No title

ISSN: 0006-0895

OF

lop

VOLUME40 NUMBER3

1977 SEPTEMBER

...

the Essenes, a community of complete

happiness,situatedbesidethe Dead Sea in the interior of Palestine somewherenear Sodom itself.-Dio

Biblical Archeologist is published quarterly (March, May, September, December) by the American Schools of Oriental Research in cooperation with Scholars Press. Its purpose is to provide the general reader with an accurate scholarly yet easily understandableaccount of archeological descoveries, and their bearing on the biblical heritage. Unsolicited mss. are welcome but should be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Address all to Biblical editorial correspondence Archeologist, 1053 LSA Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. Address business correspondence to Scholars Press, P.O. Box 5207, Missoula, MT 59806.

Published with the financial assistance of ZION RESEARCH FOUNDATION Boston, Massachusetts A nonsectarian Protestant foundation for the study of the Bible and the history of the Christian Church

Copyright @ 1977 American Schools of Oriental Research. Annual Subscription: $10.00. Current single issues: $2.50. Printed in the United States of America, Printing Department, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812.

Editor: David Noel Michigan

3

Freedman,

University

of

Editorial Committee: Frank M. Cross, Harvard University Edward F. Campbell, Jr., McCormick Theological Seminary John S. Holladay, Jr., University of Toronto H. Darrell Lance, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School

Credits:

Qumran:Thematerialremainsof the Communitysuggest

a well-organized life-style, which is confirmed by the literatureas well. In order to avoid excessive contact with outsiders, the covenanters produced most of what they needed at the settlement itself.

Photographs of Juba II (p. 127) from Portraits of the Greeks, used with permission of Phaidon Press, London. All other photographs by John C. Trever, Claremont, CA. Photograph on p. 116 @John C. Trever, 1970. Photographs on pp. 102, 103, 105, 107, 110, 112-113, 118, and 119 ? John C. Trever, 1972. Drawings and maps by Kent P. Jackson, Ann Arbor, MI.

Second Class Postage paid at Missoula, MT 59812 and additional offices

Of?~~

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor

100 THE ESSENES IN PALESTINE A fresh look at the covenant people of the Dead Sea Scrolls, their origin, their history, and their literature.

David Graf

125 THE PAGAN WITNESS TO THE ESSENES The Essenes, known almost exclusively from Jewish sources, caught the attention of two exceptional pagans-Pliny the Elder and Dio of Prusa.

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LETTER TO THE READERS

98

POLEMICS AND IRENICS

99 NEWS FROM THE FIELD 130 THIRTY YEARS AGO 132 COLOPHON

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS - RETROSPECTIVE

Letter to the Readers

The recentpublication of three major works on the Dead Sea scrolls serves to remind us of one of the most important and exciting archeological discoveries of modern times. As so often happens, the initial discovery was made entirely by accident, the nature and import of the material being grasped later and by others. All this began thirty years ago - in the summer of 1947 - at a critical time in the modem history of the Near East. Because of the high tensions in Palestine at the time when the British Mandate was drawing to a close and communications across the hardening defacto lines had all but broken down, news of the discovery leaked out slowly and in piecemeal fashion. By the beginning of 1948 the significance of the manuscript find from what would be called Cave I was recognized by a handful of leading scholars. The full dimensions of the extraordinary discovery became clear in time: seven relatively complete manuscripts approximately 2000 years old, containing texts of the Hebrew Bible and related literature,written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The survival of leather scrolls of such antiquity in Palestine was so unexpected that many scholars doubted their genuineness or their age or both, and the controversy, which proved to be irrelevant and pointless, nevertheless continued for years. What was immediately startling and remains impressive after thirty years is the discovery of extensive biblical documents and fragments about 1000 years older than any previously known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. Excerpts from the initial reports of this incredible discovery in Biblical Archeologist by G. E. Wright and the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research by W. F. Albright convey the excitement and the early evaluation of the materials by these eminent scholars. The current crop of publications includes a three-

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volume work by Yigael Yadin on the notorious Temple Scroll, a comprehensive study of the Enoch literature by J. T. Milik, and the first volume of a long-awaited series on the discoveriesfrom Cave 4 - this one by the late R. de Vaux and the aforementioned Milik. Yadin'sthree-volumework on the Temple Scroll is of the greatest significance for Qumran studies, both because the Scroll itself may be the most important of all the documents (and not just because it is the longest, although that is a factor), and because Yadin has been working on scroll materials for many years and is recognized as a leading authority in this field. His extended treatment of the War Scroll is the definitive work on the subject and his publication of the documents from Cave I secured by his father, E. L. Sukenik, is a model of its kind. The Temple Scroll adds substantially to our knowledge of the Qumran people and their attitude toward their fellow Jews, especially in the area of the holy: the Temple, its precincts, and the city in which it stood. The Temple of the Scroll is not the Temple in Jerusalem but a future sanctuary to be built there by God for the benefit and worship of the faithful, namely the Qumran group. The details will concern scholars for years to come, but the whole will shed enormous light on the conflicts among the various Jewish groups and their complex relationship to the temple cult. We welcome the first volume in the official Qumran series on the discoveries in Cave 4, which yielded the largest number of manuscript fragments, also in the worst condition. This volume deals with the circumstances of the discovery and the details of exploration and excavation. We look forward to the publication of the documents as soon as possible. The volume on the Enoch literatureby Milik is of the greatest importance. This elusive corpus occupies a unique strategical position in the extensive Jewish literature of the periods under discussion, since it has significant affinities with contemporary canonical and apocryphal books and with early Christian documents. The figure of the Son of Man, which plays such a

SEPTEMBER 1977

conspicuous role in the NT, appears in the so-called Parables or Similitudes of Enoch, and the latter has been regarded as a source of the former. Strangely enough, among the varied fragments of Enoch uncovered in the caves of Qumran, not a single excerpt from the Similitudes has turned up, leading some scholars to suppose that this part of the Enoch corpus is late and possibly dependent upon the Christian use of the term Son of Man, rather than the reverse. We are deeply indebted to Milik for his comprehensive survey of the Enoch corpus, including especially the detailed study of the Qumran fragments. This brings us to a propitious moment at which to review the work on the scrolls to date. After thirty years and countless articles and books by numerous scholars and others, what can be said about the present state of affairs? The record is mixed, as generally happens in human undertakings;extraordinary circumstances bring out the best and the worst in scholars, depending upon the quality of their persons as well as their works, and like a magnifying glass, expose virtues and vices for all to see. In the face of a huge quantity of manuscript materials, much of it so fragmentaryas to requirethe utmost ingenuity and patience in the work of preservation and restoration, the greatest part of the task was completed successfully years ago. The original team of scholars entrusted with the task of sorting and assembling, analyzing and synthesizing, has done its work well. Publication of results has been less successful and much of the surviving material has yet to appear in print. With the publication of the Temple Scroll, practically all of the major texts are now available to scholars and students. Many of the smaller fragments have also been published, but the glaring omission is Cave 4: it contained more material - all in fragmentary condition - than any other cave; while the task of sorting and piecing together, studying and interpreting was doubtless the most difficult of all, still after 25 years (the materials from Cave 4 came to light in 1952) we would expect that the materialswould all be available for study. When it comes to more general treatments, an amplitude of studies and interpretations has appeared. While many controversies persist among scholars, especially about details, the broad outlines have been fixed by and for the great majority, and the status of the question has been stabilized for some time. The date and provenience of the scrolls, the character and general history of the Qumran community, the background and setting in Jewish and Near Eastern history during the Hellenistic-Roman period - all these are a matter of widespread agreement, and it is possible for J. MurphyBIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

