Repository of the Ancients
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Ancient's_Repository.jpg
In the Stargate science fiction universe, the Repository of the Ancients is a device that contains a library of the knowledge of the Ancients, the builders of the Stargate system.
The only part of the repository visible is the interface; whether there is a larger device behind it that supplies power or the actual information cannot be determined. The interface is a metallic circle, with a dark window in the middle. When activated, the device extrudes itself around the user's head, holding the head in place while the knowledge is transferred into their brain. The device seems to be able to detect whether the user carries a symbiote since the repository did not download information into Teal'c when he was veiwing the interface. Another possible reason for this is that the device only downloads if the user has the Gene of the Ancients which Jack O'Niell does.
The vast amount of knowledge the device transfers has a negative effect on species which cannot absorb all of the information; 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 the Replicators (New Order), it also caused his brain to slowly degrade, rendering him unable to speak any language apart from Ancient.
O'Neill while having the knowledge of the Ancients was also able to heal Bra'tac when he was serverly injured by one of Anubis's spies. However this healing process apeared if it took alot of energy out of Jack as he showed physical signs of exhaustion when he had finished healing Bra'tac. This shows that the device not only gives its users the knowledge of the Ancients but at least some of the Ancients abilities as well.
The Asgard have 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 can't handle it. When the Asgard connected O'Neill's brain to the computer on Thor's ship while it was still loaded with Ancient knowledge, however, he was able to design the aforementioned anti-Replicator weapon before the information in his brain killed him.
Only two repositories have been found (one of which has been destroyed and the other of which apparently ran out of power after its first upload), 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 can be found in Atlantis, though with a more conventional computer interface that doesn't directly upload information into the brain. As yet very little of this information has been sent back to Earth for study.