Qumran Caves are a series of caves, some natural, some artificial, found around the archaeological site of Qumran in the Judean Dessert in the West Bank. It is in a number of these caves that the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The limestone cliffs above Qumran contain numerous caves that have been used over the millennia: the first traces […]
Yigael Yadin discusses his roles as an archaeologist and as an Israeli general.
Four archaeologists assess the site If you want to understand how archaeologists think, how they reason, how they work, how they interpret finds—and why they sometimes disagree—you will enjoy this discussion among four prominent archaeologists who know as much about Qumran and its excavation as can be known today. Long associated with the Dead Sea […]
Overview Overview- Excavation Secondary sources Qumran, Khirbet (M.R. 193127), Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, Anchor Bible Dictionary (ed. David Noel Freedman), Doubleday, New York 1992. The Archaeology of Qumran, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia 1994. Frank Moore Cross. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the People Who Wrote Them.” Biblical Archaeology Review […]
Everyone wants to know who lived at Qumran, the settlement adjacent to the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. And sometimes it seems that everyone has a different opinion. With hopes of helping to solve the riddle, I’d like to address the other side of this question- Who didn’t live there? Our […]
Not long after archaeologists confirmed the location of the cave where Bedouin shepherds had found the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls, an archaeological expedition was organized to excavate the nearby site known as Khirbet Qumran, the ruins of Qumran. Directed by a Dominican father, Roland de Vaux, the excavation and survey was sponsored by […]
During period Ib there were some workshops at Qumran. One in particular was used for making pottery. It had facilities for washing the clay in a shallow tank, a potter’s wheel, and kilns. It is likely that much of the pottery found at Qumran, which represents a particular, consistent, yet unique collection of styles, […]
The more than one thousand pottery vessels stacked according to type and located in a pantry next door to the dining room, together with the nearby kitchen, containing several fireplaces, have indicated that the group using these facilities held communal meals at Qumran.
The Dead Sea Scrolls Mikveh at Qumran A number of mikva’ot [ritual baths] were scattered throughout the Qumran buildings. Fed with the flowing water supply and lined with plaster, these baths were considered proper for fulfilling the various purification rituals prescribed by the Torah.
Wadi Qumran Wadi Qumran and the Ruins The Qumran site is situated in a wadi, or dry river bed. During the winter months, torrential rains fill the wadi. The runoff from the cliffs was collected in water tunnels and channeled into the settlement.