What were the Architectural Models for Second Temple Synagogues?
There seems to have been several models. In the diaspora, the synagogues at Ostia and Delos bear a striking resemblance to pagan cultic halls. The Delos synagogue in particular compares favorably with the so-called House of the Poseidoniasts, a cultic hall built on the island by merchants and shipowners from Beruit. In addition to possessing a meeting hall, this consecrated structure contained a main sanctuary with four adjacent chapels housing the idols of various gods. The synagogues at Delos and Ostia, of course, did not have idols or altars like their gentile counterparts. Nevertheless, they appear to have functioned similarly, possessing meeting halls and–in the case of Ostia–a communal banquet hall, which was discovered in the building’s earliest phase. While synagogue-remains have not yet been found in Egypt, various allusions in inscriptions to asylum rights and to such architectural features as sacred precincts, pylons (monumental gateways), and exedrae (usually temple annex
There seems to have been several models. In the diaspora, the synagogues at Ostia and Delos bear a striking resemblance to pagan cultic halls. The Delos synagogue in particular compares favorably with the so-called House of the Poseidoniasts, a cultic hall built on the island by merchants and shipowners from Beruit. In addition to possessing a meeting hall, this consecrated structure contained a main sanctuary with four adjacent chapels housing the idols of various gods. The synagogues at Delos and Ostia, of course, did not have idols or altars like their gentile counterparts. Nevertheless, they appear to have functioned similarly, possessing meeting halls and–in the case of Ostia–a communal banquet hall, which was discovered in the building’s earliest phase. While synagogue-remains have not yet been found in Egypt, various allusions in inscriptions to asylum rights and to such architectural features as sacred precincts, pylons (monumental gateways), and exedrae (usually temple annex