O'Connor to offer a synthesis on the basis of all available evidence, which we are pleased to publish. Looking backward, some of the evaluations and expectations expressed in print and orally now seem extravagant and misguided. What is more surprising is how well some scholars gauged the real importance and impact of these discoveries even on the basis of the initial partial finds and reports. Criticalquestioning, a necessary and valuable adjunct of sound scholarship, served to screen out some wild speculations and to channel serious inquiry, but persistent skepticism, indulged in by a small group of scholars, proved unrewarding. The genuine antiquity of the scrolls, the identity of the people of Qumran and the caves, their role in the history of the Jewish community, and significance of their writings for the understandingof contemporary Jewish thought - all these have been established beyond cavil. After thirty years, three points stand out: (1) The scrolls have made a major contribution to the study of the Hebrew text of the Bible. They come from a critical period in the history of scribal transmission, before the fixing of the proto-Massoretic text, probably in the Ist century C.E, but after the development of the major textual families. Thus among the scrolls are found examples of the principal text-types, and it is possible in some instances to recover or reconstruct much earlier, and often better, Hebrew texts than anything previously available. For one or two books we are talking about the state of the text in the 3rd or 4th century B.C.E.,an extraordinary and hitherto unexpected development. In the process, we have come to a new appreciation of the value of the LXX - the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible - in its various recensions and editions, as ultimately providing one of the oldest and best of the texttypes. (2) The scrolls along with the excavation of the community center at Qumran supply contemporary evidence and documentation of one of the principal groups in Judaism during the last 2 centuries B.C.E.and the Ist century C.E.The Essenes, their history, thought, worship, and life can now be recovered in a direct way far beyond anything provided by Josephus, Philo, and Pliny about this rathermysterious group. From their own writings - Manual of Discipline, Thanksgiving Psalms, Commentaries on biblical books, and many other works - we gain a firsthand picture of the Essenes and a good deal of incidental information about the other branches of Judaism and the Jewish community with whom they were in contact and often in conflict. As firsthand testimony of religious faith and practice in this period the

95

value of the materials which have been preserved is inestimable. (3) The scrolls provide rich background material for understanding the growth and development of different Jewish groups during the Ist century C.E.,and they shed light on the literarycorpora which emerge from the crises and struggles of that century. When the revolts had been suppressed and the many divergent groups had been reduced by destruction or compression or consolidation, the survivors could be traced to their origins and the character and content of their thought to these earlier sources. The scrolls provide many points of contact with early Christianity, emergent Rabbinic Judaism, and not least, that more shadowy phenomenon we know as Gnosticism which permeated the whole Mediterraneanarea and infiltrated in varying degrees the fabric of both Judaism and Christianity. Its roots, too, can be found in part at least in the Qumran documents. To sum up, the Qumran experience should be regarded as a scholarly success, somewhat qualified by certain shortcomings. In view of the circumstances of discovery and the way in which the materials dribbled into responsible hands, in almost every case only after passing through many others, we are lucky that so much has survived and been made available and accessible. We may deplore the fact that the discoveries in all the manuscript caves but one were made by amateurs and that conditions were scientifically controlled only after most of the documents were gone. But nothing much can be done about the beginning of such enterprises; discovery itself can hardly be regulated in advance, and happily restraints are as yet and probably always will be insufficient to prevent the chance find. Further along in the process, however, the responsibility of scholars can be recognized and defined more exactingly - and that has to do with the publication of new finds. The question is whether the traditional pattern is appropriate and acceptable any longer, especially with regardto great and important finds - that is, whether the precedure whereby a single scholar, or a small group can or should have the exclusive right to study and publish inscriptional materials at their own pleasure and discretion, thus effectively barring the scholarly community and ultimately the public from access to such materials. It is clear that once the new materials reach responsible hands, the owner or scholar assigned to work on them has a serious responsibility concerning the documents. Traditionally, it has been the view that such a scholar or scholars should have exclusive control of the materials until he or she had completed the process of

96

assembling, studying, and preparing the materials for publication. It was expected that the scholar in question would devote himself or herself assiduously to the work until it was completed - and that there be no undue delays and certainly no deliberate obstruction. Needless to say, different scholars have responded to these assumptions and expectations in different ways, and their performance has varied from the extreme of prompt and efficient (sometimes less than effective) publication to endless procrastination and delay. It can be said fairly that such a monopolistic system, which depends solely on the willingness and ability of the individual scholar to meet the expectations of his colleagues, has not proved successful, especially when the mass of data is great and the difficulty and/ or complexity of the deciphermentand interpretation require extended application. In recent years especially, the length of time between discovery and general publication of major finds has increased notably. It seems to me that a frank discussion of the issue is long overdue and that a new approach to the question should at least be considered. There can hardly be any dispute that those responsible for new discoveries should have the right to publish them. Furthermore, it makes for an orderly procedure if the official publication of the materials is assigned to particular, qualified scholars. In addition, ample time must be allowed for thorough study, extended analysis, and full treatment of the materials. Every effort should be made to expedite the official publication for the benefit of other scholars and ultimately of the interested public. However, imposing arbitrary or even flexible deadlines, while desirable, has not resulted in prompt dissemination of the data and is not likely to, since often a great deal of time is needed for adequate assimilation of the information and treatment of the problems. There is no reason, however, why the procedures outlined above should also include exclusive monopolistic control of the primary material by one or two scholars assigned to study the documents. On the contrary, the goals to which we all subscribe and aspire will be gained much more quickly and efficiently if the materials are made available in photographic reproduction or facsimile as soon as possible to the entire scholarly community. In that way, the designated scholar would not be working in isolation (always detrimental to the best scholarly results) or in secret with a few colleagues, but he would have the benefit of the wisdom and ideas of the whole community, and his own work could proceed that much more quickly and effectively. There is no reason why the so-called "official"publication must be the first to appear - much better if it were to

1977 SEPTEMBER

come at the end of a process of disclosure and refinement. It is a well-established fact that the decipherment and interpretation of documents proceed much more rapidly and successfully when many scholars are involved in the work then when few or one are. Therefore I propose that newly discovered inscriptions and documents be presented in a suitable format - namely, photographs, hand-copies, and preliminary transcriptions as soon after discovery as is physically feasible. Some time may be needed simply to sort and assemble fragments, or to unroll and copy or photograph damaged materials or those which are otherwise difficult to handle. But it should be possible to reproduce the texts within one year of discovery at the outside. In that way the world of scholarship would be much better served than it is now and needless roadblocks in the way of research would be removed. The history of scholarship in our field, which is much affected by archeological finds and especially new inscriptional materials, would be a much happier account of progress, not marred by endless frustration on the part of those who do not have access to pertinent data simply because someone else has exclusive rights in the matter, were such a plan followed. I do not expect that there will be unanimity on this subject and realize that there are many views and opinions

about a very vexing subject. We will be glad to hear from contributors and subscribers, scholars and non-scholars, and will report on reactions as well as provide equal time and space to the opposition. Let us hear from you. D. N. Freedman

N.B. I write as a guilty party, since I was assigned responsibility for the Leviticus Scroll from Cave 11 about ten years ago. There have been some diplomatic and other complications, but basically, the reason this document has not been published is that I was overloaded with other obligations and commitments which claimed my time. That is not an excuse, and I should either have published the scroll or returned it to the team for reassignment. Many if not most scholars harbor optimistic delusions about what they can and will do in the way of productive writing, and even after observing many colleagues fall into the pit, I have followed the same primrose path. We badly need a society like AA for "assignment addicts" who take on many more responsibilities than they will ever discharge successfully because they are unable to refuse and have a hopelessly unrealistic notion of their capacities and their work rate.

. next time in

.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

The Ark and Atrahasis

. How old is the wood which the Navarra expedition found on "Mt. Ararat?" Lloyd R. Bailey, in "Wood from 'Mt. Ararat':Noah's Ark?",examines the tests run on the wood recoveredby Fernand Navarra in his search for Noah's ark, concluding that the radiocarbon analysis points to a date no earlier than the 7th-8th centuries A.D.

...

Does the Atrahasis legend help us understand the Biblical account of the flood? In comparing and contrasting the two accounts, Tikvah Frymer describes how the Atrahasis narrative of the flood provides a structure for re-interpreting and reevaluating the flood stories in Genesis.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

97

Polemics and Irenics

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGISTwelcomes correspondence from its readers and will make every effort to print those letters, particularly, that bring new evidence or fresh opinions to bear on key issues. The editors reserve the right to edit for brevity and clarity.

