The inscription of the ''stuff'' the Engineer drinks

Looks a lot like Sumerian cuneiform - i wonder it says! 'Please use with caution - do not exceed the intended dosage'

May cause drowsiness or disintigration. Do not give to humans :P Seriously... to me it gives it a kind of ritual feeling.

Yes, very much like a cuneform tablet inscription. It's quite pretty, and I doubt that it really means that much. Pretty is probably good enough. Maybe the lower part represents a planet, with the sky above, and an Engineer with outstretched arms linking the two. Who knows.

It does resemble Sumerian, that is for sure. And it enhances the Ritualistic Feel to it as it is nothing from a production line, being something clearly hand crafted. Coming from a now spacefaring civilization, that screams Ritual Item. And it might be saying (how I would like that to be so...) some kind of High Tribunal Decision, making the one drinking it being punished by rebellious actions against their Masters, and now sentenced to dissolution by his own hands. XD One might have hopes for some salvation in all the mess...

Very cool & definitely ritualistic-looking! @Voidhawk - I agree & like the 'sentenced to die' aspect, too!

it does resemble cuneiform as does most of the other writing in the film (except for the more asian inscriptions on the vases themselves). i dont think it actually says anything though. Dr. Anil Biltoo came up with the spoken language of the engineers -and is the one seen giving David his lessons in Proto Indo European in the early parts of the film. the engineer spoken language is based on his reconstruction of that language but would not be considered true 100% PIE. it was designed to be an alien language that could have spawned early earth languages in the film. in the real world it is a widely accepted theory that all european languages come from PIE but there is no written evidence of the language itself... it is reconstructed from the languages supposed to come from it. There are other in depth articles on this posted by member Sukkal called something like "what david said to the engineer" and others which you might want to check out if you are interested in this. however, i am pretty certain i have read in numerous places (possibly in the art film book as well) that the set design artists designed all of the written language and did not have time to research it to the level of making it actually say anything, in other words its aesthetic random symbolism that is influenced by writing systems such as cuneiform but does not actually translate to anything. if anyone knows differently i would be interested to hear it but this is what i have found so far.

Why does this stuff react when exposed to the atmosphere? In the first scene when the engineer opens the container just after placing it on the rock, you hear a vacuum being released, then, upon removing the lid completely, it's clear the stuff reacts with the air. This happens again when the crew first encounter the vases in the sealed room with the large stone head. The flasks were in a sealed environment, but, upon breaking the seal in the room, David is scene staring at the top of a vase while the black goo is changing and reacting. What is the significance of that?

The actor who played the Sacrificial Engineer said that his purpose was a Ritual Sacrifice by drinking the substance within the Bowl, to then allow his Body to broken down and what ever it breaks down into to then become the first building blocks to Evolution on that Planet. He also said he had to learn a few words of Dialog most likely in a conversation with the Elder, and so i dont think he was punished in anyway for any wrong doing. I think the Engineers was created by the Elders or by another race to be used as a subservient race to perform many tasks, from Gardeners to Tera-Formers and Labour Force to even Military Soldiers, they may expendable to the greater Agenda of the Elders or who ever is Top Dog in their Hierarchy and so one being used as a Sacrifice well i think it fits in with their purpose.

Its like the big M you get on McDonnalds :P ...

I don't remember seeing the top of the Sacrificial lid in the movie,, so who is say what is the top..or bottom// To me it reminded me of the Pyramids and the tunnel leading to the Juggernaut..