A baetyl (/ˈbiːtɪl/; also betyl), literally "house of god" is a sacred stone (sometimes believed to be a meteorite) that was venerated and thought to house a god or deity.[1] The most famous example is the Omphalos stored in the Temple of Apollo at the Greek town of Delphi.[2]

The term baetyl was used in ancient near eastern sources, in the form of "beth-el", as well as in Greek and Roman sources, as a baitylos. In the former, the term was used to refer to the names of gods or places. Examples include Bethel, a location described in the Hebrew Bible, and the deity Bethel,[3] who was mentioned in texts like Esarhaddon's Treaty with Ba'al of Tyre and the Elephantine papyri. In the latter, the word was used to describe a round stone that had fallen from the sky (i.e. a meteorite).[4]