THE EXPANSION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN JUDAISM
AND THE SYNAGOGUE OF DELOS (1)
The history of the nation of the Jews is associated with some important periods that have contributed its presence through the centuries. (2) According to the Bible these include the conquest of the promised land, the age of the Judges, the period of the United Monarchy with the Kingdoms of Saul, David and Solomon and the division of the United Kingdom in two with the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. The fate of the North Kingdom ends in 722 BCE, when the Assyrians, under Salmaneser V (727-722 BCE), invaded to its land and conquered its capital Samaria. The Kingdom of Judah in the south remained safe until 587/586, the year that its capital Jerusalem fell to the hands of the Babylonians, under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar (634-562 BCE). The citizens of both kingdoms were captivated and exiled or escaped, taking their way to other places. (3) The people of the north were deported to Assyria[1] and those of the south to Babylon[2]. The «Decree of Cyrus» (536 BCE)[3], the Persian King who ruled the great Persian Empire (587-530 BCE), gave them the permission to return to their own land from the exile. Some of them chose to remain in their new homeland and continue their existence in the Diaspora. (4) The biblical text mentions the Jewish communities of Babylonia, Egypt and Northeast Mediterranean. The reason that drove the Jews to the decision of remaining in a foreign country, in the following years of Alexander the Great and his descendants, should be sought in financial and commercial causes which were related with the abandonment of "the land of the fathers" for a long period. The Jews were settled in Alexandria, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Minor Asia and Bosporus.[4] The Diaspora of the Jews in the Mediterranean Sea is testified through written monuments, texts, inscriptions and buildings.[5]
The Jewish communities in the Diaspora had a unique cluster of religious and ethnic commitments. Their monotheistic faith focused on the God of Israel, a series of foundational beliefs such as Jerusalem and its Temple, the sanctity of Torah and the idea of the chosen people. These communities created and developed a range of customs and practices that discriminated them from other nations. These actions kept the ideology of the Jews, bound them and gave them rights and privileges.[6]
The biblical text pronounces the presence of the Israelites in the Diaspora. (5)According to the book of the prophet Isaiah (66,19) the people of Israel will be sentto the nations, to Tarshish, Put, Lud, who draw the bow Tubal and Javan to the coastlands... It is obvious that the mention of Tharshish and Javan pronounces the expansion of the Jews in the Mediterranean Sea. The first one refers to a city of Spain and the second to the Greeks, probably the Ions[7]. The I Macc. (15,16-23) refers to Lucius, Consul of the Romans, who sent a letter to King Ptolemy, saying that the Jews came to him and asked the renewal of their old friendship and alliance. As a result it should be proper to ask the kings of all the other countries to protect the Jews. Between all, the letter was sent to Demetrius the king, and Attalus, to Ariarathes, and Arsaces, and to all the countries and to Sampsames, and the Lacedemonians, and to Delus, and Myndus, and Sicyon, and Caria, and Samos, and Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Halicarnassus, and Rhodus, and Aradus, and Cos, and Side, and Aradus, and Gortyna, and Cnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene.
The New Testament identifies the important presence of the Jews in the Minor Asia, Greece and Italy. (6) The book of the Acts mentions the mission of Paul and Varnavas to Cyprus where they found a Jewish pseudoprophet (13,4-6), the trip and teaching of Saint Paul to the Jews of Macedonia, Phillippi (16,11-40) Thessaloniki (17,1-9), Veroia (17,10-15), Athens (17,16-34), Corinth (18,1-8), Ephesus (18,19·19), Militos (20,13-15) and Rome (28,17-30) and the existence of jewish synagogues.[8] The same source mentions synagogues in Salamis (13,5), Antioch of Pisidia (13,14) and Iconium (14,1). Through the epistles of the Apostle of the Nations to Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians arises the importance of the Jewish communities in the Diaspora.