Comments on (continued)

the

"New" Biblical Archeologist

It was a joy for me to receive a letter in late March, from 1977, Emily D. Wright, who was in a very real sense co-editor with her husband G. Ernest Wright of the early volumes of the BA. Her letter tells something about all that, and I think you will want to share it with your readers. Her picture of the new BA as a grand daddy which has been tippling at the fountain of youth is a fine tribute to the new staff. As one who worked with BA during its "middleyears",I heartily second her praise! We stand in a great tradition. Edward F. Campbell, Jr. (editor and co-editor of BA, 1959-75)

For some time now people have been writing and asking or remarking about the New BA. I didn't really know what they were talking about - supposing it to be nothing more than the red letter or full front page picture on the old format. Now that I behold the really, really, new BA, I can't believe my eyes! Nor can I believe it is Vol. 39! It seems only yesterday that my husband of seven months came bounding into the room (Millar Burrows' office and the only office ASOR had) with the first copy of our first "child" - hot off the "press!"We couldn't believe it really was. I don't think the "proper" Prof. Burrows was as overjoyed as we - at that bemused

"cherub"of the Renaissance on a publication (?) of the ASOR. But he was indulgent. Looking back, I still don't see how Ernest managed it so soon after our arrival - he had only begun the job at ASOR on Jan. 1. And all the previous fall, we had been laboring in Haverford to get the Ain Shems stuff in order for publication (and he was still writing text). Well there it was! To whom would we send it? And who would do the sending?(Guess who!) And once they'd seen the sample issue, would anybody buy it? And where was the money to come from for publicity? Incredibly, people did subscribe, and month by month we watched the subscription lists grow - requiring ever more subscription forms and bills to be cranked off the mimeograph machine. In less than a year, we were on our way to Chicago and McCormick (then "Presbyterian") Seminary. But with no one but Gladys Walton to run the New Haven office, we could not leave our "baby" there. So it went with us to ChalmersPlace. Imagine the logistics of editing (and mostly writing) in Chicago, a publication that was then duplicated in Ann Arbor and returned to our house, there to be inserted in special envelopes from another printer, hand-addressed, with bills enclosed as needed, sorted and tied for mailing. Meanwhile, the bookkeeping and address changes for all this were in New Haven, still! (And in those days, rarelydid anyone risk the expense of a long distance phone call). I have a vivid picture of me, far into the night, writing, writing until my hand wearied. And another mental picture of me, very large in front, sitting Indianfashion in the middle of the study floor at 842, surrounded by piles of addressed BA's - sorting them by states and cities - and inevitably misaddressing some and inserting bills with copies whose recipients had already sent their money to New Haven, unknown to us, and who would be very put-out at being billed again! Well, so it continued, until there was not only George, but David arriving to be coped with. At that point, I yelled "quits." Besides, by then the baby magazine had grown into a boy-sized journal in need of an addressograph. And now this! The "boy" has become a "grand daddy" - but a strange looking grand daddy. It has the look and color of extreme youth! Whose creation is this? To all of you on the Editorial Board and to whomever this grandmother's congratulations should go, please send them. For this rejuvenated BA certainly comes closer to following the original intent of the founder than the old BA did, for many a long year. Emily Wright SEPTEMBER1977

News from the Field

Excavations in Jenin One hundred ten kilometers north of Jerusalem is Jenin, a city identified with biblical En Ganim. The mound in the center of the city has been threatened by modern building. Only six dunams of the upper tell survived the construction of the bus station in 1962, and shops are beginning to nibble at the edges of the mound. From April through October in 1977 a small team from the Albright Institute in Jerusalem and Birzeit University attempted to rescue some history from two small plots on the east and west edges of the tell. Beginning at street level and excavating down more than 4 m., two major periods were well documented-the end of LB II and the end of EB I. The upper mound was not excavated but it is evident that Iron I and II is there cut into by a large Omayyad building of the 8th century A.D. The ceramic evidence for both EB I and LB II was sealed under the deep deposits of fallen brick wall. Following the 13th-century destruction, on the east side of the mound there was a much less impressive occupation. The main feature of the EB I level on the west side of Jenin was a reasonably well-preserved apsidal house and courtyard. The city council of Jenin has agreed to establish a corner of the city park for historical monuments and to reconstructthis earliest house at Jenin in the park. A. GLOCK DIRECTOR OF JENIN EXCAVATION

Tell Halif-Biblical Rimmon (?) A unique ceramic vessel of the late Iron Age was discovered in a tomb excavated at Tell Halif, Israel, during the 1977 season of the Lahav Research Project. The vessel, a shallow bowl ornamented in the center by a BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

single raised pomegranate (rimmon in Hebrew), has no known parallel. The bowl supports the theory that Tell Halif is the site of biblical Rimmon, which is mentioned in Josh 15:32as part of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah and in 19:7 as part of the inheritance of Simeon. During the Byzantine period Eusebius mentions the existence of two large Jewish villages in this region: Rimmon, probably located at the site of Khirbet Umm erRammamin (in Arabic, "The Mother of the Pomegranates") 1 km. south of Tell Halif, and Tilla (at Tell Halif, which according to early maps was occupied by the Arab village Khirbet Tilla). After the abandonment of the site at Tell Halif during the late Iron II period (ca. 700 B.C.E.) the resettlement of the region took place first at Umm er-Rammamin, which borrowed the ancient name of the neighboring site. When the tell was resettled later and the name was already taken, it was renamed Tilla (Aramaic, "The Tell"). The excavations at Tell Halif are carried out by the Lahav Research Project under the direction of Dr. Joe D. Seger, in affiliation with the American Schools of Oriental Research, the Hebrew Union College, and the Joe Allon Center for Regional Studies. The project is and involved in the historical, archeological, environmental study of the region surroundingTell Halif. During the first two seasons excavations were conducted in three fields where architectural elements of the Early Bronze, Late Bronze, Iron II, and Byzantine periods were uncovered. A survey of minor sites around the mound revealed the settlement patterns outside the walled city and helped to identify water and land resources. A study of the recent occupation by the Ramadin bedouin tribe in caves around the tell, which is complemented by interviews with remaining settlers, supplies the latest chaper of the history of Tell Halif. A fuller, illustrated report of the first two seasons of excavation at Tell Halif has been prepared by Joe D. Seger and Oded Borowski to appear in the next issue (December 1977) of Biblical Archeologist. ODED BOROWSKI EMORY UNIVERSITY

New Department of Antiquities Director in Jordan Dr. Adnan Hadidi, formerly Associate Professor of Archeology and Chairman of the Department of History and Archeology at the University of Jordan, has replaced Mr. Yaqoub Oweis as the new Director-General of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. Dr. Hadidi completed his B.A. in Ancient History and Archeology at the American University of Beirut, his M.A. in Near Eastern Archeology at the University of London Institute of Archeology, and his Ph.D. in Classical Archeology at the University of Missouri. JAMES A. SAUER

ACOR DIRECTOR

99

THE

ESSENES

IN

PALESTINE

J. MURPHY-O'CONNOR

The origin of the Essene movement and the community at Qumran has been the topic of scholarly debate since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. Now a reconstruction of the sect's history is made possible through careful reexamination of the Scrolls, the external witnesses, and the archeology of the settlement.

The history of the Essenes is tied to three key figures who appear in the Dead Sea Scrolls as the Teacher of Righteousness, the Wicked Priest, and the Man of Lies. In the language of spy stories these are cover-names, and the fundamental problem is to discover the historical figures whose identities lie hidden behind these cryptic designations. It is doubtful if deliberate mystification was intended. At the time of the writing of the Scrolls, the identities of these figures were well known. Our difficulties are created simply by our remoteness from the events. The situation is analogous to an African trying to deal with texts concerning the Irish Rebellion in 19161920 in which the principal personages appear as the Chief, the Big Fellow, and the Blacksmith. To someone close to the events these are immediately identifiable as Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins, and Sean McKeown Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, O. P., a native of Cork, Ireland, has been Professor of New Testament and Intertestamental Studies at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem since 1967. Since receiving a Th. D. at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in 1962, he has held several positions, including at the universities of Heidelberg and Tiibingen. In addition to numerous articles and books, he edited Paul and Qumran (London, 1968).

