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The oldest original synagogue building in the Diaspora: the Delos synagogue reconsidered
Hesperia, Fall, 2004 by Monika Trumper
The marble spoil material was distributed with great care and consideration, in such a way that it formed a kind of stabilizing framework for the new wall. In addition, the wall was probably completely covered with stucco, which would have rendered the supposedly precious and prestigious reused marble material invisible. (110) Therefore, the intention in this phase was not to embellish the building (111) and increase its prestige, but merely to rebuild and carefully stabilize a wall that was probably destroyed or partly collapsed, perhaps as a consequence of the Mithridatic raids in 88 B.C. Nor did this measure alter the essential character and appearance of the building.
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Again, nothing can be said with any degree of certainty about the eastern area. The north-south colonnade may also have been erected during this phase, but, in contrast to the remodeling of the east wall, this clearly would have been a result of the desire to embellish the building and enhance its prestige, and the problems with this possibility have already been discussed with regard to the first and second phases. Additionally, since the stuccoed exterior northeast corner of room A is attributed to this third phase, the reconstruction of a wall bounding the west portico at the north (Fig. 34:b-d) certainly must be excluded. (112)
FOURTH PHASE: EXTENSION TO THE EAST
The chronological sequence of the wall systems again offers two alternatives, because both the granite wall system and the huge granite-gneiss-marble wall that divides hall A/B into two separate rooms were built after the marble spoil wall had been completed. The remarkable difference between them speaks against a contemporaneous realization of the two, but there is little evidence for giving primacy to either one. The granite wall system is chosen here because the similar furnishing of A, B, and C with benches is dependent on, and therefore subsequent to, the bisection of hall A/B, and presupposes the existence of courtyard C in its visible form (Fig. 38:a-c). (113)
This phase involved minor changes in the south, conceivably as part of the renovation of the south and east walls of the D-complex that was presumably motivated by a partial collapse of the respective walls or rooms. The principal result of the measures taken in this phase was, however, an enlargement of the building to the east. This comprised either the complete installation of a pi-shaped portico or a three-winged peristyle, or the transformation of a preexisting north-south colonnade into a pi-shaped portico or a three-winged peristyle. Since at present it seems most likely that the tripartite structure was not closed by an east wall but opened onto the sea, allowing free access to, and a view toward, the building, it must have served as a monumental, grand facade and thus certainly increased the building's prestige.
Despite this considerable change in appearance, the general function and character of the building were not fundamentally altered. The large hall and the southern room complex still could have been used as they had been in the previous three phases. In addition, numerous activities could have taken place within the porticoes, such as shaded promenades, the gathering of small assemblies, outdoor relaxation (possibly with a view of the sea), the setting up of votives and basins, and washing. Whereas the terrain north of GD 80 was certainly built up and still in use in this phase, the entrance in the new south wall of the courtyard suggests that there were no neighbors immediately to the south.
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