Zen Koans Religion ~ CHINA and JAPAN ~ (From the Sanskrit dhyana meaning "meditation") This school of thought began in the 6th century in China as Ch’an, a form of Mahayana Buddhism. Even though Zen was introduced centuries earlier in Japan, it did not fully develop there until the 12th century. "Zen teaches that the Buddha-nature, or potential to achieve enlightenment, is inherent in everyone but lies dormant because of ignorance (Britannica.com)." Special thanks to Quercus Wislizenii, who has told me that Daniel did actually say Zen cones (instead of "poems," as I had originally thought), but it is spelled "koans" which are paradoxical statements such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Learn more: Zen Koans - AshidaKim.com. The Show (Stargåte SG-1) ~ Daniel says: "Jack, he’s speaking in the Zen Koans. Whatever theology he follows may be an original basis for Buddhism on Earth." Monk is the keeper of the temple on the planet Kheb. At the end of the episode, we learn that Monk is really the same kind of alien as Oma Desala (320 – Maternal Instinct).

Ziggurat History/Architecture ~ ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA (modern Iraq) ~ A ziggurat is similar in shape to the Step Pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser at Saqqara, Egypt (See Imhotep). They were built in Mesopotamia (Greek: “The Land Between the Two Rivers”) from circa 2200 to 500 BC. They were square or rectangular in shape, built with core stones made of mud brick, and were then covered with casing stones made of baked bricks and held together with bitumen. There were no internal chambers. The ziggurats main functions were to be platforms; the temples/shrines were placed on the top. They had two average base sizes: 125 x 170 feet and 170 feet square. There are 25-estimated known. The tallest one is Chogha Zanbil (built in c. 1250 BC) in the ancient Elamite city of Dur Untashi (also Dur Untash) in Iran (335 ft) and the best preserved is at the city of Ur (mod. Tell al-Muqayyar). Learn more about ziggurats at: Encyclopedia of the Orient: Ziggurat and Iran Photo Album: The ziggurat at Choga Zanbil. The Show (Stargåte SG-1) ~ The ziggurat on P2X-338 was a temple for Marduk. It is over 4000 years old. In order to enter the ziggurat Daniel reads the Babylonian creation myth, which is written on the door in cuneiform. Parts of the story are out of sequence and in order to open the door, Daniel pressed those panels. The ziggurat ultimately became Marduk’s tomb (508 – The Tomb).

Zipacna Myth ~ ANCIENT MESOAMERICA (Modern Mexico) ~ In Mayan mythology, he was the Crocodile Giant. He is the son of Gukup (also Vukup) Cakix, the giant who pretended to be the sun and the moon and brother of the Earthquake God, Caprakan. His mother is the goddess Chimalmat. They were the four primeval giants of the Popol Vuh (translation: "The Book of the Written Leaves"), which is the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life. Zipacna was responsible for creating the star cluster called the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus. For the further information on the myth, go here: CHAPTER V: Myths of the Maya, The Pleiades (the Mayan version is at the bottom of the page), The Popol Vuh The Sacred Book of the Mayas, and for information on the star cluster go here: APOD: 2000 February 27 - The Pleiades Star Cluster. The Show (Stargåte SG-1) ~ A Goa’uld System Lord and loyal servant of Apophis. He served as archon for Klorel during the Triad, while distracting the Tollan’s, attention from the Goa’uld mother ships that were approaching the planet (315 – Pretense). He is working for Anubis and enlists Osiris to help her "old friend." He tells her about the Tok-ra’s poison gas and how he is planning to use it to kill all the Tok-ra on Revanna (515 – Summit). A vast majority of his Jaffa forces were killed by the Tok-ra’s poison gas released by Lt. Elliot/Lantash (516 – Last Stand).

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