100

respectively, but the African would have to piece together the clues that the texts provide concerning their charactersand activities. We are in the same position with regard to the Scrolls, and the only procedure available is to createa portraitof each of the three figures and then try to relate these outlines to known historical personages. The field of investigation is limited by a number of factors. All of the archeological evidence indicates that the Scrolls were placed in the caves near Qumranprior to the destruction of the Essene settlement by the Romans in A.D. 68. This date, therefore, provides a definitive terminal point. None of the figures in question could have lived after this date. A second factor pushes the terminus ad quem still further back. The handwriting of the documents which are most important for a reconstruction of the history of the Essenes permits them to be dated within fairly narrow limits. The Rule (1QS) was copied in the period 100-75 B.C., the Pesher on Habakkuk (1QpHab) and the Pesher on Nahum (4QpNah) in the period 40-20 B.C.,and the Pesher on Psalms (4QpPsa) in the period 30 B.C.-A.D.20. We must also include the Damascus Document (CD) of which the only published version is based on manuscripts of the 10th and I Ith centuries A.D. found in Cairo. Eight copies of this

SEPTEMBER 1977

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445;

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A balconyoverlookingthe Dead Sea:the entranceto QumranCave4 providesthis dramaticview, lookingsoutheast over the narrowplainwhichextendsalong the west side of the lake. The caves in whichthe Essenemanuscripts werefound are situatedin the cliffs above the plain. document, however, have been found at Qumran. The copy found in Cave 6 is dated to the 1st century A.D.,but the oldest exemplar of the other seven, found in Cave 4, is dated in the period 75-50 B.c. Since none of the events can

be subsequent to the documents in which they are narrated, we are forced to say that the Teacher of Righteousness, the Wicked Priest, and the Man of Lies must have been active prior to the middle of the 1st century B.C.

Previous Reconstructions This time limit is accepted by the vast majority of scholars. Nonetheless, reconstructions of Essene history range over the whole period 200-50 B.c. The documents provide more specific information on the Wicked Priest than on either of the other two and so he is :',ersonages, necessarily the linchpin in any attempt to re-create the history of the Essenes. Various scholars have identified him with different figures of this period who are known both from the Books of Maccabees and from the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus. The principal candidates are Menelaus, who acquired the High

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST

Priesthood in 172 B.c. through a bribe paid to the king of Syria; Jonathan (160-143 B.C.) or Simon (143-134 B.C.), who were both High Priests and who carried on the Jewish revolt against Syria after the death of their elder brother, Judas Maccabeus; or finally, Alexander Janneus (103-76 B.c.), who was the grandson of Simon Maccabeus. Acceptance of any one of these hypostheses inevitably limits the possible candidates for the other two roles, and the resultant picture of Essene history will vary accordingly. In evaluating these theories we must distinguish two phases of Qumran research. In the first, which dates from the publication of the first documents to the early 1960's, the majority of scholars treated the Scrolls as a homogenous block of material. The effect of this presupposition is evident in the indiscriminate use of material from all texts to support particular suggestions and in the belief that certain distinctive terms and phrases have precisely the same meaning in all the documents. Lonely voices were raised against this assumption but they went unheard. The most that was achieved was the recognition that some documents were earlier than

101

others. But even in this there was no consensus, and scholars continued to treat individual documents as literary unities. The second phase began with the publication in 1963 of Gert Jeremias' book Der Lehrer der Gerechtigkeit.This provided the most detailed exegesis of all the referencesto the Teacher of Righteousness, but its most significant contribution was to show that the Hymns scroll (1QH) contained two distinct blocks of material which he termed the "Hymns of the Teacher" and the "Hymns of the Community." The former contain the personal reflections of the Teacher of Righteousness, while the latter are the chants which were used in the liturgical assemblies of the Essenes. Subsequent research has confirmed the substance of Jeremias' hypothesis which provided a new source of information concerning the Teacher of Righteousness. Many of Jeremias' insights were assumed in Hartmut Stegemann's doctoral dissertation presented at

Bonn in 1965 and privately published in 1971 under the title Die Entstehung der Qumrangemeinde. This is certainly the most thorough study of the history of the Essenes to date. It makes full use of all the available material and extends further the literary analysis of the documents inaugurated by Jeremias. He pays particular attention to the Damascus Document, which is crucial for a correct assessment of Essene history. Despite many valuable insights, his separation of the sources used to compile this document is no more convincing than that of A. M. Denis, Les thbmes de connaissance dans le Document de Damas. Stegemann, moreover, devotes virtually all his attention to only one aspect of Essene history, the relationship of the movement to other groups in Palestine. This causes him to neglect other evidence which deserves to be taken into consideration if we are to achieve a complete picture. What follows represents an attempt to integrate the material that Stegemann has overlooked into an alternative reconstruction of Essene

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Thesiteof anamazingfind,theinteriorof Cave4. Thelowercavewherethemanis standingis wherefragmentsof over400

manuscripts were found by bedouin and excavators.

102

SEPTEMBER 1977

The cliffssurroundingthe Dead Sea, whereinthe Essenedocumentswereconcealedfor almosttwo millennia.Hereare shownCave4 (left) and Cave5 (right). history which also incorporates the insights derived from my own literary analyses of the Rule and the Damascus Document.

Given Stegemann's focus on the polemic sections of the Scrolls, such conclusions were inevitable, and they are shared by numerous scholars. However, to give such priority to the polemic sections results in a systematic devaluation of all the geographical references that the The Origins of the Essene Movement Scrolls contain. Allusions to leaving Jerusalem (CD others the 20:22) or the land of Judah (CD 4:2; 6:5) and going into to and many According Stegemann Essene movement was a Palestinian phenomenon, the the Land of the North (CD 7:13) or the land of Damascus fruit of a reaction against the progressive Hellenization of (CD 6:5; 20:12) or the wilderness (1QS 8:13; 9:20) are all Palestinian Judaism. Ever since the 3rd century B.C. interpreted in a purely symbolic sense. There is no doubt that these expressions are Greek influences steadily had gained ground. At first this was almost imperceptible, but the murder of the intended to carry evocative overtones, but Stegemann legitimate High Priest Onias III at the instigation of the never questions why such prominence should have been usurper Menelaus in 172 B.c. (2 Macc 4:32-35) suddenly given to geographical symbolism. Such symbolism has brought it home to the Jews just how far things had gone. little attestation in Jewish thought, and it is neither the At this point the withdrawal of pious Jews, the Hasidim, most suggestive nor the most evident. It is more natural, into areas of Judea free from Hellenistic influence was therefore, to assume that geography played a significant intensified, and there they settled down to live their new role in the history of the Essenes and that this fact was covenant. responsible for the choice of symbols. The fact that the BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

103

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names are drawn from the OT does not contradict the possibility of identifying the realities behind the symbols. Stegemann has made this impossible for himself by lumping all the geographical allusions together, as if the symbolism had a univocal value. The mere fact that the various names occur, not only in different documents but in different strata within the same document, militates against this unjustified hypothesis. It is clear from CD 1:9-12 that the Essene movement already had been in existence for some time before the Teacher of Righteousness appeared on the scene. This pattern is also reflected in the Well-Midrash (CD 6:2-11) which distinguishes those who dug the "well" of the Law in response to a divine call (CD 6:3) from those who dig the "well"with the aid of the precepts given by the Interpreterof the Law, i.e., the Teacher of Righteousness (CD 6:8). The former are identified as "the returnees of Israel who went out of the land of Judah and were exiled in the land of Damascus" (CD 6:5). Because Qumran is remote from civilization, commentators have tended to claim that "Damascus" is a symbolic name for the

104

settlement there. This immediately turns "the land of Judah" into a problem because Qumran is within the territory of Judah. The proposed solution is to give "the land of Judah" a symbolic value also: it designates the aristocratic priestly caste of Jerusalem. This conclusion, however, is untenable. Not only does the emphasis on "land" make such personal symbolism highly implausible, but in the documents published up to the present, "Judah"is never used as a symbol for the enemies of the Essenes. Such desperate expedients are unnecessary if one takes the phrase at its face value to mean a literal exodus from Judea. This approach is shown to be correct by the context of the same phrase in CD 4:3 because there it has been shown that it is a question of a return from an exile beyond the frontiers of Palestine with qualifications adequate to gain acceptance in Jerusalem. When did this exodus take place? The answer is indicated by the historical summary of CD 2:18-3:12 which culminates with the exile to Babylon in 586 B.C. Among those who survived the deportation, "God

