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Archaeology
Project
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Part 8. Were There Other Settlements Associated with Qumran? 
There are two
sites along the Dead Sea and near the Qumran compound that appear to be
associated with the Qumran site.
The first of these is at 'Ein Feshka, some 3 kilometers south of Qumran. Roland de Vaux excavated the site in 1956 during the second season of excavation at Qumran. He did not find any scroll jars, but the pottery that was discovered there was otherwise similar to that found at Qumran. The architecture of the site was that of a rectangular building consisting of rooms around a central courtyard. The site's main occupation period, determined by coins and pottery, was consistent with Period II at Qumran (thus 4 B.C.E.-68 C.E.). The site was also destroyed by fire. One tomb found at the site was oriented east-west, with the head facing south. Question #1: Based on the evidence presented here, do you think that either or both of these sites are associated with Qumran? This completes
the In-Class Archaeology Project. Spend the rest of class time today writing
up the results of your discussions. Highlight any questions you have so
that we can discuss them in class Wednesday, January 31 in Bannan 236
(our normal classroom).
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The second site that may be associated with Qumran lies about fifteen
kilometers to the south of it, at 'Ein el Ghuweir. It was excavated by
Pesach Bar Adon, and the results were first published in 1971. It consists
of a long room and kitchen, as well as another small room and other walls.
Magness dates the site to the Herodian period (37 B.C.E.-70
C.E.?). Two fires destroyed the site on two separate occasions.
A cemetery just north of the site included 18 tombs, all but five of which
were oriented on a north-south axis and had the same shaft-and-niche construction
of the Qumran tombs. Like the Qumran cemetery, stones were arranged on
top in an oval shape, with a large flat stone at the south (the "head")
end; the Qumran tombs also had such a stone on the north end of each grave.
Twelve of the graves contained men, while 6 contained women (Bar-Adon
does not indicate which of these are in the n-s graves). All of the bones
were red-stained. The men were between 18 and 70 years of age, while the
women were between 18 and 34 years of age. Four objects were recovered
from some graves, apparently cast in after the first ash was shoveled
in. These are all storage jars; one of them bears a Jewish name (Jonathan).
