The Connection Between Khirbet Qumran and the Scrolls Found Nearby
According to de Vaux, there is a clear link between the site of Khirbet Qumran and the
caves in which the scrolls were discovered. He pointed to similarities in the ceramic as-
semblage uncovered at the site and also in the caves.^739 This view gained widespread ac-
739
The unusual ceramic storage jars with lids (which have come to be known as ‘scroll jars’) that appear at
Khirbet Qumran were also found in the most of the caves that contained scrolls. In addition, other ceramic
materials identifiable with the site of Qumran were discovered in the same archaeological context as the
scrolls, namely pots, jugs, juglets and lamps (see R. de Vaux, Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls, 57,
and pl. XL). Up to 30 caves contained evidence of the same pottery types that are almost unique to the
Qumran site, with 11 of these caves also containing scrolls. Only Cave 5 contained scroll fragments with-
out any ceramic evidence (R. de Vaux, Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls, 101). The connection be-
tween the scroll finds and the inhabitants of Qumran Period II seemed clear to de Vaux: “...in most cases
[the ceramic assemblage] belongs exclusively to this general class... In some cases forms characteristic of
both periods [Ib and II] have been found in the same cave, and no cave can be positively stated to have
been used only during Period Ib. The forms most frequently occurring, and in many instances the only ones
attested, are the cylindrical jars, the lids, and the bowls, and these are, in fact, common to both periods. The
greater part of the materials which have survived probably belongs to Period II” (R. de Vaux, Archaeology
and the Dead Sea Scrolls, 54, and see also 102-104). Recent analyses of the ceramic finds from several
sites show that a significant proportion of the clay used at sites such as Qumran, Ein Ghuweir and Masada
came from deposits not local to Qumran. See the analyses of J. Yellin, M. Broshi, and H. Eshel, "Pottery of
Qumran and Ein Ghuweir: The First Chemical Exploration of Provenience," Bulletin of the American
Schools of Oriental Research 321 (2001) 65-78, and J. Yellin, Masada IV. The Yigael Yadin Excavations
1963 - 1965 Final Reports (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1994). In particular, examples from the
characteristic Qumran assemblage, namely the four scroll jars and three lids examined, were all shown to
be manufactured using Jerusalem clay. In fact, about half of the material analysed from Qumran did not
originate from that site (see J. Yellin, M. Broshi, and H. Eshel, "Pottery of Qumran and Ein Ghuweir," 75).
Subsequent analyses have upheld this conclusion – see J. Gunneweg and M. Balla, "Neutron Activation
Analysis, Scroll Jars and Common Ware," Fouilles de Khirbet Qumrân et de 'Aïn Feshkha II: Khirbet
Qumrân et 'Aïn Feshkha: Presentées par Jean-Baptiste Humbert et Jan Gunneweg (Academic Press: Fri-
bourg, 2003) 3-53, and J. Michniewicz and M. Krzysko, "The Provenance of Scroll Jars in the Light of
Archaeometric Investigations," Fouilles de Khirbet Qumrân et de 'Aïn Feshkha II: Khirbet Qumrân et 'Aïn
Feshkha: Presentées par Jean-Baptiste Humbert et Jan Gunneweg (Fribourg: Academic Press, 2003) 59-
- Added to this is the fact that “a potter's atelier and two kilns operated at Qumran for about a century and
a half to serve a small and austere community. Such activity ..., in a site lacking outstanding clay and
cheap energy, can be explained only by the community's adherence to strict purity laws” (J. Yellin, M.
Broshi, and H. Eshel, "Pottery of Qumran and Ein Ghuweir," 73). It would appear that the Qumran inhabi-
tants’ requirements for ritually pure vessels were such that pottery production at the site was supplemented
by imported clay or finished goods (most likely the former, according to J. Magness, "Qumran: The Site of