Editing Delos

{{Short description|Island in Greece, historical meeting-ground for the Delian League}}
{{Other uses}}
<!-- This article has used the BC/AD convention since its inception. -->
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox islands
|name             = Delos
|native_name      = {{lang|el|Δήλος}}
|native_name_lang = el
|image_name       = [[File:Delos general.jpg|300px]]
|image_caption    = General view of Delos
|image_map        = Kykladen-delos.png
|image_map_caption= Delos (on the right) and [[Rineia]] in the Cyclades
|image_map_size   = 300
|coordinates      = {{Coord|37|23|36|N|25|16|16|E|region:GR-L_type:isle|display=inline,title}}
|pushpin_map      = Greece
|location         = 
|archipelago      = Cyclades
|total_islands    = 
|area_km2         = 3.43
|highest_mount    = Mt. Kynthos
|elevation_m      = 112
|country          = Greece
|country_admin_divisions_title   = [[Modern regions of Greece|Region]]
|country_admin_divisions         = [[South Aegean]]
|country_admin_divisions_title_1 = [[Regional units of Greece|Regional unit]]
|country_admin_divisions_1       = [[Mykonos]]
|country_admin_divisions_title_2 = Municipality
|country_admin_divisions_2       = 
|population       = 24
|population_as_of = 2011
|density_km2      = 6,8
|website          = 
| footnotes       = 
  {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  |child = yes
  |ID = 530
  |Year = 1990
  |Criteria = Cultural: ii, iii, iv, vi
  }}
}}
'''Delos''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|iː|l|ɒ|s}}; {{langx|el|Δήλος}} {{IPA|el|ˈðilos|}}; {{langx|grc-x-attic|Δῆλος}} ''Dêlos'', {{langx|grc-x-doric|Δᾶλος}} ''Dâlos''), is a small [[Greek island]] near [[Mykonos]], close to the centre of the [[Cyclades]] [[archipelago]].  Though only {{cvt|3.43|km2|sqmi}} in area, it is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in [[Greece]]. The ongoing excavations in the island are among the most extensive in the [[Mediterranean]], and many of the artifacts found are displayed at the [[Archaeological Museum of Delos]] and the [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]].

Delos had a position as a holy [[sanctuary]] for a millennium before Olympian [[Greek mythology]] made it the birthplace of [[Apollo]] and [[Artemis]]. From its Sacred Harbour are visible the three conical mounds that have identified landscapes sacred to a goddess (presumably [[Athena]]). Another site, retaining its [[Pre-Greek]] name [[Cynthus|Mount Cynthus]],<ref>The combination ''-nth-'' is a marker for Pre-Greek words: Corinth, menthos, labyrinth, etc. A name [[Artemis]] and even [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] retained was ''Cynthia''.</ref> is crowned with a sanctuary of [[Zeus]].

In 1990, [[UNESCO]] added Delos to the [[World Heritage List]], citing its exceptional archaeological site which "conveys the image of a great cosmopolitan Mediterranean port", its influence on the development of Greek architecture, and its sacred importance throughout [[Ancient Greece]].<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web |title=Delos |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/530 |department=UNESCO World Heritage Convention |publisher=United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization |access-date=20 November 2022}}</ref>

==History==
===Ancient Greece===
{{further|Mosaics of Delos}}
[[File:Carl Anton Joseph Rottmann 001.jpg|thumb|left|The island of Delos, [[Carl Anton Joseph Rottmann]], 1847]]
[[File:Ancient Greek theatre in Delos 01.jpg|thumb|left|The theatre]]

Investigation of ancient stone huts found on the island indicate that it has been inhabited since the third millennium BC. [[Thucydides]] claims that the original inhabitants were [[piratical]] [[Carians]] who were eventually expelled by [[King Minos]] of [[Crete]].<ref>Thucydides, I,8.</ref> By the writing of the ''[[Odyssey]]'', the island was already famous as the birthplace of the twin gods [[Apollo]] and [[Artemis]] (although some confusion seems to exist of Artemis' birthplace being either Delos or the island of [[Ortygia]]). 