SEPTEMBER 1977

established his covenant with Israel forever, revealing to them the hidden things in which all Israel had strayed" (CD 3:13-14). "Israel"here designates the Essenes, and "all Israel"the rest of Judaism (cf. 4QpNah 3:3-5). What is in question is clearly "the new covenant in the land of Damascus" (CD 6:19; 19:33-34). "Damascus," therefore, is a symbolic name for Babylon, and an entirely natural one when Amos 5:26-27 is read in the version preservedin CD 7:14-15: "And I have exiled the sikkuth of your king, and the of your images, [and the star of your god] from my tent to Damascus." Further confirmation for ki'.*un this interpretation is provided by the explanatory substitution of "Babylon"for "Damascus" in the citation of this prophetic text in Acts 7:43. The New Covenant in Babylon

It would appear, therefore, that the Essene movement did not originate as a reaction to Hellenism, but as the result of inspired reflection on the causes of the divine punishment that was the Exile. In Babylon a group

of Jews was determined that history should not repeat itself and so bound themselves to perfect observance of the Law. When members of this group eventually returned to Palestine, they found themselves in opposition to the Hellenized form of Judaism that had developed there. To this extent many of Stegemann's insights retain their validity. However, only the hypothesis of Babylonian origin can account for a number of indications that Stegemann has failed to take into account. Some of these were pointed out by W. F. Albright as early as 1946: "It seems probable that the Essenes represent a sectarian Jewish group which had migrated from Mesopotamia to Palestine after the victory of the Maccabees. This theory would explain their interest in the virtues of plants and stones (Berossus is said to have composed a treatise on the latter subject), their attention to divination and astrology, their frequent lustrations (hygienically necessary in Iraq, but not in Palestine), as well as their prayer to God for sunrise, performed daily before dawn, facing eastward, since all of these points

The entrancefromthecentralcourtyardat Qumran.Thedoorway,constructedof largehewnstones,separatesthe main building(right)fromthe tower(left).

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BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

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105

were characteristicof Mesopotamian practice"(From the Stone Age to Christianity, Garden City: Doubleday, 19572, 376). After the publication of the first scrolls, Albright found a confirmatory argument in the fact that the correct vocalization of Assyro-Babylonian words and names in the Isaiah scroll indicated a Babylonian prototype. Although many parallels with Babylonian ideas and practices are noted in M. Hengel's massive study, Judaism and Hellenism, the author systematically downplays the possibility of direct Babylonian influence on the Essenes. Yet he is surprisedto find so many foreign influences in a closed, backward-looking community and is finally forced to postulate unconscious assimilation of foreign ideas. This strange conclusion cannot be avoided

The Essene movement resultedfrom the Babylonian exile and the determination of those who believed that history should not repeat itself. if one persists in thinking of the Essene movement as a Palestinian phenomenon. Once they came into contact with the official Judaism of Palestine the Essenes were in violent reaction against any tendency to assimilation. But the same is not true of the time between the Exile and the return to Palestine. Having lived in Babylon for nearly 300 years, they cannot have been totally immune to their social environment,despite the rigorism of their ideology. It has also been pointed out that the legislation in cannot be reduced to Pharisaic or strictly Rabbinic CD law. More significantly, it has been demonstrated that this legislation was designed for a community living in a non-Jewish environment. An unusually high percentage of the regulations govern dealings with gentiles. The difference between the legislation of CD and that of the Rule has been noted by many, and the common explanation is that the Rule was written for the quasimonastic community of Qumran, whereas CD was intended for the other Essenes scattered throughout Judea. This simply does not hold water because, no matter how profound was the Hellenization of Palestinian Judaism, Judea could never be considered a gentile environment. We are forced to recognize that the Rule and the legislative material in CD come from two distinct periods in the history of the Essene movement and that for the latter we are obliged to postulate a group living in the Diaspora. Finally, unless we assume that the Essenes were newcomers on the Palestinian scene, it is impossible to

106

explain why Josephus should be at pains to underline that they were "Jews by birth"(J. W.2:119). Nothing similar is said of either the Pharisees or the Sadducees. The Return to Palestine When and why the members of the New Covenant returned to Palestine is not fully clear. The documents provide only one item of information: "They were like blind men and like men who gropingly seek their way for twenty years. And God considered their works, for they sought him with a perfect heart, and he raised up for them a Teacher of Righteousness to lead them in the way of his heart"(CD 1:9-11). As we shall see, Stegemann is correct in identifying the Wicked Priest with Jonathan, the second of the Maccabean brothers, and this means that the ex-High Priest who became the Teacher of Righteousness must have joined the Essenes around 152 B.C., the year in which Jonathan assumed the office of High Priest. To take the "twenty years" literally would place the appearance of the Essenes on the Palestinian scene around 172 B.C.Biblicalprecedent,however, would suggest that this figure is to be understood as a round number signifying half a generation. The murderof Onias III in 172 B.C.might have had an effect on pious Jews in Palestine, as Stegemann claims, but it provides no adequate motivation for a return from the Diaspora. Such a motive appears only with the first victories of Judas Maccabeus in 165 B.C.On the one hand, these victories set off a wave of anti-Semitism in the surrounding countries (cf. 1 Mace 5:1-2), and Jews in Babylon had reason to fear for their safety. Antiochus IV, the Syrian king who had instigated the religious oppression in Judea, was actually in the vicinity of Babylon when he received word of the defeat of his army in Palestine (1 Macc 6:4-5). On the other hand, the creation of an independent Jewish territory must have exercised a powerful attraction on religious Jews who saw in it an environment uncontaminated by foreign influences and in which their way of life would not produce tension with neighbors who believed differently. If these complementary motives explain the return of the Essenes, the interval between their appearance in Palestine and the assumption of leadership by the Teacher of Righteousness would be only about ten years--time enough for a youth to grow to full stature as a man and so to justify the assertion that it was about half a generation. All of those who entered "the New Covenant in the land of Damascus"did not return to Palestine. This is the clear implication of CD 19:33-34: "None of all those who entered the New Covenant in the land of Damascus and

SEPTEMBER 1977

A largeroom,ca. 4 x 14m., whichapparentlywastwo storieshigh.TheupperlevelcontainedtheScriptorium,wherethe continuoustask of copyingEsseneliteraturetook place.

who returned, but who (then) betrayed it and departed from the Well of living waters, shall be counted in the assembly of the people." An apostasy occurred in a group consisting of those who had returnedto Palestine, but this group was itself only part of a wider movement because otherwise mention of entrance into the New Covenant would have been sufficient identification. Thus there were Essenes who remained in Babylon. Can we know anything about them? Two suggestions can be made. Long before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls the remarkable intuition of the English exegete J. B. Lightfoot led him to suggest that the heresy against which Paul reacted in his letter to the Colossians had its roots in an Essene type of teaching. More recent investigations have highlighted an impressive number of contacts BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

between Colossians and the Essene documents. But there are also significant differences, and above all there is the difficulty of explaining how the closed community of Qumran could have influenced the Judaism of the Lycus

When the Essenes entered Palestine they were shocked at the influence of foreign ideas on Judaism. valley in Asia Minor where Colossae is located. It is worth remembering,however, that sometime subsequent to 213 B.C.Antiochus III of Syria had 2000 Jewish families from Mesopotamia and Babylon transported into the region round the Lycus valley. It is possible that some members

