Mesad Hashavyahu Ostracon

A Hebrew petition found in a small coastal fort, written on behalf of an illiterate agricultural worker to the governor. He states that he completed his harvest quota, that an overseer named Hoshayahu seized his cloak, and that his fellow workers will testify for him. His plea rests on the Torah's requirement that a garment taken in pledge be returned before sundown. It is the only known instance of a specific biblical law being invoked in a real legal complaint by an ordinary person.