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The oldest original synagogue building in the Diaspora: the Delos synagogue reconsidered
Hesperia, Fall, 2004 by Monika Trumper
Indeed, three arguments have been advanced for a specific Jewish or Samaritan choice of the location on the seashore: (1) the proximity of water for ritual ablutions; (2) the proximity of water for reasons of purity (worship near water ensures the necessary purity of the land); and (3) the marginalization of Jews and Samaritans in the society, which meant that a location far from the city center was required. (152) The third argument can be ruled out because there is no evidence for an intentional official separation of the Jews or Samaritans within Delian society, or for a restriction of Jewish and Samaritan rights before the 40s B.C.; (153) moreover, the structure's integration into an insula within a larger urban plan might have been intended from the beginning, even if it was realized only subsequently. But the first two arguments could well have induced a Jewish or Samaritan group to build its synagogue in this place, which, in addition, was probably much quieter than the commerce-oriented western shore and in an "idol-free" quarter with no pagan sanctuaries. (154)
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The preceding analysis of GD 80 has shown that it was, in all probability, a synagogue from the time of its construction in the second century B.C. until its abandonment at the end of the second century A.D. But three questions remain: (1) Can a comparison with the structure and function of other, safely identified synagogues further strengthen this theory? (2) To what extent are the surviving fittings specifically Jewish or Samaritan? (3) Does the archaeological evidence, that is, the construction history of the building, correspond to the history of the Jews and Samaritans in Delos as understood from the literary sources?
COMPARISON WITH THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF OTHER SYNAGOGUES
Since the synagogue of Delos has always been regarded as the oldest known example of a synagogue, no precedents or precise models can be cited or compared with it. The shift of the date of its original construction from the first century B.C. to the second now distances it even further than before from other examples. (155) To further complicate matters, the existence and the function of synagogue buildings before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 have remained the subjects of controversy in recent scholarship. (156)
A consensus has finally emerged, however, that synagogues certainly did exist before A.D. 70 in Palestine and the Diaspora, and that they were multifunctional, serving both sacred and profane needs. They accommodated all the different aspects of Jewish communal life--political, liturgical, social, educational, judicial, and spiritual--within their walls. Consequently, the buildings were used for various activities, such as ritual washing; the teaching and study of scripture, especially the communal reading of the Torah and the expounding upon and study of it; corporate prayer and worship; customary feasts and communal dining; storage of sacred funds and writings; the exhibition of votive offerings and dedicatory and honorific inscriptions; archiving legal transactions and decrees; court proceedings; meetings addressing community needs; and housing guests. (157)
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