Leading Saudi Scientists Say Earth "Probably Less Flat" than Once Believed, Possibly Toroidal

Check out this interesting translation from a 16th-Century Babylonian manuscript. The ancient text chronicles the journey of a Lebanese fortuneteller named Ali Sibat, who was something of a celebrity in his day:

[W]hile on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia last year, Sibat was spotted by religious police in the holy city of Medina. Their job it is to battle vice and uphold virtue in the ultraconservative kingdom. So they arrested Sibat in his room at the Medina Hotel on charges of sorcery.

...Sibat was given a death sentence by a Mecca court for allegedly practicing witchcraft.

Sibat’s fate is common in Saudi Arabia.

Scores of alleged witch doctors, fortunetellers, and black magicians each year are dragged through the Saudi courts, including Fawza Falih, who’s been on death row since 2006 for witchcraft.

Wait a tick. Did that last line say Falih has been on death row since 2006? As in Anno Domini?

Indeed it did. Because -- believe it or not -- the whole passage is actually from a 2009 Los Angeles Times piece about contemporary human beings and a 21st-Century state that still murders its citizens on suspicion of devilry. So what constitutes evidence of buddying up to Beelzebub? Bilingualism, apparently:

Take the case of Muhammad Burhan, who carried a phone booklet with writings in the Tigrinya alphabet from his native Eritrea. Perhaps it was his way of protecting himself against the evil forces out there. Maybe it was his lucky charm for a little extra success in his love life or in business.

But the booklet convinced Saudi authorities that Burhan was a black magician and charged him with "charlatanry," for which he was lashed 300 times and sentenced to 20 months behind bars. He was then deported after having served more than double the prison term he was sentenced to, according to Human Rights Watch.

As I've pointed out before, Saudi Arabia is still considered among the least-free places on Earth. Evidently, their goal is to move up that list, rather than off of it.