107

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108

SEPTEMBER1977

of the New Covenant had been swept into this net. In this hypothesis the contacts between the Colossian heresy and Qumran would be explained, not in terms of direct influence, but as resulting from a common point of origin in Babylonia. Almost 1000 years after this deportation a Jewish reform movement arose in Babylon. Its leader was Anan ben-David (8th century A.D.) who attempted to purify Judaism by rejecting the whole of the oral law. Two of the regulations on which he insisted, however, exhibit a close affinity to the Essene teaching on incest and the Sabbath fire. A direct relationship seems undeniable, and the simplest hypothesis would be that some members of the New Covenant had remained in Babylon and had maintained their identity with the tenacity common to Jewish sects. Their rigorous insistence on the exact interpretation of the Law would have attracted the attention of the reformer. In Palestine It seems highly probable that the Essenes represented the ultraconservative branch of Babylonian Jewry, because they believed that they alone knew "the exact interpretation of the Law" (CD 4:8; 6:14). The fervor of those who returnedto Palestine received a brutal shock, for instead of the authentic Jewish environment that they expected, they found themselves in the midst of a society in which the nets of Belial were accepted as orthodox righteousness. They found the interpretation of the Law to be lax, and the evidence of foreign infiltration was only too glaring. Their immediate impulse was to bring their erring brethrento the truth. Palestinian Jews were repeating the mistakes of the pre-Exilic generations, and the lesson of history was that they would suffer the same consequences unless they repented. Conformity to Essene standards was the one sure refuge against the eschatological judgment. This situation is clearly reflected in the "Missionary Document" (CD 2:14-6:1) which is both a blanket condemnation of what was commonly accepted in Palestine as safe orthodoxy (CD 4:13-5:15) and at the same time an appeal to join the Essenes before it was too late (CD 3:19; 4:9-12). The exhortation is given weight by a justification of the Essenes' right to speak (CD 3:12-16; 4:1-9). This note of realism also appears in the awareness

Left:The Dead Sea, showingthe location of Khirbet Qumran.Fourteenkilometersto the south is En elGhuweir,possiblyanotherEssenesettlement. BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

that those to whom this document was addressed were under a definite social pressure to conform to prevailing standards (CD 5:14-15). This pressure also took its toll of the Essenes whose morale began to suffer. The "Memorandum" (6:11-8:3) reveals a community in which selfishness was on the increaseand whose specific observances were being unfavorably compared with the less severe practices of its environment. The tension produced frayed tempers and outbursts of bitterness (CD 6:14-7:4). Members needed assurance that, even though they were a minority, they were still in the right (CD 7:12-13). Everything points to the fact that, when this document was composed, the Essenes were living in close proximity to Jews with a radically different outlook. Move to the Countryside Something had to be done about the situation. One of the admonitions in the "Memorandum"is "Keep apart from the sons of corruption" (CD 6:14-15). The meaning cannot be fixed with precision, but the minimum is that the Essenes should not associate with outsiders whose conversation and example might weaken the members' commitment to those elements which made their way of life unique. In practice this must have been extremely difficult. The problem could be solved partially by their taking up residence in more conservative areas. That this was the solution adopted is suggested by Philo's remark, "Fleeing the towns because of the ungodliness customary among town-dwellers, they live in villages" (Quod omnis, 76). The moral standards of villages hardly differ from those of towns, but the social practice of the former is certainly more conservative. There can be no question of identifying the colonies set up in these villages with the "settlements"mentioned in CD. We have seen that the legislative material, in which such references are embedded, points to the earlier period when the Essenes lived outside Palestine. It seems likely, however, that the organizational structure remained approximately the same. Even after settling in more conservative regions the problems of the Essenes were still far from a definitive solution, because their attitude toward the Temple continued to set them apart. The introduction to the "Memorandum"reads, "All those who were persuaded to enter into an agreement not to enter the Sanctuary to kindle his altar in vain, shall be 'closers of the door'-as God said: 'Who among you will close its door that they may not enter to kindle my altar in vain?'-unless they shall be careful to act according to the exact

109

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interpretation of the Law for the duration of the time of wickedness?" (CD 6:11-14). Given their commitment to the House of Zadok (CD 4:3)-the family from which High Priests traditionally came until the dynastic line was broken by the Syrian appointment of Menelaus-it was to be expected that the Essenes would regard the priesthood of the Temple as corrupt. Their adherence to the old calendar (CD 6:18-19) made it inevitable that they would consider the schedule according to which feasts were celebrated in the Temple as in opposition to the will of God. In consequence, the Essenes refused to participate in Temple worship and endeavored to persuade others to do likewise. Interpretedstrictly, the text just cited refers only to participation in sacrifices. It is not a blanket refusal to

110

have anything to do with the Temple, and this is borne out by the injunction in the "Memorandum"that first fruits, etc, were not to be withheld (CD 6:20). This harmonizes with Josephus' statement, "They send offerings to the Temple, but offer no sacrifices since the purifications to which they are accustomed are different" (Ant. 18:19). Since the Temple was the center of Jewish life and the creative symbol of national identity, the ambiguous attitude of the Essenes could not fail to provoke opposition. External pressure and internal tension, therefore, were the inescapable factors governing Essene life during the "twenty years" when they were like blind men gropingly seeking their way (CD 1:9).The leadershipwas fighting an ideological rearguard action and lacked any

1977 SEPTEMBER

positive vision of the future, bewildered at the negative reaction of those by whom they had expected to be received as brothers. Apparently, however, the returned Essenes did make some converts. This seems to be the only way to explain the difference between "all those who were persuaded to enter into an agreement not to enter the Sanctuary" (CD 6:11) and "those who entered the New Covenant in the land of Damascus"( CD 6:19). Moreover, it is a priori likely that some Palestinian Jews concerned at the continuous encroachment of Hellenism would have taken Essene propaganda as a rallying point, particularly if a certain dissatisfaction with the Maccabees had begun to make itself felt. By 162 B.C.the religious war effectively had been won, but Judas Maccabeus immediately signed a treaty of mutual friendship with the Roman Senate, employing as his ambassadors the partly Hellenized Eupolemos and Jason (1 Macc 8:1-32). To religious Jews this would not have augured well for the future. There is insufficient evidence to establish with even minimal probability from what sector of the population these converts came. There is one notable exception, the Teacher of Righteousness. The Teacher of Righteousness The texts which refer to the Teacher of Righteousness do not provide enough information to permit an identification. They do, however, contribute the crucial fact that he was a contemporary of the Wicked Priest who persecuted him. The Wicked Priest can be identified because we know that he held the office of High Priest without having any traditional right to it, that he enjoyed supreme political authority among the Jews at a time when there was no Jewish king, that he died by violence, and that at one time he was viewed favorably by the Essenes. These criteria are satisfied by only one historical personage, Jonathan Maccabeus who became High Priest in 152 B.C. The Teacher of Righteousness, therefore, was a contemporary of Jonathan. In addition he was also a High Priest, because the Scrolls give him the title haka5hn, "The Priest" (lQpHab 2:8; 4QpPsa 2:19; 3:15). It has been shown that the titular usage of this term in the OT always designates the High Priest. Obviously, the Teacher of Righteousness cannot be identified with any of the pro-Greek High Priests who were appointees of the hated Syrians. Neither can he be identified with Onias III, the last legitimate High Priest of the Zadokite family. This directs our attention to the period immediately preceding Jonathan's assumption of the high priestly office when, according to Josephus, "the city continued for seven years without a High Priest" (Ant. 20:237). BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

Abbreviations for Scrolls The abbreviations used to designate manuscripts furnish the following information: -the place in which the document was found. 1Q--11Q = Caves I to 11 at Qumran. C = Cairo Geniza.

-where appropriate, the nature of the work. p

= pesher (commentary) on a biblical book.

t

= targum (Aramaic translation) of a biblical book.

-the title of the work. For biblical and apocryphal books the customary abbreviations are used. For specifically Essene works the first letter of the Hebrew title (known or supposed) is employed. S

= S(erek), The Rule of the Community.

H

= H(odayot), The Hymns.

M = M(ilhamah), The War of the Sons of Light. D

=

D(amascus), Document.

The

Damascus

-where appropriate, the specific manuscript if more than one copy of the same work is found in the same cave. a

= the first manuscript.

b = the second manuscript.

Examples: 4QpPsa = the first copy of the commentary on Psalms from Cave 4. CD = the Cairo copy of the Damascus Document. 1QpHab = the commentary on Habakkuk from Cave 1.

