and others chose to join the native humans, where they reintegrated back into human society. This is how several humans, such as Jack O'Neill and John Sheppard have "the Ancient gene" required to use Ancient technology.

The Ancients that left Earth were later part of the Alliance of Four Great Races, with the Asgard, the Furlings, and the Nox.

Physiology
"In fact, they were first. We're the second evolution of their kind."

- Carson Beckett

Over the millions of years of their existence, the Ancients gradually evolved to become more advanced than standard humans. The neurological makeup of the Ancients was higher than the average human. As their brains further evolved, their intelligence increased, allowing them to develop the most advanced technology encountered thus far. They also developed more advanced abilities, such as healing powers, telekinesis, and possibly telepathy or precognition.

Within their genetic makeup was a particular gene, the so-called Ancient Technology Activation Gene, used to interact with and activate some of their more advanced technology. It is still unknown if the gene was naturally occuring within the Ancients physiology, or if it was the result of genetic manipulation.

Philosophy
"If we interfere, we are no better than the Ori."

- Ganos Lal

The Ancients have fierce belief in free will, as well as rules of non-interference. The highest law of the Ascended Ancients is the following:


 * "Do not accelerate the natural ascension process of those beneath."

To accelerate the natural ascension of any living being is a high crime among their people, and the Others, those who follow their rules of non-interference, have taken harsh measures against those that break. Oma Desala was an outcast for her efforts in helping others to ascend, and she was forced to watch Anubis use his knowledge to conquer the Milky Way. Orlin was also outcast when he used his powers to help the people of Velona to construct a weapon to protect themselves, but then intended to use the weapon against other races. Similarly, Chaya Sar was sentenced to protect only the people of Proculus when she destroyed a Wraith fleet over the planet.

There is a real, physical transfer of energy to the Ori that occurs through a human being's belief in them. For it to have a measurable effect, it requires massive numbers of humans relinquishing their will. This is one of the main reasons the Anceints have so strongly believed in strict non-interference in the lower planes, because the temptation to manipulate and align lower life forms in some order for your own purposes could result in this type of abusive corruption, as they see it. While this has lead to what might be considered draconian or cruel punishments to those who violate this rule, it stems from their belief in free will, and that to use their powers in such a way would make them no better than the Ori.

Architecture
The architecture of the Alterans varied greatly during their time in the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies.

Despite being an advanced, industrialized society, the Ancients seem to have a preference for stone structures in the Milky Way galaxies. They were also two instances of a large monument of an enthroned figure housing advanced technology, such as the repository of knowledge and the Dakara Superweapon. Even their technology appeared stone like. The Stargates had their symbols engraved on them, and spinned when dialing. They were also known for writting information on stone tablets.

In the Pegasus galaxy, the Atlanteans built structures of metal, and they were quite large. The centerpiece of their society, Atlantis, was a massive city-ship, capable of flight. They built other city-ships, but most were destroyed during the war with the Wraith. The Ancients technology also looked more advanced, appearing to be made of metal and digitalized. The symbols on the Stargates were digitalized instead of engraved. They also kept their archives in their computers

Known Ancients

 * Ayiana
 * Chaya Sar
 * Hippoforalcus
 * Janus
 * Melia
 * Moros/Merlin
 * Ganos Lal/Morgan Le Fay
 * Oma Desala
 * Orlin

Known outposts

 * Lantea Atlantus
 * Doranda outpost
 * Proclarush Taonas
 * Taranis outpost
 * Terra Atlantus

Culture

 * Language
 * Technology
 * Their origin