Category
page 1Ostracon

ostracism
Ostracism (, ostrakismos) was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the citizen, ostracism was often used preemptively as a way of neutralizing someone thought to be a threat to the state or a potential tyrant. The word
ostracism continues to be used for various forms of shunning.

ostracon
[[Image:AGMA Ostrakon Cimon.jpg|right|thumb|Ostrakon inscribed with "Kimon [son] of Miltiades", for Cimon, an Athenian statesman.]]
thumb|Ostrakon of Megacles, son of Hippocrates (inscription: ΜΕΓΑΚΛΕΣ ΗΙΠΠΟΚΡΑΤΟΣ), 487 BC. On display in the Ancient Agora Museum in Athens, housed in the [[Stoa of Attalus]]
right|thumb|Ancient Greek ostraca voting for the ostracism|ostracization of [[Themistocles in 472/471 BC.]]

Deir el-Medina
ancient Egyptian village in the Valley of the Kings
Elephantine papyri
collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts
Lachish letters
canaanite inscriptions on clay sherds
Samaria Ostraca
hebrew-inscribed ostraca found in Samaria, the capital of ancient Israel
Arad ostraca
collection of more than 100 inscribed pottery shards
Yavne-Yam ostracon
ancient Hebrew inscription