Qumran

From Wikinfo

Qumran is located on a dry plateau on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea.

Jericho was captured around 68 CE by the Roman Legion to quash the First Revolt of the Jews. Jerusalem was next, then Qumran, a building of unknown significance -- perhaps a religious retreat or military fortification.

Ancient Israelites hid hundreds of parchment scrolls in the caves of the sheer desert cliffs near Qumran. The texts, now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, represent the beliefs and practices of many different Jewish sects. Many of them were selected for the library there when Qumran became the asylum for supporters of the traditional priestly family of the Zadokites against the Hasmonean priest/kings. A letter found in the 1990's expresses their reasons for creating the community, some of which mirror Sadducean arguments in Talmud.

Schiffman, Lawrence, �Origin and Early History of the Qumran Sect� Biblical Archaeology. Volume 58 Number 1, March 1995.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Qumran" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qumran, used under the GNU Free Documentation License