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The oldest original synagogue building in the Diaspora: the Delos synagogue reconsidered
Hesperia, Fall, 2004 by Monika Trumper
FIFTH PHASE: SUBDIVISION OF THE HALL
The last appreciable alteration of the still fully usable building was the division of the large hall into two rooms by means of the large granite-gneiss-marble wall (Fig. 39). The consequences of this measure have already been discussed, but it should be emphasized again that the differentiation of the space did not necessarily provide two rooms that could be used entirely separately with the mere closing of the connecting doors. After the doorway between the west portico and room A had been blocked--either at the same time as the installation of the dividing wall or at some later date--room A was accessible only from room B. The two rooms would have formed a kind of interconnected room-suite, with B as a better-lighted large vestibule or front room and A as a darker, more secluded back room.
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[FIGURE 39 OMITTED]
Such a layout suggests a clear hierarchy of use that is further supported by the presence of the marble throne in room A. Since the furnishing of the two rooms seems to have been identical, with the only apparent exception being the marble throne, the activities performed in these rooms cannot have differed considerably. Even if it cannot be ruled out that the visible furniture was introduced in one of the previous phases of use, it is evident that part of the furniture consisted of reused material and that not all of it was carved specially for this building--including the marble throne, which is likely to have originally been set up in the theater.
This conclusion is supported by historical circumstance: although all phases after 88 B.C. (third through fifth) could have followed shortly one after the other, the fifth phase can quite safely be assigned to the period after 69 B.C. (or to a much later date), when heavy reuse of marble elements was normal in Delos. It would be interesting to know when the owners of GD 80 obtained permission or could simply remove the furniture of such a prominent public building as the theater; in any case, they put considerable effort into transferring this throne from its original location, in the Quartier du theatre south of the city center, to their edifice on the eastern coast, presumably because they had designated it for a special purpose.
The remaining materials that have been found in this building, such as votives, a sundial, basins, lamps, and other finds, could have been used in the last phase. Yet some objects date from the end of the second century B.C. through the first century B.C., and therefore might have been used in previous phases or transferred from elsewhere and reused.
SIXTH PHASE: REUSE OF THE BUILDING
Some constructions, such as foundations b and c in courtyard C and the "late" walls crossing the north and south porticoes at their west ends, could have been effected before the abandonment of the building and, presumably, would have altered the nature and use of the courtyard. For example, the north and south porticoes were blocked and an installation was constructed within courtyard C that abutted the west stylobate. Alternatively, some of these walls may have been erected in association with the installation of the lime kiln in room A, which was certainly added after the abandonment and partial decline of the building. Hereafter, this last, heterogeneous, phase will not be taken into account.
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