The presence of the Jews in Egypt is obvious in various sources, the Letter of Aristeas, Josephus’s works Jewish Antiquity and Against Apion and through the writings of the historians.[9] Philo of Alexandria presents the everyday way of living of the Jews of Alexandria. (7) His work confirms that the Jews of Alexandria constituted a welfare community, that some of them migrated to Macedonia, Thessaloniki and Veroia, and that gradually they became an important power in the international trade of the Mediterranean Sea.[10] Two inscriptions from the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-221 BCE), three from the reign of Ptolemy VIII (145-116 BCE), three from the 2nd or the 1st century BCE and one clearly from the 1st testify the powerful presence of the Jews in Egypt.[11]
Josephus (8) in his work Jewish Antiquity presents the legal position of the Jews in Greece and especially in Corinth, Crete and Delos. In a decree, preserved by him, it is written that the Jews of the island of Paros protested to the Roman Consul of Delos for the ethic rights of the their fellows. The decree makes a discrimination between the Jews citizens of the island of Delos and those who contemporary lived there.[12] In a second decree it is made clear that the Delian officers excluded Jews from participating to the Roman army.[13]
Furthermore the archaeological remains prove the growing and the expansion of the Jewish Diaspora in the Mediterranean basin. In Greece the archaeological research brought to light inscriptions, in greek, which refer to Jews. Early, in the 4th century BCE, an inscription from Oropos (9) mentions Jewish Moschon Moschionos who adopted Hellenic Religion (Pantheon)[14]. (10) Three more inscriptions referring to Jews come from Delphi and they are dated between the 2nd century BCE and the 1st century CE. From the same period come other epitaph inscriptions that were found in Athens and mention jewish names.[15] Actually between 135-105 there was erected a statue of Jewish leader Ioannis Irkanos in Athens. Inscription found in Corinthos refers to the Synagogue of the Jews.[16]
One of the most interesting findings from the Diaspora of the Jews in East Mediterranean Sea, a synagogue, comes from the island of Delos. (11) Delos is a small island in the Cyclades. According to the Homeric hymns it was the birthplace of Apollo.[17] Tyrant Pesistratos erected in 540 BCE a cultic center for Apollo. (12)Delos arrived at its prominent political and economic status by default. According to Thucydides[18], the Persian emperor Xerxes had razed the Athenian sanctuaries during raids into mainland Greece. In 478 BCE the Greek city-states responded by forming a defensive alliance funded by its member states. To avoid the danger of any one of the city-states becoming too powerful, the Athenian-controlled island of Delos was chosen to hold the treasury of what came to be known as the Delian League.Delos became a hub of commercial, military, maritime trading and slaving activity (the main slave markets were on Rhodes, Delos and Crete) whilst continuing to be a major cultic centre.[19] Delos became independent from Athens in 314 BCE and, when the Delian League was finally dissolved in the mid-third century BCE, its independence continued. The island remained independent until 166 BCE. Gradually it achieved to become the commercial harbor of the Aegean Sea.[20]
During this period, Delos’s reputation gathered offerings from all over the civilized world and rich shrines to many foreign gods like Serapis, Isis, Anubis and Atargatis. Delos was inhabited by the Italians Hermaists, the Tyrians Herakleiasts, thePoseidoniasts from Beirut and the Sarapiasts who believed in Egyptian gods.[21]According to the sources the Jews settled in Delos during the 2nd century BCE.[22]While it was under Roman rule, Athens lobbied the Roman Senate for the return of some of its past territories. In 166 BCE, the Roman Senate returned Delos to Athenian control. In 88 BCE and 69 BCE the island was attacked by Mithridates first and then by the pirates under Athenodoros. As a result Delos declined and its commercial activities were assumed by the Corinthians (44 BCE).[23]
The archaeological findings in Delos reveal a wealthy living powerful Jewish community who had its own cult center, the oldest synagogue building in the Diaspora. (13) The first excavation on the island took place in 1896 under the direction of the École Française d’ Archéologie in Athens. André Plassart discovered in 1912-1913 a building (GD 80) which was identified as a Jewish house of worship. According to his opinion the building is a Synagogue.[24] (14) Situated in the east side of the island, far away from the main harbor and the ancient city center, in an mostly unexcavated area, it is located near residential buildings, adjacent to the stadium and gymnasium (GD 76-78) immediately on the shore. (15)
The structure of the building is rectangular with dimensions 28,30m (N-S) x 30,70m (E-W). (16) The building is consisted of the following parts: a large room A/B, which was later divided in two rooms (A and B), with marble benches and a carved marble cathedra-throne in room A, a tristoa or atrium (area C) with a marble stylobate running N-S including marble benches and an entrance in the south wall. Another complex D is consisted of several small rooms (D1-D7). It has to be mentioned that from room D1 there is an access to a cistern.
Its identification has long been the subject of debate. Sukenik followed Plassart’s conclusion[25] but the critical point of view that was set by Mazur[26]against this identification changed his opinion[27]. Mazur suggested that the building could never have functioned as a synagogue. Binder assumed that it was an assembly hall for Jewish or Samaritans who were inhabiting on the island. According to him the building was erected as a cultic hall by a pagan association and after 88 BCE it was transformed to a synagogue by the Jews.[28] Avi Yonah accepted the first conclusion of Sukenik.[29] The second archaeologist who made an analysis of the structural and field plans was Bruneau who declared that the assumption of Plassart was almost secure.[30] Goudenough argued that the building is probably a synagogue.[31] Then came the work of Shanks who concluded that the structure was a temple honored to Zeus.[32] Different was the position of Kraabel[33] and White[34] who reaffirm the interpretation that the building was a synagogue. The recent work of Thumper examines in extent the archaeological data of the building and concludes that it was used as a synagogue.
