Exploring Greece, Israel, and Jordan— Part Thirty Five

The instruments of democracy should be the title of this post. First, notice this decree from the golden age of Greece about getting rid of tyrants who try to destroy or rig a democracy (the relevance to today in various places in the world should be noted). Read the decree closely. There was a way to get rid of a tyrannical official or ruler, namely take a vote to banish him on the spot. This is where the word ‘ostracism’ comes for the voting involved inscribing on a piece of pottery, an ostraka, the name of the person you wished to have banished…. and here are many examples of such ostraka….

But how did one get elected to the demos, or democratic assembly in the first place? By a vote of course. Here is an ancient voting machine of sorts…. Into those slots one inserted official bronze ballots….

Here we see clay tokens with seals on them, used as passports of a sort by the military……

I’ll let you figure out what this is…. Give up? It’s an ancient child’s porto-potty.

Here is an ancient decorated bronze shield from Sparta taken in battle….

Here is a bust of a priest of Isis, noting the distinctive headgear…. which dates to just before Paul’s day Consider what Paul says about men and headcoverings in 1 Cor. 11.

Here is a decorated burial urn for ashes…..

And here is a fancy perfume bottle……

Orange you glad our athletes don’t dress like that….