Qumran

When I knew I was coming to Israel, the two places I must see above all others were, first, the temple Mount, and second, Qumran. Today, on my final full day in Israel, I got to see both.

At Khirbet Qumran are the ruins of an ancient settlement adjacent to the hiding places of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves of the sheer desert cliffs overlooking the Dead Sea. The setttlement of Quran is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland. The settlement was built between 134 and 104 B.C. and was occupied continuously until its destruction by the Romans in about 68 to 70 A.D. Between 1947 and 1956 almost 1,000 ancient scrolls were discovered in caves above and near Qumran. Also, cisterns, water courses, Jewish ritual baths and cemeteries have been uncovered, together with assembly rooms, a tower and what many think was a great writing room or Scriptorium where many of the precious scrolls were written or copied.

I don't have space here to discuss the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves, but let it suffice to say that their discovery and slow translation has been the most explosive and paradigm-shifting event in Biblical scholarship of the past 1,000 years. The implications of the content of the scrolls fundamentally shifts our understanding not only of ancient Judaism, but early Christianity as well.

I was amazed by the great height of the mountains surrounding Qumran, and also by the depth of the two ravines that slope down on either side. Also I was unprepared for the massive nature both of the water system and the ritual baths in the structure. Seeing this site was a dream come true for this afficianado of history and religion.