(17) The answer to the question of the identification of the Delos building as a synagogue lies in elements as topography-situation, chronology, inscriptions and secondary fittings or finds. The element that signifies the public use of the building is the dimensions of the large room. The size of it reveals a public building, which was constructed for the meetings of an assembly or community. This large room has three doorways, a typical element for synagogues and a large number of windows for lighting and practical reasons. The orientation of the large room A/B to the east is another remarkable point.
The position of the building 80 on the shore, in a mainly residential area and not close to the commercial center of the island or the main harbor is probably associated with the needs of a group who pursued the proximity of water for ritual ablutions and purity in order to accomplish its ritual activity. The choice of this part of the island for the construction or the use of this large building is probably associated and with the marginalization of this group.
The building is constructed in the second century BCE and is associated with the presence of the Jews in Delos during this period. This is confirmed both from the literary sources and the inscriptions that were found in the area. It is not clarified if it was in use before or after 167/6 BCE. [35] Actually most of the buildings on the island and the area with the stadium and the synagogue are usually attributed to the period of independence.
A question now arises: how many times this building was renovated? Trümper proposed five stages of the building constructive structure.[36] (18) During the first one appears the main large room without the division to A and B. The room had three doorways equiped with marble thresholds and the large cistern which was accessible from the south. Although the hall, with the typical three doorways, appears almost in all Delian houses the dimensions of the GD 80 room fit perfect with the standards of a dwelling place. Two wall systems were added to the first gneiss building.
(19) The mixed granite and gneiss walls system is identified with the second phase, as more similar in technique, material and quality to the gneiss wall complex. (20) During this phase occurred an extension to the building to the south and the construction of a number of separate rooms. The size and the form of the rooms drive to the conclusion that they functioned as luxurious assembly or banquet rooms.(21)
The third phase is associated with the renovation of the monumental hall. (22) During this period is added the spoiled marble material in order to form a frame which could stabilize a wall that was probably destroyed by the raids of Mithridates in 88 BCE. (23) Bruneau argues that a series of marble spoils come from the Gymnasium and they are first dated between 140-110 BCE. The spoils were transferred to the synagogue building after the destruction of the island from Mithridatis (88 BCE). Plassart’s opinion was that this stage represented the establishment of the building as a synagogue.[37] The third phase is characterized from minor changes in the south and the enlargement of the building to the east. In this epoch appears a pi-shaped portico or a three winged peristyle, a Roman influence. No change to the use of the main hall and the southern room complex occurs during this stage.
The fourth phase (24) of the renovation of the building could be associated with the Imperial Era of the Romans. Three antefixes with palmettes were found in the coistern and maybe were part of a roof for the porticoes. The problem with this hypothesis is the alternative option, according to which the place had been abandoned after the invasion of the Mithridatic raids.
The fifth phase (25) involved the division of the large room into two separate rooms with the use of large granite-gneiss- marble wall. (26) The doorway between west portico and room A was blocked, the door at center was also blocked by the dividing wall and the access to room A was possible only through the door of room B. The fact is that this division looks not changing the use of the building. This stage can be assigned to the period after 69 BCE when the Delians reused marble elements. From the last phase come sundial, basins, lamps and other findings. (27) The architecture of the whole structure changed with the blocking of the north and south porticoes and an installation within courtyard C that abutted the west stylobate.
