NO ONE GETS AS CREATIVE as a burglar on a mission to rob without getting caught. Newspapers and televisions are an archive of interesting techniques employed by the genius-yet-criminal minds of thieves. Reaching back even further, burglars in 12th-century Persia found an unlikely accomplice in the form of a tortoise. The four-legged reptile had rather one of the most important tasks in the robbery—giving the green light to commence the theft.
For these lawless masterminds, a group known as the Banū Sāsān, the tortoise played a crucial role. Once the doors of the targeted home were forcibly opened, a tortoise with a candle on its back was the first to enter the house.
