Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology in Biblical Studies Teaching (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)

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ruins.Thatis,thesettlementwasabandonedroughlythedurationofthe
reignofHerodtheGreat,aooutthirtyyears.Between 4 and 1 B.C.E.,the
StOlegroupresenledthesiteinPeriodII,assuggestedbythesimilarityin
pouerytypesanddistinctiveburialsofanimalbonesunderpotterysherds
in bOlh PeriodsIbandII. TheendofPeriod I( isagainmarkedby~l
destructionlayerofash. RomanarrowheadsandJewishcoinsfrom the
secondandthirdyearsoftheJewishRevah-bulnonefromthefourth-
suggestthatthisperiodofoccupationofKhirbetQUlllmncametoa violent
endin68/69C.E.Alimitedoccupationfollowingthisdestruction,probably
Romansoldiers,lastedatleastuntilthefallofMasadain 73 C.E.
DeVauxemphasizedseveralnotablefeaturesaboutthesettlement:it
consistedalmostexclusivelyofcommunalfacilities,includinga largehall
withanadjoiningpantlycontainingoveronethousandvessels;therewere
impressivewaterinstallations,includingseveralbaths;twoinkwellsand
theremainsoftablesandbencheshadcomefromanupperroom;nearby
wasacemeterywithabouttwelvehundredindividual shaftgravescare-
fullyarrangedinrowsandoriented(predominantly)south-north;a small
sampleofexcavatedgravescontainedadisproportionatelysmallnumber
ofwomenandchildren;anagriculturalandindustrialcenterthreekiJome·
terstothesouthalEinFeshkhawererelatedtotheseulemematQumran
duringPeriodsI-II;andthenearbycavesinwhichscrolls\verefoundare
connectedwithQummnbysimilarpouery.
Onthebasisofthematerialevidence,deVauxdepietedaJewishcom·
munityofuptotwohundred(mostlyorexclusively)men wholivedin
nearbycavesandtentsbutsharedacommunallife.Theyfarmednearby
andlaboredatcommunalworkshopsatQumranandEin Feshkha.TIley
atemealstogetherin a "refectory,~ prep:uedandlorcopiedscrollsin a
"scriptorium,"andobservedpurificationrites.
AlthoughdeVauxwasconvincedthatthereweresoundarchaeological
reasonsforconfidence[hatthescrollsfromnearbycaveswererelaledto
theselliementatQumran,hewascareful 10 notethat"archaeologycannot
provethatthepeopleofQunmmwereEsscnesorwererelatedtothem.
Thatis a questionofdoclrine,andtheanswer 10 itis tobesoughtfromthe
textsratherthanfromtheruins."IOMoreover,heSUitedthatthequestionof
whetherthematerblevidencefrom Qumrancontradictsorcorrobomtes
IheIheorythatthescrollsarerelaledtotheEsscncsis~inconclusive."Still,
he didseekto relalehisarchaeologicalfindingsto Iheoriesabout the
scrollsandtheEssenes.1lislimefmmejuslallowed,alil.Souterlimits,for
a foundingofIheselliememal rhetimeofJonathan0;2-143B.C.E.)or
Simon043-34B.C.E.), 10 accommodatetheoriesthatoneofthesewasthe

10 Ibid..J28.