Object description

Rineia or Rhenea , anciently Rheneia or Rhenaia , or Rhene , is a Greek island in the Cyclades. It lies just west of the island of Delos and further southwest of the island of Mykonos, of which it and Delos are administratively a part. Its area is 14 km . It had a small population until the 1980s, but is currently uninhabited. In ancient times the island was subdued by the tyrant Polycrates of Samos and dedicated to the Delian Apollo; and the southern half of the island was the necropolis of Delos. In the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War , the Athenians purified Delos. They removed all the tombs from that island, and declared it to be unlawful henceforth for any living being to be born or die within it, and that every pregnant woman should be carried over to the island of Rheneia in order to be delivered.