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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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Because the plan indicating the exact findspot of these stelai (Bruneau 1982, fig. 1) is simplified, does not show all walls that are visible on the surface, and does not fully correspond with the more detailed plan III in GD, it is difficult to determine the findspot in relation to the surrounding walls (see Fig. 1). In any case, the wall corner where the stelai were found differs remarkably in orientation from the remaining neighboring walls as shown in GD, plan III. The situation as presented here in Fig. 1 (a compilation of the two plans) is certainly impossible and might be clarified only by further research and excavation. According to Bruneau, the stelai were probably incorporated into this facade and would, therefore, allow us to identify the respective building as a second, Samaritan, synagogue. In opposition to this, several scholars have proposed to identify GD 80 as a Samaritan synagogue, which suggests that the two stelai were simply displaced ca. 90 m, having been set up originally in GD 80; see Kraabel 1984, pp. 45-46; White 1987, p. 154, n. 84; McLean 1996, pp. 191-195; Binder 1999, pp. 305, 315, n. 175, pp. 472-474. For a short summary and cautious judgment of both views, see Levine 2000, pp. 102-103; Runesson 2001a, pp. 185-186, n. 68; and below.

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(124.) If the furniture was not found in situ, i.e., not in a position that might reasonably correspond with its use within this building, it simply may have been stored here to be burned in the lime kiln. Consider especially the following fragments of several marble water basins:

Fragments of two basins of different size that both belong to the type "vasques rectangulaires a deux pieds en dalles," following the classification in Delos XVIII, pp. 78-80, seem to have been found in room B and in the water reservoir (Plassart 1914, p. 531; Bruneau 1970, p. 485 [though without mentioning the form of the marble basin found in the water reservoir]; Moretti 1997, pp. 138-139, figs. 11-13). Today they are stored in the southwest corner of room A and consist of (a) a large fragment of a large rectangular basin of whitish blue marble (cf. Moretti 1997, figs. 11, 12; here Fig. 40, right); (b) five adjoining fragments of a smaller rectangular basin of bluish marble (cf. Moretti 1997, fig. 13; here Fig. 40, left, with only two of the five fragments). This type of basin was often used in agonistic buildings in Delos and elsewhere; in Delos it was also found in a small public bath (Quartier du theatre, Ilot III, Maison N), in several buildings used for the meetings of associations (Maison de Fourni, GD 124; Quartier du stade, Ilot I, Maison B, GD 79a), and in some private houses (see Delos XVIII, pp. 78-80). The examples in GD 80 might have been taken from the nearby gymnasium, as were the marble bases and blocks integrated into the east wall of A/B.

Two joining fragments of a third basin of bluish marble are situated between the benches on the north wall of C (Diam. inside ca. 0.39 m, D. inside ca. 0.37 m; here Fig. 41). This basin is not mentioned in the French publications, so neither its findspot nor its original position can be reconstructed. It is visible in some photographs in Bruneau (1970, pl. VIII:1, 2) but is not on his plan (Bruneau 1970, pl. B). It represents a type that is classified as a "mortier profond, tronconique, sans base, mais avec tenons" in Delos XVIII, p. 105. Because mortars could also be used for liquids (see Delos XVIII, p. 103), this one might have been used or reused as a basin. Binder (1999, pp. 303, 306, 395) takes its present location as its original position, near the main entrance. Apart from the fact that the main entrance to the building is not known and that the main entrance to room A was, most probably, via room B, this position is rather unusual; it is more likely that the gap between the benches was filled by another bench, the support for which is set up on the neighboring bench to the east.

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

Hesperia, Fall, 2004 by Monika Trumper

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