FALl(:TI-IEDEADSEASCROll.')ANDQUMRAN 167ofacommunityofEsseneslivingneartheDeadSea southofjericho.^5
Thus,thesethreesubjects-ancientdescriptionsofEssenes,the ruinsat
Qumran,andabodyofsectarianwritings-quicklybecametiedtogether
ina triangularrelationshipofmurualillumimHion.
De Vaux's interpretation ofthearchaeological evidenceat Khirbet
Qumran,presentedina seriesoffieldreportsanda setoflecturestothe
BritishAcademyin1959,publishedinFrenchin 1961 andina revisedEng·
lisheditionin1972,hashadpervasiveinfluenceandisstillfundamentalfor
understandingthesite.^6 Hedistinguished[womainperiodsofoccupation
ofthesiteintheHasmoneanandEarlyRomanperiods,eachbroughttoan
endbya fierydestruction.Atthebeginningofthefirstperiod,a verysmall
communityresettledthesiteofa modestIronAgefort, butaftera brief
timetheygreatlyexpandedwithmanynewbuildings.DeVauxdifferenti-
atedthesetwophasesasPeriodslaandIb,althoughtherewerenocoins
toassociatewithPeriodlaandnogroundsfordistinguishinganyofthe
potteryfromPeriodlb. Onthebasisofthecoinevidence,deVauxcon-
cludedthat"it is certainthat thebuildingsofPeriod Ibwereoccupied
underAlexanderjannaeus"(103-76B.C.E.)andthatitcouldbe"possible"
lOpushbackthedateoftheexpansionto thereignofjohnHyrcanus
035-104B.C.E.).7Hisdifferentiationofapreexpansionsettlementof"short
duration"-Periodla-allowedhimtoextendtheoriginsofthefirstperiod
ofoccupationslightly earlieryel, at theouterlimits.lOdwith acknowl-
edged difficulty 10 the middle ofthesecondcentury B.C.E.8Thecoin
evidencefortheendofthefirst periodofoccupationwasambiguous,
mostnotablyfourcoinsofAn!igonusManathias(4(}-37B.C.E.),tencoinsof
HerodtheGreatfrom"mixedlevels,"anda hoardofcoinsinthreepots
foundbenealhtheashmarkingtheendofIbconwiningsilvertetradrach-
maswithdalesrangingfrom 126 to9/8B.C.E.9liearguedthattheI-Icrodian
coinsandthehoardproperlybelongedtoPeriodIIandinsteaddatedthe
destructionofIbto 31 B.C.E.byconnectingthefirewithevidenceofan
earthquake,whichheidentifiedwiththeonementionedbyjosephus(Ant.
15.121-147; War1.37(}-380).Accumulatedsedimentinthewatersystem
betraysa periodofabandonment,whichdeVauxsuggestedbsteduntil
neartheturnoftheerabecauseofthescarcityofHerodiancoinsinthe
5 Pliny,Natural/-li~tor)'5.73.SeeGel',,1VermesandM;lI'tinD.Goodlllan.ed~.tbeEsse,ws
accordillBlOtheClassicalSouYees(Oxford CentreTcXllx>oks I; Sheffield:J50TPn:ss,
1989),32-33.
6 RolanddeVaux,Archa('(JlogyandtheDead&'(1Scrolls(rev.cd,:Schwl:idll.ccluresof
lheBritishAcademy1959:l.ondon:OxfordUnivcr.-;ilyPress,1973).
7 Ibid..19,cf. 5
flIbid..5,It6-17.
9 Ibid.•22~23.34--35.