Omphalos of Delphi
DatedEst. 3000 BCE–900 CE
Photo Odysses · CC BY-SA 3.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Omphalos of Delphi is an ancient marble monument found at the archaeological site of Delphi, Greece. In Greek myth, Delphi was considered the centre of the world, and the omphalos was the original stone marking it, the name meaning navel of the Earth.
A version of the omphalos once used in the temple is held in Delphi Archaeological Museum, and a simplified copy stands at the site where it was found.
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Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Omphalos of Delphi
Pausanias, who travelled to the area of Delphi in the 2nd century AD, provides rare evidence.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Omphalos of DelphiCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Omphalos of DelphiCC BY-SA 4.0
The marble-carved stone of the omphalos, in the monument with the tripod and the dancers, troubled the excavators, who could not decide whether it was the original or a copy from Hellenistic and Roman times. Pausanias, who travelled to the area of Delphi in the 2nd century AD, provides rare evidence. The stone seems to have been decorated in high relief and to have had an oval shape. It is possible that in ancient times it was covered by a mesh of wool cloth and kept in the adyton (inner sanctum), beside the tripod and the daphne (bay leaves), the other sacred symbols of the god.
As described by Pausanias, within the woolen cloth wound around the stone there were precious stones designed in the shape of a mermaid, and two gilded eagles were fixed on top of it.
Research historySources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Omphalos of DelphiCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Omphalos of DelphiCC BY-SA 4.0
Recent studies by French archaeologists have demonstrated that the omphalos and the columns are connected and interlocked. The stone navel was mounted on the bronze tripods supported by the three dancers at the top of the column. The Athenians offered this copy of the original stone to the god of light, combining both Delphic symbols in a gift from the hands of three priestess figures of Athenian origin.
FolkloreSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Omphalos of DelphiCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Omphalos of DelphiCC BY-SA 4.0
According to the Ancient Greek myths of the founding of the Delphic Oracle, Zeus tried to locate the centre of the Earth by launching two eagles from the two ends of the world. They started simultaneously and flew at equal speed, and their paths crossed above the area of Delphi, where Zeus placed the stone. Hesiod's telling of the myth in the Theogony says that Zeus set up for veneration at Mount Parnassus the same stone that his mother Rhea had given to his father Kronos to eat in his place, which had allowed Zeus to begin his reign.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Greek grave stelae
In ancient Greece a grave was often marked by a stele, a stone slab set above the burial. The Kerameikos steles are a collection used as grave markers in the Kerameikos necropolis of Attica, outside the Dipylon Gate of the city wall of Athens. They come in various shapes and designs, and depict images ranging from pottery to narrative scenes. They were often of marble or limestone, carved or sculpted to depict the person remembered, sometimes with relatives or slaves. The reliefs were meant to show the dead in their best light, using imagery that recognised bravery in battle, pathos or wealth. The monuments marked the graves of Athenian men, women and children.
The Grave Stele of Hegeso is among the most famous. The Grave Stele of Hegeso, most likely sculpted by Callimachus and found in the Kerameikos in 1870, is dated to about 410 to 400 BCE and is one of the finest Attic grave stelae to survive. Of Pentelic marble, 1.49 metres high and 0.92 metres wide, it is in the form of a naiskos, with pilasters and a pediment, and shows a seated woman in a chiton and himation resting her feet on a footstool and holding an open box. The original is in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, and a replica stands in the Kerameikos. Stelae of this kind are dated by style and inscription, so they are usually placed within a few decades.
Grave steles were used for funerary or commemorative purposes across the ancient world. The Atlas lists Greek and Cypriot stele sites, and many are classical or later.
When visiting, look at the relief figures and the names, and at the setting in the cemetery.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Kerameikos steles, Wikipedia: Grave Stele of Hegeso, Wikipedia: Ancient Greek funeral and burial practices, Wikipedia: Stele · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs
5 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 3000 BCE–900 CEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypological estimate, not a date for this site: a stele in Greece and the Aegean is normally dated between 3000 BCE and 900 CE (Atlas typological table).Source for this date
Measured facts
- Mainstream position
- The source identifies the Omphalos as an ancient marble monument found at the archaeological site of Delphi.Source: Mainstream position
- Material
- marbleSource: Material
- Find location
- archaeological site of Delphi, GreeceSource: Find location
- Museum version
- held in the Delphi Archaeological MuseumSource: Museum version
- Site version
- a simplified copy stands where the monument was foundSource: Site version
- Hesiod's identification
- the stone given by Rhea to KronosSource: Hesiod's identification
- Height
- 1.23 metreSource: Height
- Diameter
- 0.92 metreSource: Diameter
Alternative claims
Alternative claims about this site, kept in their own block and labelled with where they stand.
Zeus marked the place as the center of the Earth after two eagles, released from opposite ends of the world, crossed paths above Delphi.
The stone used in the temple was the same one Rhea gave to Kronos to eat in his place.
Where it stands
Greece
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 38°28′54″ N, 22°30′05″ EFor a GPS or map app: 38.48169, 22.50130
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q19726392wikidata.org
- 02Wikipedia (en)en.wikipedia.org
Image files
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Lore, kept apart
Legends and claims
These are stories and claims reported by the sources. They are not evidence, and they never stand in for the dating above.
- Tradition
The Omphalos of Delphi is an ancient marble monument that was found at the archaeological site of Delphi, Greece.
The Omphalos of Delphi is an ancient marble monument that was found at the archaeological site of Delphi, Greece. According to the Ancient Greek myths regarding the founding of the Delphic Oracle, the god Zeus, in his attempt to locate the center of the Earth, launched two eagles from the two ends of the world, and the eagles, starting simultaneously and flying at equal speed, crossed their paths above the area of Delphi, and so was the place where Zeus placed the stone. Since then, Delphi has been considered by Greeks to be the center of the world, as the site of the original omphalos – "navel of the Earth." Hesiod's telling of the myth in The Theogony says Zeus set up for veneration at Mount Parnassus the same stone given by his mother Rhea to his father Kronos to eat in his place, which had allowed Zeus to begin his reign. A version of the omphalos once used in the temple is held in Delphi Archaeological Museum; there is also a simplified copy at the site where it was found.
Source - Tested: not supported
Zeus marked the place as the center of the Earth after two eagles, released from opposite ends of the world, crossed paths above Delphi.
Source - Tested: not supported
The stone used in the temple was the same one Rhea gave to Kronos to eat in his place.
Source
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Omphalos of Delphi" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (English): Omphalos of DelphiCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q19726392CC0