The Delos Synagogue is the name given to a second century Hellenic structure that is located in
Delos
Delos (; ; ''Dêlos'', ''Dâlos''), is a small Greek island near Mykonos, close to the centre of the Cyclades archipelago. Though only in area, it is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. ...
, in the
Mykonos
Mykonos (, ; ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. At the 2021 census, there were 10,704 inhabitants, most of ...
Municipality of the
South Aegean
The South Aegean (, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It consists of the Cyclades and Dodecanese island groups in the central and southeastern Aegean Sea.
Administration
The South Aegean region was established in ...
region of modern-day
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. Constructed between 150 and 128 BCE, the origins of the building were initially proposed as a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
; however the building's identification as a synagogue is no longer definitive.
If its existence as a synagogue were proven, the building would be one of the
oldest known synagogues.
Discovery and location
The structure was discovered in 1912 by a team led by archaeologist
André Plassart.
Located on the eastern side of the city of Delos, the building was far from the central areas of the city. Instead, it was built in a section of Delos called the "Stadium Quarter". In contrast to the religious and commercial focus at Delos' centre, this section was mostly residential.
The original identification of the building as a synagogue by Plassart was based in large part on a dedicatory inscription referring to "
Theos Hypsistos", or "God Most High", sometimes used as a name for the
god of the Jews in antiquity, though not exclusively.
[
]
Description
The dominating feature of the building is the large hall, which was presumably used in a flexible way, with moveable furniture, since there is no evidence for benches built along the walls. The hall is oriented towards the east, with a series of secondary rooms at the southern end.[ The structure itself consisted of two large rooms containing a throne and multiple marble benches as well as many smaller rooms which allowed for access to a ]cistern
A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster.
Cisterns are disti ...
.
Purpose
The building's initial use is unknown. The identification of the building as a synagogue or a Samaritan
Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...
place of worship at any point in its history has been a matter of debate. The first to challenge Plassart's assessment was Belle Mazur in 1935. The construction of benches around the internal walls is used by some as an argument for a synagogue, although this seating arrangement is also known from two pagan temples and other buildings on Delos. Those who accepted Plassart's identification pushed the date from when the structure is supposed to have served as a synagogue to its early phases, although the benches were only added in its last phase. Determination of "synagogue" architecture and inscriptions was further complicated by the presence of a modern (1985) Samaritan community not far from the building.
Plassart's initial identification was based on an inscription that was later found to be at a different location, roughly from the alleged synagogue (area GD 80), in a house located in a residential area (area GD 79). Matassa writes: "It is important to note that there is nothing in the structure of GD 80 itself that is in any way Jewish in nature."
Matassa argues that neither the physical, literary, or epigraphic evidence supports the identification of the building as a synagogue.
More recent studies have concluded that the evidence suggesting that this building was a synagogue is tenuous at best and will remain an open question.
Literary evidence
There is literary evidence indicating the presence of Jews or Samaritans on Delos. The most substantial text is via Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
, in the form of a letter to Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...
Julius Gaius and the council of Parium
Parium (or Parion; ) was a Greek city of Adrasteia in Mysia on the Hellespont. Its bishopric was a suffragan of Cyzicus, the metropolitan see of the Roman province of Hellespontus.
History
Founded in 709 B.C., the ancient city of Parion is lo ...
, specifically referring to the Jews of Delos, dated approximately 70 A.D.:
See also
* French School at Athens
* List of oldest synagogues
Historic synagogues include synagogues that date back to ancient times and synagogues that represent the earliest Jewish presence in cities around the world. Some synagogues were destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site. Others were ...
References
{{Ancient synagogues
Ancient Delos
Hellenistic Greece
Hellenistic Jewish history
2nd-century BC establishments in Greece
Buildings and structures in the South Aegean