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The oldest original synagogue building in the Diaspora: the Delos synagogue reconsidered

Hesperia, Fall, 2004 by Monika Trumper

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In the space within the colonnades, no pavement has survived and it is likely that it never existed (Fig. 2). Since a waterproof pavement with drain may be considered standard equipment for courtyards of even very modest houses, (93) its absence here requires explanation: (1) it is simply not preserved; (2) the modest construction of complex C could not include such an expense; (3) it was not necessary, because the open space bordered by the colonnades never functioned as a courtyard, but was freely accessible from a similarly unpaved path on the side adjacent to the sea, which would have allowed rainwater to be drained easily toward the sea; or (4) vegetation was planted in the space, forming a kind of garden. (94) None of these solutions requires a grand staircase with three steps leading from the courtyard into the west portico. (95) Although the original level of the space is unknown, it seems unlikely that the foundation (or even perhaps the euthynteria) of the stylobate was visible. Therefore, the lower step of the two-step stylobate was entirely sufficient if one wanted to enter the portico directly from the open space of C. (96)

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To sum up, together with the granite wall system, which defines courtyard C in its visible limits at the north, south, and southwest, a three-winged portico or peristyle was established within its confines (Figs. 3 and 38, 39, below). On the basis of an architectural analysis, restoration of the following elements is proposed: nine columns on the west with an axial spacing of 2.20-2.275 m; four or five columns each on the north and south with an axial spacing of 2.175-2.25 m (Fig. 32); and possibly plain marble columns of the Doric order with a bottom diameter of 0.60 m and a height of about 4.20 m.

The design of the east facade is unknown, but it involved either (1) a rather ambitious monumental exposure with a pi-shaped portico that opened onto the sea and framed an open, freely accessible space; or (2) a simple blind wall that concealed a three-winged peristyle within a closed courtyard. The pi-shaped portico or three-winged peristyle might have been built as part of a single construction project that included the integration of reused material, or perhaps it was merely an ornamental enlargement of the complex. In the latter case, the north and south colonnades would have been added to the existing west colonnade, which in turn would have to have been shortened in order to accommodate the new layout. The added colonnades could have been constructed using material of lower quality, in correspondence with the north, south, and southwest walls of courtyard C, and therefore might not have been preserved as well as the west colonnade.

REUSE OF THE BUILDING

A lime kiln was installed in room A in an unknown period (Figs. 2, 3). Its position in the middle of the room seems strange, but the room was probably already largely destroyed and filled with debris by the time the kiln was built. In fact, rubble might have served as support for the structure; lime kilns were ideally built into slopes "in order to take advantage of an efficient constant temperature and easy access to the lower part for the fire and to the upper part for loading and unloading." (97) If the doorway between room A and courtyard C, which was found blocked when excavated, had been blocked before the installation of the lime kiln, the latter must have been loaded and fired from room B. In any case, the kiln's position suggests that the building was a convenient source of marble that could be extracted from the building itself and the surrounding area. The fact that almost nothing is left of the colonnades clearly supports this suggestion.

The oldest original synagogue building in the Diaspora: the Delos synagogue reconsidered

Hesperia, Fall, 2004 by Monika Trumper

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