The 1948 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls proved to be the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century. But more than 50 years after their discovery, many questions remain as to who wrote them and who actually lived at the Dead Sea community of Qumran where they were discovered.
The 1948 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls proved to
be the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century.
But more than 50 years after their discovery, many
questions remain as to who wrote them and who actually lived at the
Dead Sea community of Qumran where they were discovered.
Thus far, archaeologists have excavated about 250
caves and crevices on the western side of the Dead Sea, said Steven
Ortiz, associate professor of biblical archaeology and director of the
Center for Archaeological Research at New Orleans Baptist Theological
Seminary.
Ortiz spoke about the scrolls and their significance
as part of the Gulf Coast Exploreum’s Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit and
lecture series in Mobile, Ala. The exhibit is set to end April 24.
In his lecture, Ortiz noted that after the 1948
discovery, archaeologists quickly looked to Qumran, with Father De Vaux
and G.L. Harding beginning an excavation at the mysterious community in
1951.
De Vaux excavated Qumran from 1951-56. He
hypothesized that during the time the Dead Sea Scrolls were produced,
Qumran was inhabited by the Essenes, a conservative Jewish sect.
“In the 1950s, this became common lore among
archaeologists,” Ortiz explained. “Most people accepted his
interpretation of the site.”
However, during the next 50 years, a variety of
developments led to disagreement about De Vaux’s original evaluation of
Qumran and the Essenes.
A widespread study of Jerusalem led to a better
understanding of first-century Judaism. Archaeologists unearthed
extravagant houses that pointed to a distinction between the rich and
poor. They also discovered a
large number of ritual baths that revealed Judaism’s emphasis on ritual
cleanliness. The improved understanding of ritual cleanliness would
prove to be particularly important to the study of Qumran, Ortiz noted.
In addition to that information, De Vaux’s
excavation techniques opened the door to greater debate about Qumran,
Ortiz noted.
“When De Vaux excavated, he did not excavate with
the best techniques,” he said. “He did not separate (the site) based on
a grid system. He had workmen excavate each room, and in each room, you
could have five or six different layers of floors. They were all
excavated as one, so, a lot of the material is mixed up.
“This allows for various interpretations, because
everyone is allowed to make his or her own guess on the data,” Ortiz
said. “We have anywhere from 10 theories on what Qumran is, ranging
anywhere from a military fort to a library to a religious cult center.
Most of these theories have only one major proponent.”
There are two main hypotheses regarding Qumran
currently in the archaeological community – the Essene hypothesis and
the Roman manor house theory.
Jodi Magness is a notable proponent of the Essene
idea, while Yizhar Hirschfield supports the theory that Qumran was a
Roman manor house. Magness is professor of early Judaism at the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Hirschfield is professor of
classical archaeology at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
This debate is not evenly divided, Ortiz said,
noting about 90 percent of scholars support the Essene hypothesis, and
most of the other 10 percent believe Qumran to be an ancient Roman
manor house.
Still, the debate is significant, he said.
Looking at Qumran from the greater context of the
Dead Sea region, a case can be made for it being a Roman manor house,
Ortiz said. The Romans commandeered the Dead Sea region to mine it for
its salts. Herod the Great also developed parts of the region.
“During the reign of Herod the Great, he built many
forts throughout the desert,” Ortiz said. “These were retreats and also
ways of escape. Herod knew that he was not particularly liked, so, he
made sure he had an escape route. We have a whole chain of forts going
all the way from Jerusalem down to Masada.”
As part of that, Hirschfield contends that Qumran
was not a sectarian community with the Essenes living there but a Roman
villa or a Roman fort, Ortiz said.
Hirchfield suggests a rich landowner loyal to Herod
was awarded the site at Qumran. On site were living quarters for the
landowner and rooms for industry.
However, interpreting the data from Qumran in this
way ignores a wealth of other evidence to the contrary, Ortiz said.
“Magness notes that, on the surface, it does look
like we have a fort here, but actually, Qumran is united by its water
supply,” Ortiz said. “The dominant features of the site are these
Jewish ritual baths.”
Water was scarce at Qumran, so, inhabitants had to
harvest it, harnessing the flash floods and occasional showers through
a series of aqueducts, Ortiz said.
“During the winter season, they would harvest the
winter rains,” Ortiz explained. “We have an elaborate aqueduct system
there. The Essenes would harvest this, and they had several water
channels.”
Elaborate water systems were common in Jewish desert
settlements, Ortiz said. In most Jewish settlements of the day, 60
percent of the water was used for water storage, while the other 40
percent was reserved for ritual baths.
At Qumran, this ratio is reversed.
“We can see the stark difference,” he said. “The
people living at Qumran were interested in this purification process.
They were interested in being purified from their daily activities.”
Besides the water system, the overall design of
Qumran points to the Essenes, Ortiz said. Qumran had a scriptorium
where scrolls were produced, a dining hall, a garden, stables, a bakery
and various workshops. These reveal a focus on daily life, Ortiz said.
In particular, the dining hall – with room for 120
people – provides strong evidence for the Essene community, he said.
Of course, the Qumran community is tied to the Dead Sea Scrolls – but its significance does not stop there, Ortiz said.
Indeed, he suggested the same motivations and
convictions that drove the Essenes to the barren Judean wilderness have
endured to today.
“I would propose that the issues the Essenes
encountered were the same issues that we encounter today,” Ortiz said.
“You had a group of Jews who desired to keep Torah and live a life of
purity. They were attempting to live their lives
within the religious framework of the temple and within the change that
Hellenization was bringing to society.”
Ortiz pointed to national elections last November as
proof that people still find it important to live out their religious
beliefs in view of the present political currents.
“We are similar to the inhabitants of Qumran as we
seek to balance the tension between faith and culture,” he said. (BP)
(The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit showcases seven
2,000-year-old biblical scrolls. For details, visit
www.scrollsmobile.com or call 877-377-7469. For more information on the
Center for Archaeological Research at New Orleans Baptist Theological
Seminary, visit www.nobts.edu/ArchaeologyCenter.)