THE UNAS
An unusual study, the episode "The First Ones" could be seen as a discourse on developmental spirituality. For the race known as the Unas, they were once thought of as the first creatures the Goa'uld inhabited in their quest for universal dominance, and nothing is said about the Unas' society. That is, they were simply thought of as the muscle for the Goa'uld.
The episode "Thor's Hammer" demonstrates this idea, and "Demons" starts to interpret the notion of the Goa'uld as literal demons who possess human bodies, forcing their hosts to perform against God's will.
However, it wasn't until this latest episode that the Unas are developed by the writers into a culture. Even as Neanderthals, a rough equivalent of where they stand developmentally in an evolutionary scale, "The First Ones" suggests how their culture has evolved without the Goa'uld infestation.
Although writer and director Peter DeLuise mentioned that the latest episode was inspired by films like "Enemy Mine," "Robinson Crusoe" and "Iceman," there is another uncreditted, literary, source. Found chronicled in the "Pyramid Texts of the Fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt," there was a pharoah bearing the same name, Unas. Intentional or not, there are some striking parallels in the episode to the mythical legend.
Summarized, the story goes as such: King Unas has died. The cosmos shake when he arrives in the heavens. While there, he immediately begins to hunt down the gods. Once they are captured, he proceeds to cook them and eat them like sacrificial cattle in order to absorb their magic.1
When compared to the episode, the young Unas is also on a hunt, in a rite of passage, when he captures Daniel Jackson. Although the aboriginal Unas fear the Goa'uld, they are also considered food. This event occurs roughly midway into the episode, where Daniel and Chaka (the name of the Unas) are by the lake. A mid-sized larva leaps out of the water, and Chaka grabs it in mid-flight and kills it by snapping off its head.
Later, its disembodied parts are seen roasting over an open fire and eaten. Symbolically, the eating of the Goa'uld is reminiscent to the verse: Unas eats their magic and swallows their spirits [i.e. the magic]. Their great ones are for his morning meal, their middle-sized ones are for his evening meal, their little ones [the larva] are for his meal of the night.2
 Although the original purpose of this mythical text is lost to the dominant Crusoe theme in this episode, the original tale is that of how man needs the divine. As barbaric as the myth sounds, the eating of a god was one method of spiritual development in an ancient age.3 In this period of time, magic and religion was often intermixed in various cultures, and spells invoked by magicians, like the Egyptians, were often invoked to summon the god's power.4
For the text, its original purpose was to show how man could assimilate the wisdom and divine power of the gods by consuming it. In comparison to the episode, when the Unas is seen meditating, one has to wonder if he is chanting to acknowledge the 'spiritual' forces of the lake before Daniel tried to escape into it and bringing a 'god' out for Chaka to eat.
Even in the caves, the practice of worshipping the food captured is seen in the cave art. These pictographs not only represent the hunts that Chaka and other Unas succeeded in, but also shows a communion with the animal spirits that live out there. Although these animals are eaten, their spirit (i.e. magic), still remains in the belly of the hunter.
In the episode's final act, the alpha male (the pack leader) rises from the deepest reaches of the caves and accepts Jackson as a food sacrifice. When the rest of SG-1 arrive, Daniel tells them not to fire. He explains that although he was brought as a sacrifice, the young Unas's purpose has changed.
Daniel explains, "He's found something good for them" in the friendship he made. When considering that the young Unas has consumed a Goa'uld, normally feared and revered as a god, he now has the strength to overpower the alpha male and becomes the new leader of the pack. Also with this new knowledge, he attains language - something which he did very little of in the opening act. Here, the parallels are much closer. In the original text, Unas is the lord of food-offerings, who ties the cord, who prepares his own meal. Unas eats men and lives upon the gods, lord of carriers, sender of messages.5
Although Peter DeLuise says that this story is inspired from Robinson Crusoe and like films, the only like comparison can only be made in the relationship being developed between Daniel and Chaka, where Daniel represented Friday and Chaka, Crusoe. This reversal is important because Daniel is learning from Chaka by imitating his actions, much like Friday learning from Crusoe.
What "The First Ones" missed from the literary version is the faith Crusoe had in God, even though it waned at times. This lesson on spirituality is one theme usually explored in literary studies, and it seems to be overlooked in most cinematic studies of the 'survival' genre.
Kudos to the staff writers for preserving the literary aspect in this episode and preserving the Egyptian legend.
FOOTNOTES
1. Shorter, Alan. The Egyptian Gods: A Handbook, 96-99.
2. Ibid.
3. Budge, E.A. The Gods of the Egyptians, 40.
4. Frazer, James. The Golden Bough (Wordsworth Reference), 52.
5. Shorter, Alan. The Egyptian Gods: A Handbook, 98.
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