It is more possible that the building was not used as a synagogue from the beginning of its construction. About four or five of the six early Diaspora synagogues Dura-Europos, Stobi, Priene, Sardis, Delos and Ostia were at the beginning of their construction used as private houses and then changed to public buildings synagogues.[38] Actually clear evidence about its first use remains uncertain. One cannot exclude the hypothesis that this specific building was used as a synagogue before 175 BCE. White points that the building of Delos was formally renovated into a synagogue edifice. The features of this renovation would have included the presence of portico and perhaps the partitioning of room A/B.[39] Furthermore the peristyliumis a common element of two different houses of the island that have been renovated. These are the House of Comedians (GD 59) and the House of Poseidoniasts (GD 57). The first one (28) has a regular peristyle court and the second, which is contemporary to the renovated synagogue, (29) another large peristyle court facing onto a hall with triportal entrance. In addition, there appears a smaller portico which opens to the sanctuary in a similar way with the entrance of the synagogue. Mazur suggested that the common architecture between the synagogue building and the House of Poseidoniasts proves that the building GD 80 was not a synagogue. On the other hand, White responds that the adaption of foreign constructive or architectural elements by the foreign groups who occupied Delos in that period is quite obvious also in the case of Serapeion A.[40]
The position of the cistern between the room A/B and D1 is not often. Nobody can suggest why it was located there, if that had to do with a deliberate decision or practical reasons. Was that cistern used as a miqveh? The Jewish laws provide an elaborate system of regulations regarding ritual purity. (30) The miqveh was necessary for immersion in a natural body of water in order to keep purity.[41]In the case that this cistern was used as a miqveh it should have been the only one outside the land of Palestine. According to the architecture developed in Delos the cistern was usually located in a courtyard and not in a corner or in the middle of a single room. If someone recalls in mind the Jewish standards for a miqveh he will realize that the cistern of the building GD 80 could not be associated with ritual purity but with usual activities as drinking, washing, cooking etc. (31) The cistern does not have the usual steps of the miqveh, and it was filled with groundwater as well as the rain from the sky.
Let us concentrate now on the fittings that correspond to the building and constitute it as a synagogue. (32) First of all is the marble throne which is in the main building and it is called "The Cathedra of Moses"[42]. (33) It is placed in the center of the west wall, facing the single east entrance and in an extended view the land of Palestine. This throne was intended to serve a special function. According to the book of Exodus it was the stone that Moses sat in the battle against the Amalekites.[43]The stone seat represented the heavenly throne.[44] (34) It was probably used by the leader of the synagogue, variously known throughout the Diaspora as the archisynagogos[45], archon or prostates. Roth and Rahmani believe that it was used for placing the Torah after it was read.[46] It has to be mentioned that the cathedra is also known from pagan and christian contexts. Obviously this special seat was adopted by the Jews and was used for the above mentioned reasons.
Furthermore the archaeological research brought to light about sixty lamps which are dated between 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE. (35) These lamps are decorated with palm-trees, vine branches, rossetes and the figure of Zeus. It is well known that the Jews did not permit the representation of figures. As a matter of fact these lamps are more associated with a pagan worship. In that case the building should be regarded as a pagan worship center of the inhabitants of the island and not a synagogue. Actually Talmud mentions that non Jewish used to offer lamps to synagogues.[47] Generally the synagogue decorations incorporate both Jewish and pagan motifs. The pagan motifs, borrowed from Classical, Hellenistic and Roman art, were applied in a new content by local artists who in details of their work betray the influence of Oriental tradition. The fact is that the decorative motifs in the synagogue (except for those connected with Jewish subjects) are purely ornamental and have no sort of symbolic meaning.[48]
The inscriptions which were found in or near the building indicate its use as a synagogue.[49] They all mention Theos Hypsistos (=Most High God): (36)
1. Zosas of Paras to Theos Hypsistos [gave this in fulfillment of] a vow.[50]
2. Laodice to Theos Hypsistos, who saved him from infirmities [gave this in fulfillment of] a vow.[51]
3. Lysimachus, on his own behalf, [made] a thanks-offering to Theos Hypsistos.[52]
4. To Hypsistos, a vow, Marcia.[53]
The term Theos Hypsistos occurs in the book of Psalms and is associated with Yahweh.[54] In addition the term was used and by Gentiles in areas with significant Jewish population. That is the main reason that drove Mazur to the conclusion that the reference of Theos Hypsistos in these four inscriptions can not be associated with the use of the building GD 80 as a synagogue and it should be related to the presence of Greek Gentiles.[55] The answer comes from a funeral inscription found in the burial island of Delos, Rhineia. This inscription is dedicated to Theos Hypsistos as well and is regarded by all the scholars as Jewish.[56] Bruneau points out that the Most High God of Delos is not Zeus the Most High, otherwise the inscription would be dedicated to him.[57]
In a house nearby another inscription was found mentioning a proseuche: (37) Agathocles and Lysimachus [have made a contribution] to the proseuche. The terms proseuche and Theos Hypsistos are also used in pagan contexts. On the other hand, the Jews of Ptolemaic Egypt borrowed terminology associated with pagan contexts. The phrase used to describe the God of Israel (Theos Hypsistos) is documented in both pagan and jewish texts. Furthermore the term proseuche has a religious dimension reflecting in the sanctity of the «holy» or «grate place» of the Most High God.[58] The fundamental role of the word proseuche in the Jewish communities is proved by inscriptions, buildings and property that was associated with.[59] In the case of the Jewish in Egypt it appears ten times in inscriptions and four in papyri.
