Image Details

Photo by O. Louis Mazzatenta

Omphalos bowls excavated at Gordion bring together two of the Phrygians’ passions: drinking wine and working bronze. Although it is difficult to see in this photo, the viewer is looking into the interior cavities of two bowls; at the bottom of each is a hollow, rounded nodule projecting slightly up into the cavity. For this reason the vessels are called “omphalos” (Greek for “belly-button”) bowls. The concave area on the bottom of each bowl’s exterior may have allowed the drinker to grasp the vessel more firmly while drinking.