"The Ancients alphabet is the written language of the Ancients (Anquietas), a race of highly advanced 'ancient' Humans who evolved in this galaxy millions of years ago. The original version of the Ancients font was first seen in the SG-1 episode "Torment of Tantalus" and was conceptualized by Ivana Vasak. The heavy, block style was inspired by a font used on a 1940s Czech propaganda poster, and the Ancients font was eventually refined and alphabetized by Boyd Godfrey for the pilot episode of Stargate Atlantis. Much of the Ancients text seen on the show contains 'in-jokes' not meant to be read by the viewers." http://omniglot.com/writing/ancients.htm