The building of Delos looks to be a proseuche.[60] One might ask about the absence of Jewish symbols and a Torah that have been dismissed. As Levine points out there is no reason to assume that such an early synagogue building would have had them. Actually the synagogues of Gamla, Masada and Herodium did not.[61] The proseuche hypothesis of the building is significantly enhanced by two inscriptions that were found 100m north of the building. There is inscribed: (38)
1. The Israelites on Delos, who make offerings on hallowed Argarizein, crown with a gold crown Sarapion, son of Jason, of Knossos, for his benefactions toward them.[62]
(39) 2. The Israelites who make offerings to hallowed, consecrated Argarizein, have honored Menippos son of Artemidoros, of Herakleion, both himself and descendants, for having constructed and dedicated at their expense as proseuche of God...and they crowned him with a gold crown and [...].[63]
These two important inscriptions reveal the existence of a Samaritan community on Delos in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. In the first inscription the community is calling itself the Israelites on Delos. According to the text it is obvious that it is a Samaritan community, because they make offerings on hallowed Argarizein. For Bruneau these benefactors were Samaritans.[64] Kraabel is more skeptical about it.[65] White considers them as pagans who had contributed to local Samaritans.[66] The question if they were pagans or not can not be answered. The dating of the inscriptions is difficult. It is not possible to define if they have to be dated before or after 129 BCE, the year that the temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed.[67] Depended on paleography Bruneau suggests that the first inscription belongs to the period 150-50 BCE and the second 250-175 BCE.[68] Llewelyn believes that the benefactors were Samaritans who distinguished themselves from the Jews of Judah.[69]
The phrase the Israelites on Delos is typical for the inhabitants of the island who had the privilege to regard themselves not as members of a colony but as citizens with all the legal rights. Both inscriptions honor two important men from Crete. The first one honors Sarapion son of Jason, of Knossos and the second one honorsMenippos son of Artemidoros, of Herakleion. From the text is delivered that this community of Delos has been favoured by the strong Jewish community of Crete. A new question arises: were there two different communities of Israelites in Delos, one Jewish and one Samaritan? As it has been pointed, the decree of Josephus makes a discrimination between the Jews citizens of the island of Delos and those who contemporary lived there. The answer to the above question could come from the building GD 80, which both communities could have used for ritual activity.
It has to be mentioned that the Samaritan synagogues[70] of El-Khirbe, Khirbet Samara, Sha’alvim (40) are following a different convention than this in the synagogue buildings of Capernaum, Masada, Gamla, Herodium, Jericho, Qiryat Sefer and Modi’in. The Samaritan synagogues are characterized by the absence of interior columns. Comparing the building with other Samaritan Synagogues it is profound that, although it was built following the motif of the greek peristyle house, it preserves a major similarity, the central space of a large room with no columns.
(41) The synagogues in Palestine are identified on a basis of significant architectural features (usually a large hall with columns or pillars, benches along the walls, miqveh etc.) and characteristic decorative elements as Torah, menorah, zodiac cycle, birds, etc.[71] The synagogues in the Diaspora provide a different icon, that of a building which is basically associated with the declaration of the distinctiveness of a Jewish community in foreign surroundings and the maintenance of ethnic and religious identity. (42) When the research compares the building GD 80 with the other synagogue buildings of the Diaspora finds that the best parallel occurs in the topography of the synagogue in Ostia. They were both located near the sea, outside the city center and they were both influenced by the local architecture. The original building of the Ostia synagogue was comprised a large hall with benches, an entrance with four columns in the corners and a separate triclinium with built benches and water facilities.[72]
The synagogue of Delos is an exceptional paradigm of how the Jews in the Diaspora dealt with the Graeco-Roman world, the world of the Gentiles and managed to keep their own ethnic and religious identity. The adaption of architectural motifs, of linguistic terms and cultural ethics was not an obstacle for them to maintain their originality. (43) Maybe this attitude was the key to express their distinctiveness and their repose to live in foreign surroundings. Usually the scholars who deal with the issue of the synagogue of Delos lack of their attention the distinctive character of the hellenistic world, which was signified by the free spirit of thinking and living in different groups across the Mediterranean Sea. This cosmopolitan spirit gave the chance to different people to express their religious beliefs and their ethnic identity. The Jews/Samaritans of Delos managed to grow and expand in a world which could give opportunities and free space to improve themselves and their community. The synagogue of Delos was the connecting bond of the community, the spiritual rest area of the group, which chose to insulate its ritual activities, in order to avoid annoying the rest of the ethnic and religious groups on the island. Thus they managed to exist through the centuries...