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The Development of the Rule of the Community (IQS) The Rule was not compiled from various preexistent documents, but developed as additions were made to keep pace with an evolving situation. Four stages can be distinguished: Stage 1: IQS 8:I-1Oa, 12b-16a, 9:3-10:8. The "Manifesto" composed by the Teacher of Righteousness. Stage 2: IQS 8:10b-12a, 8:16b-9:2. Penal legislation for a small community. Stage 3: IQS 5:1-13a, 6:8b-7"25. Redefinition of the nature of the community and penal legislation for a large community. Stage 4: IQS 1:1-4:26,5:13b-6:8a, 10:9-11:22. Material from various sources combined to form an exhortation to authentic observance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

J. Murphy-O'Connor, "Lagentselittbrairede la Rbglede Revuebiblique76 (1969)528la Communaut?," 49. J. Pouilly, La Regle de la Cornmunautede Qurnran:Son

evolutionlitteraire.Paris:Gabalda,1976.

Pages 112-13:The Manualof Discipline,or Rule of the Community,is openedhereto columnsfour and five. Columnfive beginswith the words:"Andthis is the Rule for the men of the Communitywho havefreely pledgedthemselvesto be convertedfrom all evil and to cling to all His commandmentsaccordingto His will."

114

Stegemann has correctly pointed out that the office could not have remained vacant for so long. The Feast of the Atonement had to be celebrated every year, and the essential figure in the ritual was the High Priest. This has been corroborated by recent analyses of 1 Maccabees 10. It has been shown that the letter of the Syrian king, Demetrius I (1 Macc 10:25-45), which the author of 1 Maccabees presents as subsequent to the nomination of Jonathan as High Priest, must in fact have been written pior to this event at the moment (153 B.c.) when Demetrius I and his rival Alexander Balas were angling for Jewish support. In its present form the letter

Texts referring to the Teacher of Righteousness do not provide enough information to identify him. contains additions composed in the period 150-143 B.C. and designed to reinforce the expansionist ambitions of Jonathan and his successor Simon. The original letter, however, can be reconstructed, and it contains one explicit referenceto a High Priest (1 Macc 10:38).Hence, someone certainly held this office between 159 and 152 B.C. Josephus, therefore, made an error, but this is understandable because his principal source for the period under discussion was 1 Maccabees. The author, a partisan of Jonathan and Simon, had deliberately distorted the correct order of events in order to give the impression that Jonathan had accepted the High Priesthood in order to break the line of Hellenizing High Priests that had begun with Jason the renegadebrother of Onias III. The true situation was somewhat different. After the death of the pro-Greek High Priest Alkimos in 159 B.C.no replacement was named, because this suited both Jonathan - who had assumed the leadership of the Jews when his brotherJudas Maccabeus died in 160 B.c. - and his Syrian overlords. The former did not want a competitor who would inevitably split the authority of the Jewish community. The latter did not want to antagonize Jonathan, and the open office left them with a card up their sleeves. The religious establishment, however, could not abide such a vacuum. The office of High Priest was filled either formally by the procedure which had obtained prior to Syrian interference with the office or de facto by the assumption of power by the next in line in the Temple hierarchy. In either case, the figure who took over the functions of High Priest was almost certainly the

SEPTEMBER 1977

HA SMONEA N R ULERS OF PALES TINE Mattathias

I

I

I

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Simon (143-134)

Jonathan (160-143)

Judas Maccabeus (165-160)

Judas

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John Hyrcanus (134-104)

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Antigonus

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Alexander

A Jewishdynasty,foundedby Mattathiasandhis sons. The Hasmoneansruledfor onlya centurybeforeRomanlegions conqueredPalestine,reducingtheirkingdomto a token monarchy. senior member of the Zadokite family from which High Priests were traditionally drawn. The legal nuances of his appointment would have had no relevance for fervent partisans of the Zadokite line such as were the Essenes. For them he would have been the legitimate High Priest. Tension Between Civil and Religious Powers This situation would have meant that Jonathan was in fact responsible for a return to the state of affairs which had obtained prior to the Syrian nomination of Hellenizing High Priests. Hence, it is entirely natural that at this point he should have been viewed with enthusiastic

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST

approval by the Essenes (1 QpHab 8:8-9). The honeymoon, unfortunately, was not destined to last long. It was almost inevitablethat tension should develop between the holders of temporal and spiritual authority, because for several hundred years the two-fold jurisdiction had been vested in a single figure. In this particular instance, however, circumstances conspired to provoke a rapid deterioration of the relationship. The inroads made by Hellenism had cost the family of the de facto High Priest its cherished role as leaders of the nation, and he may even have suffered personally. It would be very strange had he not determined that the combination of circumstances that

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had provoked his family's loss should not be repeated. One means to this end, and the only tool actually in his power, was radical religious reform. A return to the conditions preceding the persecution of Jews by Antiochus IV would not, in his eyes, have been sufficient. History had already clearly demonstrated to what that could lead. In this perspective it is not unreasonable to suppose that the defacto High Priest was predisposed to the program of radical religious reform proposed by the pro-Zadokite Essenes who had returned from Babylon. Such a reform had no place in the plans of Jonathan. The objective of the Maccabean revolt had been achieved with the concession of religious freedom by the Syriangeneral Lysias and the young king Antiochus V in 162 B.C.(1 Mace 6:55-61). Thenceforward, it was no longer a matter of protecting the Jewish faith but of establishing autonomous Jewish control in Judea. Recognizing this, the Syrians decisively crushed Judas (1 Mace 9:1-22). The Maccabean brothers shared the same ambition, and so Jonathan's concern was with political independence and the advancement of his family. His appeal to the nation was on the level of its nationalistic aspirations, and he could not risk the complications that a religious reform would involve. Moreover, he was dependent for financial support on the wealthy upper class whose way of life hardly could have escaped the influence of Hellenism however sincere their commitment to the Jewish religion. As Jonathan's success grew and the ineffectiveness of Syrian control became ever more evident, opportunistic elements in the proSyria faction would have drifted toward him. They were useful to him in his external relations, and their change of allegiance diminished the tension between the rival Jewish parties. Acceptance of their social conventions was a small price to pay for such advantages. This consolidation of power would have been gravely endangered by a reform designed to sweep all traces of foreign influence out of Jewish life. To ignore the appeals for reform suited Jonathan's temporizing character, and his lack of support gave the victory to his partisans. The resultantbitterness among the Zadokites is faithfully reflected in "The Critique of the Princes of Judah" (CD 8:3-18).

Left: Column seven of the two-meter-long Habakkuk Commentary. This scroll (lQpHab), discovered in Cave 1, is a pesher, an "interpretation."Documents of this type contain biblical passages interpreted by the Essenes, who believed that the prophetic writings refered to them and their community in the last days.

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST

In this document, whose closest literary contacts are with the Hymns of the Teacher of Righteousness, the intense disappointment of a group of Palestinian converts is almost palpable. Their tirade against the wealthy class in Judea contains not a single allusion to any point of specifically Essene teaching. It focuses on the selfishness, expressed in love of wealth and pursuit of pleasure, which prevented brother coming to the aid of brother. At the conclusion of what had started out as a religious war, the religious authority would naturally feel that it had the right to the support of the military power in the reestablishment of religious orthodoxy throughout the territory. Refusal, in such circumstances, was not merely an injury but a form of fratricide.

