Ostracon

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.

[[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.]]

ancient Egyptian village in the Valley of the Kings

collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts

canaanite inscriptions on clay sherds

hebrew-inscribed ostraca found in Samaria, the capital of ancient Israel

collection of more than 100 inscribed pottery shards

ancient Hebrew inscription