Markup View

Author: Sackett

Mar 4th 2012 at 5:20:49 PM

* Famous examples of this are from the Bible, in reference to the kings of the Medes and the Persians.  The Medes and Persians had a law that if the king's ring was used to seal a proclamation then it could not be undone, not even if the king changed his mind.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_and_the_Lion%27s_Den Daniel and the Lion's Den]] is probably the most famous.  King Darius made a decree that anyone who prayed to a God other than him for a period of a week would be fed to the lions- and sealed it with his ring.  Daniel continued to pray, and despite Daniel being the King's favorite, and the King not wanting to go through with it, Daniel was still thrown to the lions.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Esther Esther]] is another example.  The Persian King gave Haman his ring, which Haman used to seal an order authorizing on a certain date the murder of all the Jews and the seizure of their property by the killers.  When the King discovered Haman's plot he had Haman executed, but could not undo the order.  So he wrote out a new order allowing the Jews to kill anyone who attacked on that date.  The Jews then slaughtered their enemies who attacked them.