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The oldest original synagogue building in the Diaspora: the Delos synagogue reconsidered
Hesperia, Fall, 2004 by Monika Trumper
(18.) For the identification as a Samaritan rather than a Jewish synagogue, which is not relevant to the construction history, see below in detail, n. 123.
(19.) Bruneau 1970, pl. B: the pavement of marble chips described in the text and in Delos XXIX, p. 197, no. 134, is completely absent in room A and is only summarily shown in room B, with no indication of the extent to which it is actually preserved. Surprisingly, Bruneau does not interpret the most obvious facts of his excellent plan, such as walls abutting the stucco of neighboring walls; he assigns them all to a single phase.
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(20.) Because the reconstruction and function of area C cannot be determined with certainty, it is not possible to identify it clearly as a courtyard, an area with a colonnade or a pi-shaped entrance portico, or another feature (see below, pp. 542-554). It was certainly only partly covered and, thus, served as a light source for hall A/B and at least part of the D-complex, but for convenience it will hereafter be referred to as courtyard C, or the courtyard, or simply C.
(21.) This holds especially true for the exterior corners of buildings (see below). With regard to the conditions under which the walls on Delos were examined, and the criteria that were applied while examining them, see Trumper 1998, pp. 158-165.
(22.) Measurements do not include wall thicknesses.
(23.) See Delos XXIX, p. 197, no. 134; a patterned pavement could have provided some hints as to the use of the room, e.g., borders along the walls suggesting the placement of couches and therefore use as a dining room. For such a composition in a simple pavement of marble chips, see the Etablissement des Poseidoniastes de Berytos (GD 57), room E, in Delos VI, pp. 79-80, pl. I (and cf. Fig. 35, below). Unfortunately, it is nowhere stated whether the partition wall between rooms A and B is set on the marble chip floor; if it is set on the floor, the latter would clearly be assigned to the large undivided hall. According to Bruneau 1970, pl. C, the partition wall was neither set on the pavement nor equipped with a proper foundation; Bruneau (1970, pl. D) provides a detailed plan and elevation of this wall, but with no indication of the pavement.
Cleaning at some points along the bottom of the partition wall has shown that the wall was not set on the marble chip floor. Further, in both rooms the marble chip floor does not neatly abut the partition wall. On the contrary, there are quite large, irregular gaps (0.05-0.25 m) between the wall and the remnants of the marble chip floor (especially in the southwest corner of room A, the northwest corner of room B [Figs. 4, 5], and in front of all three doorways). The small gaps were filled with earth, the larger ones with stones. In and around the central doorway several marble and gneiss blocks are spread irregularly (cf. Bruneau 1970, pl. B), and although these blocks between the two sections of wall could have formed a kind of foundation for the threshold, which is missing today, those north and south of these wall sections could date to a crude repair of the damaged marble chip floor. In aggregate, this evidence suggests that the marble chip floor was deliberately destroyed in part when the partition wall was built. Therefore, the erection of the partition wall serves as a terminus ante quem for the installation of the marble chip floor. A trial trench in the central doorway could reveal whether the partition wall has a proper foundation there, and if so, how deep it is. Because architectural elements are stored in both rooms, a lime kiln was installed in room A, and large parts of both rooms are filled with earth or plants, the marble chip floor is not fully visible today, nor is its preservation and extent indicated on the older plans (see above, n. 19). But according to the areas that were already visible and to those exposed by partial cleaning, this floor seems to be well preserved in both rooms.
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