[1] IV Kgs. 17,6.
[2] Jer. 52,29.
[3] Ezr. 1,1-4.
[4] L. I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue, The First Thousand Years, Yale University Press: New Haven & London 20052, pp. 89-91.
[5] John M. G. Barclay, Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan(323 BCE-117 CE), Berkeley: University of California Press 1996, 522 pp. T. Rajak,Translation and Survival: The Greek Bible and the Ancient Jewish Diaspora, Oxford University Press: USA 2009, pp. 92-124.
[6] L. I. Levine, "The First Century CE Synagogue in Historical Perspective", B. Olsson & M. Zetterholm (ed.), The Ancient Synagogue from Its Origins until 200 C.E.: Papers Presented at an International Conference at Lund University, October 14-17, 2001, [CB], Coniectanea Biblica – New Testament Series 39, Almqvist & Wiksell International: Stockholm 2003, p. 106.
[7] The Septuagint translates the word Javan as Greece. See also J. Merlin – W. Hayes Ward – J. A. Bewer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Micah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Obadiah and Joel, Edinburgh 1985, p. 132. Comp. Gen. 10,2·4.
[8] H. C. Kee, "The Jews in Acts", Diaspora Jews and Judaism: Essays in Honor of, and in Dialogue with A. Thomas Kraabel, (ed.) H. C. Kee and L. H. Cohick, Harrisburg: Trinity International 1999, pp. 183-195.
[9] V. Tcherikover, Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society 1959, p. 273. J. M. Modrzejewski, "How to Be a Jew in Hellenistic Egypt", S. J. D. Cohen and E. S. Frerichs (ed.), Diaspora in Antiquity, Brown Judaic Studies 228, Atlanta: Scholars 1993, pp. 75-76.
[10] L. I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue, The First Thousand Years, Yale University Press: New Haven & London 20052, pp. 89-91.
[11] Levine sel 83.
[12] Josephus, Antiquities, H. J. Thackeray (ed.), Loeb Classical Library London, Vol. XIV, pp. 213-214.
[13] Josephus, Antiquities, H. J. Thackeray (ed.), Loeb Classical Library London, Vol. XIV, pp. 231-232. Puci Ben Ziv, Jewish Rights in the Roman World: The Greek and Roman Documents Quoted by Josephus Flavius, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 1998, pp. 168-172.
[14] M. D. Lewis, "The First Greek Jew", Journal of Semitic Studies, Vol. 2. No. 3 (July 1957), 264-266. The text of the inscription is the following: μοσχον φρ[υνiδας ...]
τον και εiναι ελεyθερον μη[δενi μηδ]eν
προσήκοντα˙εaν δε τι πaθη φρυνιδας
προτοy τον χρoνος διεξeλθειν, ελεyθερος
aπετω μoσχος, οyν αν αυτoς βοyληται.
τυχη αγαθh. μaρτυρες αθηνoδωρος
μνασικωντος ωρωπιος, βιοττος ευδεκου
αθηναιος, χαρινος αντιχαρμου αθηναιος,
αθηναδης επιγονου ωρωπιος, Ιππων αισχυλου ωρωπιος. μοσχος μοσχιωνος ιουδαιος
ενυπνιον ιδων προσταξαντος του θεου
αμφιαραου και της υγιειας, καθα συνεταξε
ο αμφιαραος και η υγιεια εν στηλης γραψαντα
αναθειναι προς τω βωμω.
[15] L. Urdahl, "Jews in Attica", S.O. 1968, 49-50.
[16] K. Meletsi, The Presence of Hebrew in Greek Cities of the 2nd Trip of Apostle Paul, Central Israelite Council of Greece, Athens 2009, pp. 30-36, 73-97.
[17] M. Crudden, The Homeric Hymns, (Hymn 3 to Apollo), Oxford University Press: 2001, pp. 23-42.
[18] Thukedidis, (Peloponnesian Wars, 1.96.2; 6.76.3).
[19] Philip de Souza. Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World, Cambridge University Press, UK: 1999, p. 61.
[20] P. Breneau and J. Ducat, Guide de Délos, Paris: École Française d’Athènes 1965, pp. 15-25.
[21] Mc Lean, "The Place of Cult in Voluntary Associations and Christian Churches on Delos", pp. 186-190, J. S. Kloppenborg and S. G. Wilson (ed.), Voluntary Associations in the Graeco-Roman World, London: Routledge 1996.
