Note 159 — Chapter VIII · THE ÆSCULAPIAN STAFF AND SERPENT.
Reading edition
Ὀμφαλός means navel. Umbilicus was derived from it. The Jews regarded Jerusalem as the navel of the earth (see Ezekiel, v, 5), and also every other people has flattered itself as having it within its possessions. (See chap. iv of Rev. Dr. William F. Warren’s Paradise Found. Sixth edition. Boston, 1885.)