Qumran

Location of Jerusalem near the Dead Sea.

Qumran (Arabic: خربة قمران, Khirbet Qumran; Hebrew: חירבת קומראן, Khirbet Qumran) is the name given to the region of the upper Dead Sea and the city ruins, which are best known for being the site where the famous Dead Sea scrolls were found. The scrolls were discovered in a remote cave 13 miles east of Jerusalem between 1947-1956. The first scrolls were discovered by three local shepherds in 1947 who were tossing rocks at cave openings to entertain themselves while they were tending their sheep. The scrolls that had apparently been hidden by the people of Qumran included many books of the Bible and other non-canonical books of religious significance.[1]

Caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden.

History

Qumran is a ruin from the day of the Second temple.[2] Many Scientists believes that the city of Qumran was built in Iron Age II. And also scientists are guessing the Qumran probably was the site where is known as the Biblical “Ir ha-Melah” the city of salt. During the Jewish War (132-135 AD) Qumran was stormed by Roman soldiers, and the place was controlled by them. Hirbat Qumran the place near the Dead Sea Scrolls was excavated during 1952-1956.[3]

The Ruins of Qumran

Ruins of Qumran

The site of Qumran ruins had been occupied by a several different groups of people. At a low level, walls and pottery were found which would be probably from Iron Age II (8-7^th Centuries BC). A deep circular cistern belongs to this period. This was probably the place known as the Biblical "Ir ha-Melah" - City of Salt.

In about 130 BC, new occupants cleared circular cistern, and made two rectangular cisterns, constructed few rooms, and installed two pottery kilns. Two and three story buildings were constructed 30 years later.

This site was stormed and ruined by Romans during Jewish war, and then occupied by a Roman garrison for 20 years. Judea which was also ruled by Romans had a system known as manor house. These manor houses were usually placed where they could be protected and each had an evident fortified tower. The tower, when not used for defense, was used for agricultural storage. This manor house system exactly fit the house of Qumran. Qumran is located on a raised plateau. The square building in the center was called the “main building.” The main building of Qumran was a square house just like other manor houses such as Qasr e-Leja, Aroer and Khirbet el-Muraq. Manor houses are also characterized by their size which again, main building of Qumran also fits. The main building, constructed of large undressed stones, occupied about 37 square meters which is comparable to other manor houses. The main building also had a strong tower in its northwestern corner. [4] Industrial areas were surrounding the main building. For example, a large kiln was recovered at the east of the main building. A wine press lies at south of the main building. West of the main building were workshops which were mostly related to agricultural processing such as baking ovens, plastered vats, shallow pools, kilns, silos for grain storage, grinding stones. [5]

Artifacts

Dead Sea Scrolls presented the scrolls, which were founded from Qumran site, also, lots of artifacts were founded from Qumran site with the scrolls (from May to August 1993). [6] The artifacts from Qumran site showed how people lived, what objects were used to write the scrolls. Because the artifacts show Qumran society and life style of Qumran, they are great evidences to know Qumran more with the scrolls. Lots of the artifacts were founded and they will be presented below:

Picture Gallery

Jar with Lid (When people found out the scrolls, they were placed in the jar. A scroll jar is cylindrical shape with a lid. Because the scrolls were placed in the scroll jars, maybe the scrolls were kept nicely.)
Linen Cloth (Linen cloth was used for covering a scroll jar. One side of cloth was sewed, and other side of the cloth wrapped the jar.)
Tabs (They were used when people tried to hold scrolls.)
Thongs (They were used with tabs to bind and secure scrolls or manuscripts.)
Combs (People used combs as we are using those. Combs from Qumran looked similar to our combs. But there is a difference. The combs were founded from Qumran were two-sided. Teeth from one side were close, but teeth from other side were wide. With different distant of teeth, each side worked differently.)
Bowl (Qumran people are human as us, so they needed to have dishes for food. Bowls were one of the dishes to keep food.)
Qumran Pottery Examples (Pottery was developed in Qumran. All the plates, dishes, and jars were pottery objects.)
Two-handled Jar (This jar is one type of the jars. It has short wide neck and fat body. Two handles were placed to the body to carry the jar easily.)
Herodian Lamp (When night comes, people needed light to see. So they invented one thing, which is a lamp. Herodian Lamp is one the lamps. This lamp had flat base, long neck, wide opening filling hole.)
Plates (They are one of the important things with bowls. People from Qumran used bowls, plats, jars, and goblets a lot. Lots of plates were founded from one of the rooms from Qumran. As the jar and bowls, the plates were used for holding food.)
Stacked Goblets (With jars, plates, bowls, stacked goblets were founded. The goblets were V-shape. The goblets were used to drinking water or keeping liquid. Also, they could hold food. The goblets did not have any handle.)
Jug (A jug had long thin neck, round shaped body, and a handle from top of the neck to the bottom of the neck.)
Cooking pot (It was discovered from kitchen a lot. Qumran people used cooking pot to cook food. The picture gallery shows one cooking pot, but more than one cooking pot was founded from Qumran area.)
Bowls (They served same function as the bowl, which were previously showed.)
Basket Fragments (Basket fragments were discovered, so we could conclude that people from Qumran used a basket. Basket fragments were founded nearby the Dead Sea region. We can see the fragments were nicely sewed. Different colors of basket fragments were founded. Basket served as function as the bowel did that basket kept food or stored something.)
Cords and Ropes (Cores and ropes were used to bind something. Maybe they were used with tabs and thongs to bind scrolls or manuscripts.)
Sandal (One sandal was founded. It was “soleae” style. It was made by leathers. When people wear sandals, they needed to wind ropes around their ankles.)
Measuring Cups (The cups did not used to drink water, but they were used to measure liquid or powder. Measuring cups had various sizes. Each size represented some quantity. Two handles were placed to the body of cups.)
Large Goblet (It could be same as stacked goblets, but it was not V-shape. It has bottom as “handle”. The bottom of the goblet made it to stand well.)
The Qumran Hoard of Silver Coins (People from Qumran used coins as we are using now. The coins were silver, and somebody was carved on the coins. The coins were used to pay tax, and payments to the Temple.)
Inkwell (Inkwells were founded from Qumran area. One of the inkwells was pottery and another one was bronze. They were important thing to Qumran people, while people were copying down manuscript or writing down manuscript. Inkwell is cylindrical shape with a handle.)