When a Roman juror took an oath, he held a stone in his hand and swore: “If I knowingly deceive, while he saves the city and citadel, may [the god] Jupiter cast me away from all that is good, as I do this stone. ” ​ — Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, by John McClintock and James Strong, Volume VII, page 260.
मिसाल के लिए, पुराने ज़माने में यूनानी लोग, आसमान की तरफ एक हाथ ऊपर उठाकर या वेदी को छूकर शपथ खाते थे ।