Between 900&nbsp;BC and 100&nbsp;AD, Delos was a major cult centre, where the [[List of Greek deities|gods]] [[Dionysus]] and [[Leto]], mother of the twin [[deities]] Apollo and Artemis, were revered. Eventually acquiring [[Panhellenic sanctuary|Panhellenic]] religious significance, Delos was initially a religious [[pilgrimage]] for the [[Ionians]].

A number of "[[Ritual purification|purifications]]" were performed by the city-state of [[Athens]] in an attempt to render the island fit for the proper worship of the gods. The first took place in the sixth century BC, directed by the tyrant [[Peisistratos (Athens)|Pisistratus]], who ordered that all graves within sight of the temple be dug up and the bodies moved to another nearby island. In the fifth&nbsp;century BC, during the sixth year of the [[Peloponnesian War]] and under instruction from the [[Delphi|Delphic Oracle]], the entire island was purged of all dead bodies. A new decree was eventually issued, so that no one should be allowed to be buried or give birth on the island due to its sacred importance, and to preserve its neutrality in commerce since no one could then claim ownership through inheritance. Immediately after this purification, the first [[quinquennial]] festival of the Delian games were celebrated there.<ref>Thucydides, III,104.</ref> Four years later, all inhabitants of the island were removed to [[Adramyttium]] in Asia as a further purification.<ref>Thucydides, V,1.</ref>

After the [[Persian Wars]], the island became the natural meeting ground for the [[Delian League]], founded in 478&nbsp;BC, the [[congresses]] being held in the temple (a separate quarter was reserved for foreigners and the [[sanctuaries]] of foreign [[deities]]). The league's common [[treasury]] was kept here as well until 454&nbsp;BC, when [[Pericles]] removed it to Athens.<ref>Thucydides, I,96.</ref>

During the [[Hellenistic period]], a well-established [[Phoenician colony]] on the island had extensive trade relations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boussac |first=Marie-Françoise |date=1982 |title=À propos de quelques sceaux déliens |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/bch_0007-4217_1982_num_106_1_1923 |journal=Bulletin de correspondance hellénique |language=fr |volume=106 |issue=1 |pages=445–446 |doi=10.3406/bch.1982.1923 |issn=0007-4217}}</ref>

The island had no productive capacity for [[food]], [[fiber]], or [[timber]], which were all imported. Limited [[water]] was [[Exploit (natural resources)|exploited]] with an extensive [[cistern]] and [[aqueduct (watercourse)|aqueduct]] system, [[Water well|wells]], and [[Sanitary sewer|sanitary drains]]. Various regions operated ''[[agora]]e'' (markets).

[[Suda]] writes that the Greeks used the proverb "ᾌδεις ὥσπερ εἰς Δῆλον πλέων", meaning you sing as if sailing into Delos in reference to someone who is happy, light-hearted, and enjoying himself.<ref>[http://www.poesialatina.it/_ns/greek/testi/Suda/Lexicon.html Suda, alpha, 455]</ref>

[[Iamblichus]] writes that Delos Mysteries (similar to the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]]) were established.<ref>Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras, § 28.151</ref>
{{clear}}

[[Semos of Delos]] (Σῆμος ὁ Δήλιος) wrote many works, including 8 books about the history of Delos. The Suda mistakenly lists him as being from [[Elis]].<ref>[https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/sigma/327 Suda, Sigma, 327]</ref>

===Roman era=== 
[[Strabo]] writes that in 166&nbsp;BC, the Romans converted Delos into a free port, which was partially motivated by seeking to damage the trade of [[Rhodes]], at the time the target of Roman hostility. In 167 or 166&nbsp;BC, after the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] victory in the [[Third Macedonian War]], the [[Roman Republic]] ceded Delos to the [[History of Athens|Athenians]], who expelled most of the original inhabitants.<ref>{{citation|last=Tang|first=Birgit|title=Delos, Carthage, Ampurias: the Housing of Three Mediterranean Trading Centres|year=2005|location=Rome|publisher=L'Erma di Bretschneider (Accademia di Danimarca)|isbn=8882653056|page=14|postscript=.}}</ref> Roman traders came to purchase tens of thousands of slaves captured by the [[Cilician pirates]] or captured in the wars following the disintegration of the [[Seleucid Empire]]. It became the center of the slave trade, with the largest [[slavery|slave market]] in the larger region being maintained here.

