The Dead Sea Scrolls are among the most interesting and important archaeological discoveries ever made, and the excavation of the Qumran community itself has provided invaluable information about Judaism and the Jewish world in the last centuries B.C.E. Like the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, the Qumran site continues to be the object of intense scholarly debate. In a book meant to introduce general readers to this fascinating area of study, veteran archaeologist Jodi Magness here provides an overview of the archaeology of Qumran and presents an exciting new interpretation of this ancient community based on information found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and other contemporary documents. Magness's work offers a number of fresh conclusions concerning life at Qumran
She agrees that Qumran was a sectarian settlement but rejects other unconventional views, including the view that Qumran was a villa rustica or manor house. By carefully analyzing the published information on Qumran, she refines the site's chronology, reinterprets the purpose of some of its rooms, and reexamines the archaeological evidence for the presence of women and children in the settlement. Numerous photos and diagrams give readers a firsthand look at the site. Written with an expert's insight yet with a journalist's spunk, this engaging book is sure to reinvigorate discussion of this monumental archaeological find.
“Fourth, de Vaux and Harding noticed that ‘sunk into the floor of one of the rooms was a jar identical with most of those found in the Scrolls cave [Cave 1].… We thus, even in the small area so far excavated, have a direct connection with the Scrolls.…’ In other words, they noticed that the pottery establishes a direct connection between the site of Qumran and the scrolls in the nearby caves. Lying on the floor next to the jar was a coin dated ca. 10 c.e.” (Pages 27–28)
“James VanderKam has observed that ‘perhaps it is not strange that the three books that appear on the largest number of copies at Qumran are also the three [Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Psalms] that are quoted most frequently in the New Testament.’” (Page 35)
“Qumran’s ancient name was Secacah. Secacah is one of the six desert towns listed in Joshua 15:61–62” (Page 25)
“As we shall see, all of the available evidence supports de Vaux’s interpretation of Qumran as a sectarian settlement.” (Page 15)
“noted that the same types of cooking pots and oil lamps found in Cave 1 were represented in the settlement.” (Page 28)
In the half century since Roland de Vaux excavated Qumran, the most important contributions to its archaeology have undoubtedly been made by Jodi Magness. Her erudite, painstaking, and levelheaded research has solved many of its problems. This book of hers is at once a first-rate scholarly work and a delightful read.
—Magen Broshi