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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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Similar problems were discussed for the large room E (15.80 x 13.37 m) of the Etablissement des Poseidoniastes (Delos VI, pp. 77-81). Picard reconstructed it as an open courtyard, the third one of the building, but I am convinced that this huge banquet or assembly room was roofed and, most likely, without supports, because no traces of such have been found on the pavement. (The full argumentation cannot be given here; it will be included in a study of all buildings for the meetings of associations of Delos, which I am currently preparing.) Precise, reliable information regarding the spans that could be roofed without supports in the Hellenistic period is rarely supplied in the scholarly literature. According to Muller-Wiener (1988, pp. 100-101, fig. 5), this was possible for rooms with a width of 8-12 m, at most 15 m. Lauter (1986, pp. 236-238), however, enumerates several Hellenistic examples with spans of up to 18 m. Coulton (1976, p. 79) cites the Portique de Philippe (GD 3) in Delos, over 11 m wide, and North Stoa B4 at Cyrene, 14.7 m wide, which were both roofed in a single span.

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(25.) Among the technical reasons that could be cited is the fact that parts of the D-complex might not have been covered; alternatively, its roof may have been lower than the roof of A/B, and/or supported by internal partition walls. For an elevation of the west wall of D1, see Bruneau 1970, pl. C.

(26.) Contrary to statements in most previous publications (e.g., Bruneau 1970, p. 482, "citern"), this feature is not a cistern. Its walls and floor were not entirely covered with waterproof stucco and therefore were not impermeable, nor was it filled with collected rainwater; instead, it was (and still is) filled by groundwater, like many other small wells and large reservoirs on Delos. The relieving arch of this reservoir was certainly not visible from room B, as assumed by Binder (1999, p. 301), but was blocked and covered with stucco (see below, pp. 575-576).

(27.) On Delos, the exterior faces of walls are usually covered with a coarse, red, waterproof stucco.

(28.) A natural gap in the rocks was exploited for this reservoir; this might have been just a cost-reducing measure, or due to the fact that farther south and east no groundwater was available.

(29.) Such factors include the urban development of the area, the size of the plot of land, the nature of the terrain, and especially the presence or absence of groundwater.

(30.) This wall (see above, Fig. 3; also Fig. 9) predates all visible walls of the D-complex: the partition walls of D1/D2 and of D2/D3, as well as the east wall of D3/D7. As only further excavation might clarify whether this wall belongs to the gneiss wall system or to an earlier building, the wall is omitted from the following discussion.

(31.) See Bruneau 1978; most of the columns of the "rues a colonnes" are of granite, and the few preserved marble columns are mostly unpolished (see below, p. 557 and n. 98, for details).

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

Hesperia, Fall, 2004 by Monika Trumper

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