The [[Battle of Corinth (146 BCE)|Roman destruction of Corinth]] in 146&nbsp;BC allowed Delos to at least partially assume Corinth's role as the premier trading center of [[History of Greece|Greece]], but Delos' commercial prosperity, construction activity, and population waned significantly after the island was assaulted by the forces of [[Mithridates VI of Pontus|Mithridates&nbsp;VI]] of [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontus]] in 88 and 69&nbsp;BC, during the [[Mithridatic Wars]] with Rome.<ref>{{citation|last=Tang|first=Birgit|title=Delos, Carthage, Ampurias: the Housing of Three Mediterranean Trading Centres|year=2005|location=Rome|publisher=L'Erma di Bretschneider (Accademia di Danimarca)|isbn=8882653056|pages=14, 32|postscript=.}}</ref> Before the end of the first century BC, trade routes had changed; Delos was replaced by [[Puteoli]] as the chief focus of Italian trade with the east, and as a cult centre, too, it entered a sharp decline. 

Despite its decline, Delos maintained some population in the early Roman Imperial period. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (8,33,2), writing in the second century AD, states that Delos was uninhabited apart from a few custodians of the sanctuaries. Evidence has been found of Roman baths, coins, an aqueduct, residential and elite houses, multiple churches, basilicas, and a monastery all from the first to sixth centuries AD, which, however, does not suggest that the island was continuously inhabited in the period.<ref>{{Cite book|last=DODD, EMLYN K.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1139263254|title=ROMAN AND LATE ANTIQUE WINE PRODUCTION IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN : a comparative ... archaeological study at antiochia ad cragum.|date=2020|publisher=ARCHAEOPRESS|isbn=978-1-78969-403-1|location=[Place of publication not identified]|oclc=1139263254}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Le Quéré |first=Enora |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/919408437|title=Les Cyclades sous l'Empire romain : histoire d'une renaissance|date=2015|publisher=Presses universitaires de Rennes|others=Impr. Université Rennes 2)|isbn=978-2-7535-4045-3|location=Rennes|oclc=919408437}}</ref> The pottery found indicates that produce, such as wine and oil, continued to be imported from regional centres. Also, a number of wine presses were found amidst the ruins of the ancient city that date to this period, suggesting that the population at this time was engaged in considerable viticultural endeavour.<ref>{{Cite book|last=DODD, EMLYN K.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1139263254|title=ROMAN AND LATE ANTIQUE WINE PRODUCTION IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN : a comparative ... archaeological study at antiochia ad cragum.|date=2020|publisher=ARCHAEOPRESS|isbn=978-1-78969-403-1|location=[Place of publication not identified]|oclc=1139263254}}</ref>

Delos was eventually abandoned around the eighth century AD.<ref>{{Cite book|last=DODD, EMLYN K.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1139263254|title=ROMAN AND LATE ANTIQUE WINE PRODUCTION IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN : a comparative ... archaeological study at antiochia ad cragum.|date=2020|publisher=ARCHAEOPRESS|isbn=978-1-78969-403-1|location=[Place of publication not identified]|oclc=1139263254}}</ref>

