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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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As the precise function and use of early synagogues in the Diaspora and in Palestine remain the subject of much controversy, (7) treatment of the architecture and the development of GD 80 should be independent of the issues of its identification and function. Consequently, the first section of this article is limited to an examination of the architectural remains. On the basis of the materials, building techniques, and types of bonding used in the construction of the walls and rooms, (8) different complexes of walls can be identified, each of which distinguishes particular parts of the building.

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Whether these wall systems correspond to single phases, and whether the sequence of such phases can be established with any degree of certainty, is discussed in the second section, which is not limited to the reconstruction of the architectural development, but also includes reflections on the character of each phase and the possible function of the building at that time. In order to make clear to what extent my reconstruction of the history of the building differs from those previously published, these two sections are preceded by a short summary of the most important reconstructions to date, those submitted by Bruneau, White, and Binder. (9)

In the last major section, I address the question of when the building was first considered a synagogue and used as such--whether from the beginning or only in a later phase--and what criteria allow us to determine its function in the different phases. The value of the available information (from the architecture, equipment, comparanda from other synagogue buildings, and literary and epigraphic sources) is discussed briefly in this context. A short summary and suggestions for further research conclude the article.

PREVIOUS RECONSTRUCTIONS OF GD 80

In his first study of GD 80, Bruneau distinguished two phases, the second comprising only the division of the main hall into two rooms (A and B). (10) He submits that, in light of the fact that three inscribed statue bases and one block with a dedication and a graffito, all from the nearby gymnasium (GD 76), were integrated into the east wall of the main hall (A/B), the building could have been erected only after the destruction of the gymnasium by the troops of Mithridates VI in 88 B.C. From the beginning, it could have been conceived as a Jewish assembly hall.

This view is amended slightly in Bruneau's later article with the insertion of an intermediary phase consisting of the reconstruction of the east wall of rooms A and B with the reused material from the gymnasium. (11) Accordingly, the original building can be dated to the period before 88 B.C., that is, sometime in the second century B.C. Although clear evidence for its original function is conspicuous in its absence, the measures taken in the second phase, after 88 B.C., most probably corresponded with the structure's use as a synagogue, either refurbished or otherwise transformed from a predecessor of unknown nature into a Jewish building. The last discernible alteration of the architecture (the third phase, involving the division of the hall) could have been realized at any time until the end of the second century A.D., when GD 80 fell out of use.

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

Hesperia, Fall, 2004 by Monika Trumper

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