Repository of the Ancients
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Image:Repository of Ancients.jpg In the Stargate science fiction universe, a Repository of the Ancients is a device that contains a library of the knowledge of the Ancients, the builders of the Stargate network.
The device
The repository has an interface that allows it to transfer knowledge directly into the mind of the user. It has only ever been seen to download all of the knowledge in it, and never only a portion, and it does this in a few seconds. Usually, this drains all of its power.
Image:Ancient's Repository.jpg Only the repository's interface is shown; it is suggested but left unclear whether there is a larger device behind it that holds the information and supplies the power (since SG-1 has considered taking a repository with them the total size of the equipment is probably not enormous). The interface is a metallic circle, with a dark window in the middle. When activated, the device extends to grip the user's head while the knowledge is transferred. The device downloads information only to certain beings; it did so to Jack O'Neill and not to Teal'c; it is likely that it requires the user to have the Ancient Technology Activation gene (ATA gene) but it could mean that the device is programmed not to download the knowledge into Jaffa, as Daniel Jackson said that he would download the knowledge, despite his lack of the ATA gene. This was, however prior to Carson Beckett's discovery of the ATA gene.
Only two repositories have ever been found (one of which has been destroyed and the other of which ran out of power after use), though there could conceivably be more. These repositories would be a valuable asset to anyone who discovered them due to the immense technological and scientific knowledge they contain.
Similar stores of Ancient information were found in Atlantis, though with a more conventional computer interface that doesn't directly upload information into the brain. As of yet very little of this information has been sent back to Earth for study.
The knowledge
The Ancients were the most advanced race ever in the galaxy, but during the later years of their era some of the Ancients Ascended to a higher plane of existence (in effect, disappeared), when they were afflicted by a huge plague that killed an untold amount of their population. Ever since, lesser races like the Goa'uld have tried to make use of the technology they left behind, and on many occasions, SG-1 of Earth use their technology to defend Earth, such as when Jack O'Neill used the Antarctica Ancient Outpost weapon to destroy Anubis' attack fleet ("Lost City (Part 2)").
Image:Repository Effect.jpg The vast amount of knowledge the device transfers can hurt a recipient whose brain is unable to absorb it. When Jack O'Neill used the device on two occasions, the information slowly took over his brain. While allowing him to build advanced technology, such as the power generator which allowed the Stargate to dial an eight-chevron address ("The Fifth Race") and a weapon capable of defeating any Replicators ("New Order (Part 1)"), it also caused his brain to slowly degrade over a few days, rendering him unable to speak any language apart from Ancient. This would have eventually lead to his mind being totally destroyed, (i.e. death). This was remedied by wiping his memory.
While possessing the Ancient knowledge, O'Neill was able to heal Bra'tac, who was severely injured by one of Anubis's spies, but it left him exhausted. This shows that when the device gave Jack O'Neill the knowledge of the Ancients, within that data was information on how the Ancients healed themselves. Whether it is a gift reserved for only those with the ATA gene or shared by all humans at some later stage is unknown.
The Asgard tried to transfer the data from the device into their own computer systems in order to try and learn from it; unfortunately, the amount of information is so vast that their systems couldn't handle it. However, when the Asgard connected O'Neill's brain to the computer on Thor's ship while it was still loaded with Ancient knowledge, he was able to design the aforementioned anti-Replicator weapon before the information in his brain would have killed him.