==Landmarks==
[[File:GR-delos-agora-compitaliasten.jpg|thumb|The [[Agora of the Competaliasts]]]]
* The small [[sacred lake]] in its circular bowl, now intentionally left dry by the island's caretakers to suppress the spread of malaria-bearing mosquitoes,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/greece/attractions/sacred-lake/a/poi-sig/1445123/359417|title=Sacred Lake {{!}} Greece Attractions|website=Lonely Planet|language=en|access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref> is a [[topographical]] feature that determined the placement of later features.
* The [[Minoan Fountain]] was a rectangular public well hewn in the rock, with a central column; it formalized the sacred spring in its present sixth-century BC form, reconstructed in 166&nbsp;BC, according to an inscription. Tightly laid courses of [[masonry]] form the walls; water can still be reached by a flight of steps that fill one side.
* Several market squares were found; the [[Hellenistic]] [[Agora of the Competaliasts]] by the Sacred Harbour retains the [[postholes]] for market [[awnings]] in its stone paving. Two powerful Italic [[merchant guild]]s dedicated statues and columns there.
* The [[Temple of the Delians]], dedicated to Apollo, is a classic example of the [[Doric order]]. Beside the temple, once stood a colossal [[kouros]] of Apollo, only parts of which remain. Dating to the sixth&nbsp;century BC, parts of the upper torso and pelvis remain ''[[in situ]]'', a hand is kept at the local museum, and a foot is in the [[British Museum]].<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=459768&partId=1&place=34473&plaA=34473-3-1&page=1 British Museum Collection]</ref>
[[File:Terrace of the Lions 03.jpg|thumb|The Terrace of the Lions]]
* The Terrace of the Lions, also was dedicated to Apollo by the people of [[Naxos Island|Naxos]] shortly before 600&nbsp;BC. It originally had 9–12 squatting, snarling marble guardian lions along the Sacred Way; one was removed and is presently situated over the main gate of the [[Venetian Arsenal]]. The lions create a monumental avenue comparable to Egyptian [[Avenue of Sphinxes|avenues of sphinxes]]. (A Greek sphinx is in the Delos Museum.) Today, only seven of the original lions remain.
* The Oikos of the Naxians (House of the Naxians), first quarter of sixth&nbsp;century BC, has a long hall with one central ionic colonnade, a west porch tristyle in antis, and an east marble prostasis of the middle of the sixth&nbsp;century BC.<ref>Gruben G., Griechische Tempel und Heiligtümer, München, 2001</ref> 
* The Establishment of the Poseidoniasts, clubhouse of "the [[Koinon]] of the [[Berytian]] Poseidoniast merchants, shipmasters, and warehousemen",<ref>{{cite book|title=Gazette numismatique suisse| year=1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UN0KAQAAMAAJ|page=124}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Carter|first=Jane B.|chapter=Thiasos and Marzeaḥ|year=1997|editor-last=Langdon|editor-first=Susan|title=New Light on a Dark Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FxoAAAAMAAJ|page=99|publisher=University of Missouri Press |isbn=9780826210999 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title =Hephaistos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-JLAAAAYAAJ|year=2006|page=129}}</ref> during the early years of Roman [[hegemony]], late 2nd&nbsp;century BC. To their protective triad of [[Baal]]/[[Poseidon]], [[Astarte]]/[[Aphrodite]] and [[Eshmun]]/[[Asklepios]], they added [[Roma (mythology)|Roma]].
[[File:House of Dionysos 01.jpg|thumb|right|The 'house of Dionysus' named after a mosaic of Greek god [[Dionysus]] riding a panther]]
* The [[Doric order|Doric]] Temple of Isis was built on a high, overlooking hill at the beginning of the Roman period to [[venerate]] the familiar trinity of [[Isis]], the Alexandrian [[Serapis]], and [[Anubis]].
* The Temple of Hera, ''circa'' 500&nbsp;BC, is a rebuilding of an earlier Heraion on the site.
* The House of Dionysus is a luxurious second-century private house named for the floor [[mosaic]] of Dionysus riding a [[panther (legendary creature)|panther]].
* The House of the Dolphins is similarly named from its [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]] mosaic, where [[Erotes (Mythology)|erotes]] ride [[Delphinus|dolphins]]; its [[Phoenicia]]n owner commissioned [[Mosaics of Delos|a floor mosaic]] of [[Tanit]] in his [[Vestibule (architecture)|vestibule]].
* The [[Stoivadeion]] dedicated to [[Dionysus]] bears a statue of the god of wine and the [[Energy (esotericism)|life-force]]. On either side of the platform, a pillar supports a colossal [[phallus]], the symbol of Dionysus. The southern pillar, which is decorated with relief scenes from the Dionysiac circle, was erected around 300&nbsp;BC to celebrate a winning theatrical performance. The statue of Dionysus was originally flanked by those of two actors impersonating ''Paposilenoi'' (conserved in the [[Archaeological Museum of Delos]]). The marble theatre is a rebuilding of an older one, undertaken shortly after 300&nbsp;BC.
* The “[[Delos Synagogue]]”, the ruins of what was once believed to be an ancient [[Samaritans|Samaritan]] [[synagogue]].<ref name=Delos>[https://archive.today/20120907135251/http://www.pohick.org/sts/delos.html Delos<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==Current population==
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2025}}
The 2001 Greek [[census]] reported a population of 14 inhabitants on the island. The island is administratively a part of the [[Communities and Municipalities of Greece|municipality]] of Mýkonos.