[22] Strabon, Geographika, (ed.) H. L. Jones, Loeb Classical Library: London
[23] P. Richardson, "An Architectural Case for Synagogues as Associations", B. Olsson and M. Zettenrholm (ed.), The Ancient Synagogue from Its Origins until 200 C.E.: Papers Presented at an International Confertence at Lund University, October 14-17, 2001, [CB], Coniectanea Biblica – New Testament Series 39, Almqvist & Wiksell International: Stockholm 2003, p. 106.
[24] A. Plassart, "La synagogue juive de Délos", Mélanges Holeaux, recueil de mémoirs concernant l’ antiquité grecque, Paris: Picard 1913, pp. 201-215.
[25] E. L. Sukenik, Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece, London: Oxford University Press 1934, p. 34.
[26] B. D. Mazur, Studies of Jewry in Ancient Greece, Athens: Hestia 1935, pp. 15-24.
[27] E. L. Sukenik, "The Present State of Ancient Synagogue Studies", Bulletin of the Lewis M. Rabinowitz Fund 1 (1949), 21-23.
[28] D. D. Binder, Into the Temple Courts: The Olace of the Synagogues in the Second Temple, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature 1999, pp. 297-317.
[29] M. Avi Yonah, "Synagogue Architecture", Enc Jud 15...
[30] P. Bruneau, Recherches sur Les Cultes de Delos a L’ Epoque Hellenistique et a L’ Epoque Imperiale, Paris 1970, pp. 480-493.
[31] E. R. Goodenough, Jewish Symbols of the Graeco-Roman Period, New York: Pantheon 1965, pp. 71-75.
[32] H. Shanks, Judaism in Stone. The Archaeology of Ancient Synagogues, New York: Harper and Row 1979, pp. 43-45.
[33] A. T. Kraabel, "The Diaspora Synagogue: Archaeological and Epigraphical Evidence since Sukenik", W. de Gruyter (ed.), Aufstieg und Niedrgang der Romischen Welt II, Berlin and New York 1979, pp. 477-510. A. T. Kraabel, "New Evidence of the Samaritan Diaspora has been found on Delos", BA 47, 44-46.
[34] L. M. White, The Delos Synagogue Revisited Recent Fieldwork in the Graeco-Roman Diaspora, HTR 80, 2, (Apr. 1987), pp.133-160.
[35] E. S. Gruen, Diaspora: Jews amidst Greeks and Romans, Cambridge: Mass 2002, p. 110.
[36] M. Trümper, "The Oldest Original Synagogue Building in Diaspora: The Delos Synagogue Reconsidered", Hesperia 73, 4, (Oct.-Dec. 2004), pp. 557-569.
[37] M. L. White, The Delos Synagogue, p. 151.
[38] A. T. Kraabel. "Social Systems of Six Diaspora Synagogues." J. Gutmann (ed.),Ancient Synagogues: The State of Research, Brown Judaic Studies 22, Chico: Calif. Scholars 1981, p. 87.
[39] M. L. White, The Delos Synagogue, p. 151.
[40] M. L. White, The Delos Synagogue, pp. 151-152.
[41] The earliest known miqvaot occur in the palaces of Hasmoneans in Jericho, in the synagogues of Jericho, Gamla, Masada and Herodium. Reich points out the absence of miqvaot during the Late Hellinistic and the Early Roman period. R. Reich, "Ritual Baths", E. M. Mayers (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, New York 1997, pp. 430-431.
[42] W. P. Van der Horst, "Moses’ Throne Vision in Ezekiel the Dramatist", JJS 34 (1983), 21-29. M. Bar-Ilan, "Stone, Seat, and Cathedra on which Moses Sat", Sidra 2 (1986) 15-23.
[43] Exod. 17:12. The later generations of the Jews regarded that stone with awe (b Merakhot 54a).
[44] R. C. Holladay, Fragments from Hellenistic Jewish Authors, 2 vols., Atlanta: Scholars 1983-1989, pp. 438-451.
[45] L. I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue, pp. 415-427.
[46] C. Roth, "The Chair of Moses", PEQ 81 (1949) 100-111. Y. L. Rahmani, "Stone Synagogue Chairs: Their Identification, Use and Significance", IEJ 40 (1990), 203-213.
[47] J, Megillah 74a, Arakhin 6b.
[48] A. Ovadiah, "Art of the Ancient Synagogues in Israel", D. Urman and P. V. M. Flesher (ed.), Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis amd Archaeological Discovery, Leiden: New York, Köln, Brill: 1994. p. 303 [301-319].
