site’s inhabitants (loci 91 and 110), almost half of the water capacity at Qumran was held
in ritual baths.^742 In fact, ten of the sixteen pools at Qumran have been designated as
miqva’ot, and eight of these have broad steps to allow for separation of those entering and
exiting the water.^743 Perhaps the best example is the miqveh at locus 138, at the north-
west extreme of the site. This structure was designed with two stepped entrances, each
occupying separate sides of the pool (the eastern and southern sides). This design clearly
indicates that there was a concern to have two defined access points. Their separation en-
sured that there would be no contact between those entering in an impure state and those
exiting in a pure state. The broad-stepped miqva’ot at loci 48, 56, 68, 71, 117 and 118
also served this purpose.^744
Certain texts, such as S, D, M, the pesharim, and MMT, seem to have been the product of
a Jewish sectarian group (or groups), whose beginnings are commonly thought to be
found among either the Essenes or the Sadducees.^745 The group’s members seem to have
Qumran Texts," JJS 31 [1980] 161-63, and more recently J.M. Baumgarten, "Tannaitic Halakhah and
Qumran - A Re-evaluation," Rabbinic Perspectives: Rabbinic Literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Pro-
ceedings of the Eighth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls
and Assiciated Literature, 7-9 January, 2003 [eds S.D. Fraade, A. Shemesh, and R.A. Clements; STJD 62;
Leiden: Brill, 2006] 3-10). 742
See J. Magness, Archaeology of Qumran, 147. Of the 577,800 litre capacity, ca. 259,000 litres were con-
tained in ritual baths. 743
744 See J. Magness, Archaeology of Qumran, 147-50.
See J. Magness, Archaeology of Qumran, 145 ff. As Magness has noted, this practice is mentioned in
the Temple Scroll (45 4-5), and also in the Mishnah ( 745 Sheqalim 8:2, and Middot 2:2).
Literature on this point abounds, but in general see F. Garcia-Martinez, "Qumran Origins and Early His-
tory: A Gröningen Hypothesis," The First International Colloquium on the Dead Sea Scrolls: Mogilany
Near Cracow, May 31-Jun 2, 1987 (ed. Z.J. Kapera; Folia Orientalia 25; Wroclaw: Zaclad narodowy
imienia Ossolinkich, wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 1989); L.H. Schiffman, "Origin and Early
History of the Qumran Sect," Biblical Archaeologist 58, 1 (1995); and P.R. Davies, "The 'Damascus' Sect
and Judaism," Pursuing the Text: Studies in Honor of Ben Zion Wacholder (eds J.C. Reeves and J.