Editing Tortoise (section)

===In religion===
{{See also|World Turtle}}In [[Hinduism]], [[Kurma]] ({{langx|sa|कुर्म}}) was the second [[Avatar]] of [[Vishnu]]. Like the [[Matsya]] [[Avatar]]a, Kurma also belongs to the [[Satya Yuga]]. Vishnu took the form of a half-man, half-tortoise, the lower half being a tortoise. He is normally shown as having four arms. He sat on the bottom of the [[ocean]] after the [[Deluge (mythology)|Great Flood]]. A [[mountain]] was placed on his back by the other [[deity|gods]] so they could churn the sea and find the ancient treasures of the [[Vedic period|Vedic]] peoples.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

In [[Judaism]], tortoises are seen as unclean animals.<ref>[https://www.stepbible.org/?q=version=ESV|reference=Lev.11&options=NVHUG Leviticus 11]</ref> [[Early Christianity|Early Christians]] also viewed tortoises as unclean.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thomas|first=Richard|title=TORTOISES AND THE EXOTIC ANIMAL TRADE IN BRITAIN FROM MEDIEVAL TO 'MODERN'|url=http://www.britishcheloniagroup.org.uk/sites/default/files/u8/v8n1thomas_wm.pdf|journal=Testudo|volume=8|via=British Chelonia Group site}}</ref>

In [[Chinese folk religion|Chinese]] and [[Japanese folk religion|Japanese]] folk religion, tortoises are considered [[oracular animal]]s. Tortoise shells were used by ancient Chinese as [[oracle bones]] to make predictions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raven |first=James |title=The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-19-870298-6 |edition=Illustrated}}</ref>

In Ancient Greek mythology, [[Hermes]] crafts the first [[lyre]] from a tortoise.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shelmerdine |first1=Susan C. |title=Hermes and the Tortoise: A Prelude to Cult |journal=[[Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies]] |date=1984-09-11 |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=201–208 |url=https://grbs.library.duke.edu/index.php/grbs/article/view/5481/5295 |access-date=11 November 2024}}</ref>