Dr. Gary
Gromacki
Associate
Professor of Bible and
Homiletics
Baptist Bible Seminary
Clarks Summit,
Pennsylvania
<ggromacki>at <bbc> dot <edu>
The term Qumran community refers to the community whose archaeological and literary remains were preserved at Khirbet Qumran and nearby caves. The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) were uncovered in some of the caves near Qumran. The ruins of the Qumran community are found on the plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. A wadi emptying into the northwest end of the Dead Sea is pictured here along with some of the caves where the DSS were found. The archaeological remains point to the use of the settlement at Qumran by a community between 100 B.C. and A.D. 68. Most DSS scholars believe that some Essenes lived in and around Qumran.
Magen Broshi lists five different views regarding the nature of Khirbet Qumran. None of these theories give adequate answer to these basic questions. How do we explain the existence of a huge library near Qumran? How can one account for the ten immersion pools in such a small site unless it was a religious sect devoted to cleanliness? Why is there a group of 1200 graves near the settlement?
1. A.D. Crown and L. Cansdale suggest that the site was a place of commerce on a major trade route. The problem with this view is that no major trade route, commercial or otherwise, passed by Qumran.
2. R. Donceel and P. Donceel-Voute propose that the site served as a villa rustica, but why would anyone bother to establish a rustic village here? There is no agricultural potential in this barren site. Qumran lacks the basic features of rustic villas. Had it been a villa we would expect to find mosaic floors, wall paintings, and a bathhouse or swimming pool.
3. N. Golb believes that Qumran was a Roman fortress. The problem with this view is that the compound lacks the prerequisites of a fortress. Its walls are too narrow and its entrances are unguarded.
4. Y. Hirschfield believes that Qumran is the remains of a fortified country estate. This is a hybrid theory that combines Donceel's view and Golb's view and the same critiques apply to it.
5. J. B. Humbert believes that the site was first founded as a country house and later became the seat of the Essene community.
Most scholars today believe that the Qumran community was the residence for the Essenes who copied the scrolls and served God as they waited for the coming of a religious and political messiah to deliver Israel from the Gentiles.(Magen Broshi, "Qumran: Archaeology" in Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Vol.2. [New York: Oxford University Press, 2000], 738).
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LINKS TO OTHER DSS WEB PAGES BY DR. GARY GROMACKI
Doctrine of God Doctrine of the Bible Doctrine of Man and Sin
Doctrine of Salvation Doctrine of the Community Doctrine of the Messiah
Doctrine of Eschatology Archaeology of Qumran Bibliography on the DSS
Web Sites on the DSS DSS Table of Contents