Tablet 2: Cambodian

Prophecy (image property of the WB; see www.aol.com/smallville)

Interpretation

First, note the symbols across the center of the tablet. There is a parallelogram on the left side; KSite's Eh,Man?You-El? suggests it represents the Phantom Zone. Next, there is a side view of the spaceship releasing a human-shaped being-- definitely an allusion to Braniac forming from the ship's metal. Finally, there's the Zod insignia, first seen on the lower back of invading female Kryptonian Aethyr in Season 5's premiere, "Crusade" and also etched into the floor by a Kryptonian knowledge-infused Lionel Luthor. What do these symbols seem to indicate? Brainiac is the one who has the power to release Zod from the Phantom Zone...

Second, note the symbols surrounding the main pictograms. KSite's SVfan was the first to point out the symbols are Khmer numbers and translate as follows (image courtesy of KSite's SOnMyChest):

These are the exact same numbers that appear on the Mayan tablet. There are 27 numbers on each tablet, and, as some on KryptonSite have pointed out, the infamous 28476 = 2 + 8 + 4 + 7 + 6 = 27.

Let me preface the calculations below by saying so many people on KSite were involved in cracking the code that I am afraid to attempt to list everyone because I fear leaving someone out. Please visit the Ezra Small Prophecies thread or the Project Mercury thread over at KryptonSite to see everyone's contributions for yourself.

The key to making sense of the numbers on this tablet is the set of numbers given to us in Part XI of the Hidden Prophecy-- consider this set the key. In the table below, the key is on the left, and the Cambodian tablet numbers are on the right.

Each number can be split into two parts: the "tens" digit and the "ones" digit (e.g., in 28, the tens digit is 2 and the ones digit is 8). Instead of just subtracting the key number from its corresponding Cambodian tablet number, subtract the tens digit of the key number from the tens digit of the Cambodian number, then do the same for the ones digit. If either difference is negative, add 10 to that value. Seems a little confusing? An example:

Key number: 84, Cambodian number: 93

Subtract the tens digit of the key from the tens digit of the Cambodian number: 9 - 8 = 1

Subtract the ones digit of the key from the ones digit of the Cambodian number: 3 - 4 = -1

The difference in the ones digits is negative, so add 10: -1 + 10 = 9

Final result: 19

Perform these operations on all the numbers of the tablet to achieve the following results:

16	15	23	05	18
20	15	16	15	23
05	18	03	01	14
02	05	20	08	05
15	14	12	25	23
01	25

Finally, use the tried-and-true substitution method of 01 = A, 02 = B, 03 = C, etc. to discover...

P	O	W	E	R
T	O	P	O	W
E	R	C	A	N
B	E	T	H	E
O	N	L	Y	W
A	Y

Power to power can be the only way.

Project Mercury revealed Dr. Milton Fine has been lurking around power plants... What can he be up to?

On a side note, JP Miller found a Cambodian legend that might be appropriate in linking Krypton with the Cambodian temple from which the above rubbing was taken. The myth of Angkor Wat is as follows:

In the year 544 of the Buddhist era, year of the Monkey, Nhek Vong and Neang Teav, a couple of plebeian ancestry with divine merits, ascended to the throne of the kingdom. The king took the name Preah Bat Samdech Tevavong Aschar, which means Magnificent Monarch of Divine Descent. He reigned from the royal palace of Mohanokor, or Grand City. Because of the great merits and power of its sovereigns, the country lived in peace and no enemies dared attack the kingdom.

When the royal couple remained childless, the king ordered the queen to observe the Buddhist precepts to obtain a child. After 7 days of observance, the queen dreamed that Lord Indra, the supreme ruler of the Gods, descended from the heaven, touched her abdomen and offered her a garland of flowers. The king consulted a diviner to explain the dream, and the diviner predicted, "The queen will receive a son of such might that he will conquer all his enemies."

Soon thereafter, the queen became pregnant, and nine months later, a son of astonishing beauty was born. In his previous life, he was the son of Lord Indra himself. Lord Indra had sent him to be reincarnated as a human being to protect the Buddhist religion and take care of the kingdom in glory, prosperity, and peace. The king gave his son the name Ketomealea, or Shining Garland of Flowers.

When Ketomealea reached the age of six, Lord Indra sent the deity Meatoley with his golden chariot Pichayon to Earth to bring Ketomealea to the heaven of the thirty-three gods on top of the sacred mountain Sumeru. King Teavong-Aschar and queen were very worried about the disappearance of their son the next morning. They immediately summoned a diviner to perform magic calculations. The diviner prophesied, "To regain your son, the only requirement is that the people, the mandarins, the Brahmans in the entire country observe the Buddhist precepts during seven days. Then you will find your child back in the palace." The king ordered the entire Cambodian people to observe all Buddhist precepts during seven days to obtain the return of his son. The entire Cambodian population abided by these instructions.

Lord Indra instructed Ketomealea in the ten royal duties and bathed him seven times per day in the magic water in a perfumed pond in his garden during these seven days. He then called upon Brahman diviners to chant magic spells and sprinkle blissful water ensuring Ketomealea a life of more than 100 years. After these rituals, Lord Indra sent Ketomealea to survey his celestial palaces with the chariot Pichayon and admire them in all their beauty. When Ketomealea had admired the fantastic palaces, Lord Indra probed for Ketomealea's liking of all this splendour.

"Did you like these palaces?" asked Lord Indra.

"Your palaces are marvelous," Ketomealea replied.

"I will give you the Kingdom of Cambodia to rule with wisdom," Lord Indra, the supreme sovereign of gods, promised Ketomealea. "If one of the palaces you have seen is to your liking, I will have one built of the same beauty in Cambodia. I will immediately send an architect to build you one."

Ketomealea feared Indra's wrath if he asked for a palace as beautiful as one of Lord Indra's. "I would like a palace as beautiful as your stables," the young prince replied, impressed even by the magnificence of the divine stables.

Lord Indra then called Pisnouka, the celestial artist and architect. Pisnouka was the son of the celestial Apsara Tip-Choda-Chan, divine daughter of the moon and of the aged Lim Seng. His mother had sent him in heaven to a god who was master in fine arts and architecture for study. "You are from human descent, therefore you cannot stay in heaven forever," Lord Indra told Pisnouka. "I will send you to Cambodia, where you will build a palace for my son, as beautiful as my stables. When you complete its construction, I will descend from heaven to preside over the coronation ceremony of my son to enthrone him."

Meatoley brought Ketomealea back to Cambodia. King Tevavong Aschar and the queen were delighted with the return of their son, seven days after his disappearance. They praised the merits of the population who had followed the Buddhist precepts during seven days. Pisnouka started the construction of the palace of Angkor Wat, and when he completed it, he created all bas-reliefs in appropriate colors so that the palace resembled the stables of the palace of Lord Indra. Ketomealea was very satisfied with Pisnouka's skills and requested him to build many others, equally decorated with superb bas-reliefs.

Lord Indra came down from heaven in the company of numerous other deities for the coronation ceremony of his son and gave him the name Arittha Polapea Hano, Mighty Destructor of Enemies. It was also then that Lord Indra gave the name Kampuchea to the Khmer country.