Hey, Ancient Egyptian might not have an every day use on Earth, but it's useful to know when you have a "God" menacing you. Understanding in the first place that Ra wasn't actually commenting on how you've accumulated sand everywhere, including places you didn't know you had, that he was instead actually threatening to stamp your life out of all known history was a good starting application for a dead language.
"I... have no idea," Daniel said, fascinated, as he stared at the door. Howard might be onto something about the rain. "Maybe rainfall was more common back in the day. We'd need to take some soil samples. I've never seen anything like this door though." Not his idea of a good time either. He liked digging in the dirt, which wasn't quite the same as analyzing the dirt for traces of water. Daniel tilted his head, inspected the writing, and then the line of characters and creatures in procession above. The characters were in low-relief within a sunken outline, lit by their lights and shadows cast by the edges. The beings were tall, just like he thought, and he'd been kind of right about how they looked. Part Avian at least, but also part porcupine. Elegant faces. He studied each character, taking note of what they wore, what each carried, how they interacted with each other.
Seemed like a warrior-priest-scholar society. Usually he'd seen priest and scholar rolled into one, but this society had them divided, and all marching equally, with servants and lower tiers all around. Daniel looked from the door to the drain.
"I think the point of the exercise is to get equal amounts of water into these three drains," maybe to emphasize how the three top tiers of this society were equal, necessary to each other, compliments, despite their differences. The other drains were unmarked. "That is if they represent what I think they do."
Daniel flicked another switch. More water flowed, reluctantly at first, into another of the marked drains. He watched as some water from the first seemed to flow out. The door turned a faint green-pink under the black sheen.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B
"I... have no idea," Daniel said, fascinated, as he stared at the door. Howard might be onto something about the rain. "Maybe rainfall was more common back in the day. We'd need to take some soil samples. I've never seen anything like this door though." Not his idea of a good time either. He liked digging in the dirt, which wasn't quite the same as analyzing the dirt for traces of water. Daniel tilted his head, inspected the writing, and then the line of characters and creatures in procession above. The characters were in low-relief within a sunken outline, lit by their lights and shadows cast by the edges. The beings were tall, just like he thought, and he'd been kind of right about how they looked. Part Avian at least, but also part porcupine. Elegant faces. He studied each character, taking note of what they wore, what each carried, how they interacted with each other.
Seemed like a warrior-priest-scholar society. Usually he'd seen priest and scholar rolled into one, but this society had them divided, and all marching equally, with servants and lower tiers all around. Daniel looked from the door to the drain.
"I think the point of the exercise is to get equal amounts of water into these three drains," maybe to emphasize how the three top tiers of this society were equal, necessary to each other, compliments, despite their differences. The other drains were unmarked. "That is if they represent what I think they do."
Daniel flicked another switch. More water flowed, reluctantly at first, into another of the marked drains. He watched as some water from the first seemed to flow out. The door turned a faint green-pink under the black sheen.