[49] Pierre Roussel & Marcel Launey. Inscriptions de Délos. Dédicaces Postérieures A 166 AV. J.-C. (Nos. 2220-2528). Textes Divers, Listes et Catalogues, Fragments Divers Postérieurs A 166 AV. J.-C. (Nos. 2529-2879), Librairie Ancienne Honoré Champion, Paris: 1937(b): p. 295.
[50] Gk: ζωcαc παριοc θεω υψιcτω ευχην.
[51] λαωδικη θεω υψιcτω cωθειcα ταιc υφ αυτου θαραπηαc ευχην.
[52] λυcιμαχοc υπερ εαυτου θεω υψιcτω χαριcτηριον.
[53] υψιcτω ευχην μαρκια.
[54] Ps. 9,3· 45,5· 46,3.
[55] B. D. Mazur, Studies on Jewry in Greece, Athens: Hestia 1935, p. 20.
[56] A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, London: Hodder &Stoughton, 1927, reprinted Grand rapids: Baker 1978, pp. 413-424. The text is the following:επικαλουμαι και αξιω τον θεον τον υψιcton ton kyrion tωn πneymatωn και παcηc cαρκοc, επι τουc δολω φονευcανταc η φαρμακευcανταc την ταλαιπωρον αωρον ηρακλειαν εχχεανταc αυτηc το αναιτιον αιμα αδικωc, ινα ουτωc γενηται τοιc φονευcαcιν αυτην η φαρμακευcαcιν και τοιc αυτων, κυριε ο παντα εφορων και οι αγγελοι θεου, ω παcα ψυχη εν τη cημερονημερα ταπεινουται μεθ’ ικεcιαc, ινα εκδικηcηc το αιμα το αναιτιον ζητηcειc και την ταχιcτην.
[57] P. Bruneau, Recherches sur Les Cultes de Delos, p. 487.
[58] S. Mitchell, "The Cult of Theos Hypsistos between Pagans, Jews and Christians", P. Athanassiadi and F. Frede (ed.), Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity,Oxford: Charendon 2002, pp. 110-121.
[59] M. Hengel, "Proseuche und Synagogue: Jüdische Gemeinde, Gotteshaus und Gottesdienst in der Diaspora und in Palästina", J. Gutmann (ed.), The Synagogue: Studies in Origins, Archaeology and Architecture, New York 1975, p. 175.
[60] L. I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue, pp. 85-88.
[61] L. I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue, p. 109.
[62] Gk.: οι εν δηλω ισραηλιται οι απαρχομενοι εισ ορον αργαριζειν στεφανουσιν χρυσω στεφανω σαραπιωνα ιασονοσ κνωσιον ευεργεσιασ ενεκεν τησ εισ εαυτουσ.
[63] Gk.: [οι εν δηλω] ισραηλιται οι απαρχομενοι εισ ιερον αγιον αργαριζειν ετιμησαν μεννιπον αρτεμιδωρου ηρακλειον αυτον και τουσ εγγονουσ αυτου κατασκευασαντα και ανθεντα εκ των ιδιων επι προσεχη του θε[ου] τον [...] ολονκαιτον [...6-8... και εστεφανωσαν] χρυσω στε[φα]νω και [...] κα--τ--.
[64] P. Bruneau, "Les Israélites de Délos et la juiverie délienne", BCH 106 (1982), p. 481.
[65] A. T. Kraabel, "Synagoga Graeca: Systematic Distortion in Gentile Interpretations of Evidence for Judaism in the Early Christian Period", J. Neusner and E. Frerichs(ed.), "To See Ourselves as Others See Us": Christian, Jews, ‘Others’ in Late Antiquity, Chico: Scholars 1985, pp. 222-223.
[66] M. L. White, The Delos Synagogue, pp. 142-144.
[67] Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, vol. 13. p. 256.
[68] P. Bruneau, "Les Israélites de Délos et la juiverie délienne", p. 499.
[69] S. R. Llewelyn, "A Review of the Greek Inscriptions and Papyri, Published 1984-1985", New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity vol. 8, Grand Rapids Michigan/ Cambridge U.K. 1998, pp. 148-151.
[70] Y. Magen, "Samaritan Synagogues", F. Manns and E. Aliata (ed.), Early Christianity in Contrext, Monuments and Documents, [Studium Biblicum Fransiscantum], Fransiscan Printing press: Jerusalem 1993, pp. 193-230.
[71] B. Goldman, "The Question of a Judaic Aesthetic in Ancient Synagogue Art",The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Critism, Vol. 19., No 3 (Spring 1961), pp. 295-304.
[72] M. Trümper, "The Oldest Original Synagogue Building in Diaspora", p. 583.