According to more recent numbers, in 2011 the island counted 24 inhabitants.

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="154px">
File:Theatre Quarter, Delos 04.jpg|The Theatre Quarter
File:Sacred Way, Delos 03.jpg|Sacred Way
File:Establishment of the Poseidoniasts, Delos 01.jpg|Establishment of the Poseidoniasts
File:Delos House of Dionysus floor mosaic.jpg|[[Mosaics of Delos|House of Dionysus floor mosaic]]
File:House of the Masks 01.jpg|[[Mosaics of Delos|House of the Masks]]
File:House of Cleopatra, Delos.jpg|House of Cleopatra
File:Delos House of Cleopatra.jpg|Statues at the House of Cleopatra
File:Ancient Delos.jpg|[[Mosaics of Delos|House of the Lake]]
File:Temple of Isis, Delos 03.jpg|Temple of [[Isis]]
File:Bust of Hermes, Delos 01.jpg|Bust of [[Hermes]]
File:Mosaic from the Insula of the Jewellery 04.jpg|[[Mosaics of Delos|Mosaic from the Insula of the Jewellery]]
File:Dolphins in Delos.JPG|[[Mosaics of Delos|A mosaic on the floor of the House of the Dolphins]]
File:Agora of the Italians, Delos 02.jpg|Agora of the Italians
File:Heraion, Delos 02.jpg|Heraion (Temple of [[Hera]])
File:House of the Trident 03.jpg|[[Mosaics of Delos|House of the Trident]]
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Delia (festival)]]
*[[Delian problem]]
*[[History of the Cyclades]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading and viewing==
*Reger, Gary (1994) ''[https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft6g50071w;brand=ucpress Regionalism and Change in the Economy of Independent Delos].'' Berkeley, Los Angeles and Oxford: University of California Press.
*{{cite book |last1=Tréheux |first1=Jacques |title=Études critiques sur les inventaires de l'indépendance délienne |date=2023 |publisher=École Française d'Athènes |location=Athènes |isbn=9782869585669}}
*Vial, Claude (1984) ''[https://cefael.efa.gr/detail.php?site_id=1&actionID=page&serie_id=BCHSuppl&volume_number=10&issue_number=0&page_number=3&page_type=0 Délos indépendante].'' Bulletin de correspondance hellénique Supplement X. Athens.
*Vial, Claude (2008) ''Inscriptions de Délos. Index, tome II: les Déliens'' (Paris: De Boccard)
* ''Delos: Island at the Center of the World''. Princeton, New Jersey: Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2006.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Delos}}
*[http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2371 Hellenic Ministry of Culture site: Delos]
* [https://artsandculture.google.com/story/NQVxUJSkeqYbfw Delos] UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061019194133/http://www.efa.gr/histoire/histoire1870_03.htm EfA website with history of the Delos Archaeological site] {{in lang|fr}}
*[http://www.attalus.org/docs/inscriptions2.html#region7b English translations of inscriptions from Delos]
*[http://www.wikimapia.org/#y=37391982&x=25268383&z=12&l=19&m=a Delos Island on WikiMapia]
*[http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/599588 The Barrington Atlas Directory notes: Delos GRE] 
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle= Delos |volume= VII |page=51 |short=1}}

{{Delos}}
{{Aegean Sea}}
{{The Cyclades}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Greece}}
{{Ancient Greece topics}}
{{Phoenician cities and colonies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Delos| ]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek geography]]
[[Category:Islands of Greece]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Greece]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek sanctuaries in Greece]]
[[Category:Landforms of Mykonos]]
[[Category:Islands of the South Aegean]]
[[Category:Delian League]]
[[Category:Populated places in the ancient Aegean islands]]
[[Category:Phoenician colonies in Greece]]