ABC Wednesday, Q for Qumran

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and thanks to Roger. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with Q.

Drenthe or Drente is the green part in the north.

In the last week of September I stayed in Assen  with a relative. Assen is the capital of the  small province of Drenthe, in the north of the Netherlands. We were going to an exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the local museum.

Caves in Qumran

Qumran cave

You can find important extra information  on Dina's blog. She lives in Israel and has been there in Qumran. Her blog is: Jerusalem Hills daily photo. And her post about Qumran is written on November 5th, 2013.

Since the discovery of these Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947-1956, extensive excavations have taken place in Qumran. Nearly 900 scrolls were discovered. Most were written on parchment and some on papyrus.

The best-known texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls are the ancient religious writings found in eleven caves near the site of Qumran. Discoveries from additional sites yielded mostly documents and letters, especially papyri that had been hidden in caves by refugees from wars. Some of these writings survived as nearly intact scrolls.

Many scholars believe the location was home to a Jewish sect, probably the Essenes. Others propose non-sectarian interpretations, some of these starting with the notion that it was a Hasmonean fort that was later transformed into a villa for a wealthy family, or a production center, perhaps a pottery factory or something similar.

A large cemetery was discovered to the east of the site. While most of the graves contain the remains of males, some females were also discovered, though some burials may be from medieval times. Only a small portion of the graves were excavated, as excavating cemeteries is forbidden under Jewish law. Over a thousand bodies are buried at Qumran cemetery. One theory is that bodies were those of generations of sectarians, while another is that they were brought to Qumran because burial was easier there than in rockier surrounding areas.

The scrolls were found in a series of eleven caves around the settlement, some accessible only through the settlement. Some scholars have claimed that the caves were the permanent libraries of the sect, due to the presence of the remains of a shelving system. Other scholars believe that some caves also served as domestic shelters for those living in the area. Many of the texts found in the caves appear to represent widely accepted Jewish beliefs and practices, while other texts appear to speak of divergent, unique, or minority interpretations and practices. Some scholars believe that some of these texts describe the beliefs of the inhabitants of Qumran, which, may have been the Essenes, or the asylum for supporters of the traditional priestly family of the Zadokites against the Hasmonean priest/kings. A literary epistle published in the 1990s expresses reasons for creating a community, some of which resemble Sadducean arguments in the Talmud. Most of the scrolls seem to have been hidden in the caves during the turmoil of the First Jewish Revolt, though some of them may have been deposited earlier.

The entrance of Qumran Cave 11

Photo courtesy of:
Alexander Schick

While Hebrew is the most frequently used language in the Scrolls, about 15% were written in Aramaic and several in Greek. The Scrolls’ materials are made up mainly of parchment, although some are papyrus, and the text of one Scroll is engraved on copper.

Biblical ManuscriptsAbout 230 manuscripts are referred to as “biblical Scrolls”. These are copies of works that are now part of the Hebrew Bible.

PAM 43.784

A primary common factor among the selection of compositions found in the Qumran caves is the fundamental importance of religion.

Many of the 'sectarian' scrolls found in the Qumran caves emphasize spiritual purity and ritual purification through immersion in a ritual bath or 'mikveh' like the one shown here from Khirbet Qumran

Photo:
Tsila Sagiv

Among the finds in Qumran were these coins.

Silver tetradrachm from the Te'omim Cave, 134-135 CE Obv.: Façade of the Jerusalem Temple. Inscription: "Shim'on" Rev.: Bundle of Lulav and Etrog. Inscription: "For the Freedom of Jerusalem"
Photo:
Clara Amit

The Bar Kokhba Refuge CavesThe "Bar Kokhba refuge caves" preserved numerous documents including financial, military, legal, administrative, and personal records, as well as some religious texts including biblical Scrolls, brought to the caves by refugees seeking haven .