The Wicked Priest "extorted and heaped up the riches of men of violence who rebel against God." I suspect that this document was written very close to the event, because it makes no allusion to the usurpation of the office of High Priest by Jonathan. It must be taken as antedating the evocation of the same circumstances in 1QpHab 8:8-13 which lays the blame entirely on Jonathan portrayed as the Wicked Priest. He is accused of love of wealth and scandalous conduct, but the most specific complant is that "he extorted and heaped up the riches of men of violence who rebel against God" (lQpHab 8:11). I take this to mean that he did not scruple to profit by the depredations of his Hellenized supporters. Politicians have never been particularly scrupulous regarding the ultimate origin of financial contributions and accept the strings that are always attached. In Jonathan's case the price he paid was a neutral attitude toward religious reform, and in reply the Essenes arrogated to themselves the original rallying cry of the Maccabees, "the covenant of the Fathers" (CD 8:18). In 152 B.C. Jonathan must have felt that Providence had come to his aid in this embarrassing situation. The previous year the pretender Alexander Balas had begun his play for the crown of Syria, then held by Demetrius I, by occupying the port of Ptolemais. Desperate for allies, Demetrius had tried to win Jewish support by offering concessions (1 Mace 10:1-6). Hearing of this, Alexander outbid his rival by nominating Jonathan as High Priest (1 Mace 10:18-20).In addition to enhancing his authority, this showed Jonathan the way out of his dilemma. The immediate effect of acceptance would be the destruction of the one powerful voice in

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favor of religious reform, the de facto Zadokite High Priest. Since this figure had never received formal recognition and since his influence had presumably been held in check by the pro-Greek official Sanhedrin, Jonathan may have thought that dismissal was sufficient. In any case, the Zadokite escaped with his life, a fact that Jonathan was later to regret,because he remaineda threat to national unity (lQpHab 11:4-8)-a luxury that the nascent Judean state could ill afford. The Split in the Essene Movement The ejected Zadokite took refuge with the Essenes. Even if he had not been influenced previously by their ideas, they would certainlyhave recognized the legitimacy of his claim to be the authentic High Priest. This alone would have given him a position of authority. But even without the trappings of a past glory a spiritual

118

personality of the power revealed in the "Hymns of the Teacher"would have succeeded in imposing itself on the group. An almost immediate effect of his presence, however, was to provoke a split within the Essene movement in which he found himself confronted by the Man of Lies. The "Appeal for Fidelity" testifies that this split took place in the first generation after the return of the Essenes to Palestine: "None of all those who entered the New Covenant in the land of Damascus and who returned, but who (then) became traitors and departed from the Well of living waters shall be counted in the assembly of the people" (CD 19:33-34). The same document then goes on to criticize a second group who, while remaining within the community, have committed apostasy in their hearts (CD 20:8-13). Of these it is said, "Like their companions who turned back with the Babblers, they will be judged for uttering words of

SEPTEMBER 1977

strayingagainst the precepts of righteousness"(CD 20:1011). This reveals that the group mentioned in the first citation had two components, the Babblers and others. A later interpolation in the same document makes this defection the responsibilityof the group's leader, the Man of Lies (CD 20-13-17).

The movement of the Essenes into a desert exile caused a split within the sect. The same picture emerges from an analysis of CD 1:13-2:1. An individual called the Babbler caused to depart from the Way (i.e., Essene observance) a group whose comportment is then defined in a threefold series of paired statements. The text alludes to the influence of this

group on others: "they caused (others) to transgress the Covenant and to break the ordinance" by means of threats and violence (CD 1:20-21). We must assume, therefore, that among the adherents of the Man of Lies there was a hard core whose threatening attitude swayed to their side some Essenes who might otherwise have followed the ex-High Priest, the Teacher of Righteousness. The same pressure would explain the silence encountered by the Teacher when he came into the opposing camp to rebuke the Man of Lies and to make a last plea for the allegiance of his followers (1QpHab 5:9-12). This affront probably motivated the refusal of the Qumran community to receive back into membership those who had abandoned the Teacher at this crucial moment in Essene history (CD 19:35).

Restoredjarsfrom Cave 1. Onejar aloneyieldedthe threeprizedocumentsof the cave:the Manualof Discipline,the HabakukkCommentary,and the IsaiahScroll.

• , .• BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

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119

The Cause of the Split What provoked the bitter hostility between the Teacher of Righteousness and the Man of Lies? According to Stegemann it was the Teacher's claim to incarnate God's covenant. Acceptance of this claim involved a boycott of the Temple. The majority of the Essenes, according to Stegemann, took participation in the Temple cult for granted and for this reason rejected the Teacher. I have already indicated that I believe that separation from the Temple had taken place sometime earlierwhen the returned Essenes saw how Hellenized the worship of the Temple had become. Among a number of objections to Stegemann's hypothesis one can bring forward his own observation that the followers of the Man of Lies are neveraccused of cultic offenses. Had they in fact continued to frequent the Temple, they would surely have been accused of cultic faults, as was the Wicked Priest. Stegemann is correct, nonetheless, in maintaining that the split was provoked by a proposal put forward by the Teacher of Righteousness, because this is the clear implication of the Hymns attributed to him. These Hymns are unfortunately silent with regard to the precise point at issue. Is it possible to be more specific? The evidence is slight but the oldest part of the Rule contains two suggestive indications. This "Manifesto" (1QS 8:1-10a, 12b-16a + 9:3-10:6) was written by the Teacher in order to give the Essene movement a new orientation. It puts forward the idea that the Essenes should move to the desert (1QS 8:12b-14, 9:19-20). This was a logical solution to the various tensions which had developed because the Essenes lived in proximity to a majority who held different views regardingthe Temple and the interpretation of the Law. Insulation from such pressure was possible only in an isolated area. The "Manifesto,"however, goes further. Its opening paragraph (1QS 8:1-4) reveals that the Teacher was preparedto concern himself only with an elite group, and this in turn suggests that he might have started to refine the already stringentrigorism of the movement that had received him. Whatever the difficulties of their actual situation, the idea of a new exile in a particularly inhospitable region was not a solution likely to generate enthusiasm among the Essenes. It was difficult, however, to argue directly against it because that could give the impression of laxity. Hence, it seems likely that the debate focused on the modifications that the Teacher attempted to introduce into Essene life. The positive attitude of the "Manifesto"toward "the former ordinances" (1QS 9:1011) i.e., the tradtional directives which had hitherto governed the life of the Essenes indicates that it was a question of additions which he believed to be necessaryto conserve the vitality of the movement. To those who followed the Teacher these became known as "the latter ordinances"(CD 20:9, 31-32).

120

In an extremely conservative group these proposed additions could easily be made to appear as novelties that could be respectably repudiated. This provided a way out for some of those who had borne the burden of leadership in the lean years immediately subsequent to the return and who were both resentful of the Teacher's assumption of authority and suspicious of his motives. Had the Teacher been defeated on this issue, there would have been little likelihood for the acceptance of his proposal to move to the desert. Judgment on the Man of Lies The reaction of the Teacher'sfollowers to the Man of Lies is harsh and uncompromising but is not completely free from ambiguity. He is accused of having "despised the Law" (1QpHab 5:11). Those whom he led astray (1QpHab 10:9) are said to have "despised the faithful covenant which they made in the land of Damascus" (CD 20:10-11). This latter text suggests that the community of the Man of Lies was unfaithful to the original commitment which founded the Essene movement in Babylon. In other passages, however, the blame is differently motivated. The Pesher on Habakkuk (2:1-2) speaks of "the traitors with the Man of Lies because they were not faithful to the words of the Teacher of Righteousness from the mount of God." The Pesher on Psalms (1:17-2:1)also uses the Teacher as the criterion by which the "straying"of the Man of Lies isjudged. There is a tension here that demands explanation. One could suppose that both sets of statements are literally true. In this case, the community of the Man of Lies, after rejecting the Teacher, would have assimilated to Palestinian Judaism, thus falling under the strictures that the Essenes leveled against its lax interpretation of the Law. Two reasons make this unlikely. Force might have cowed a number of Essenes to refuse the leadership of the Teacher, but it hardly could have succeeded in making them unfaithful to their traditional beliefs. Moreover, we know from Josephus and from the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo that non-Qumran Essenism preserved its identity long after the split. Alternatively, we can suppose that we have here a phenomenon similar to that which occurred in Christianitylooking back on Judaism. To those who saw in the Teacher the providential outcome of Essene aspirations, the rejection of his message would appear as the repudiation of the whole Essene heritage and as a rejection of the Law and Covenant it concretized. This generic type of accusation is found, for example, in Rom 2:17-24 and is much more an affirmation of the centrality of Christ than an objective estimate of the Jews' attitude toward the Law. Support for this interpretation is found in the fact that only about 50 followed the Teacher to the desert at Qumran, and yet the Man of Lies is accused of

SEPTEMBER 1977

having founded a new community (lQpHab 10:6-13). This is a clear indication that the Teacher's community considered itself as the embodiment of the original Essene intuition, just as Paul considered Christianity the only authentic form of Judaism. This theological approach was compounded with human factors. The Man of Lies may have been very inspired by genuine concern for the legitimate Essene tradition in persuading the majority to reject the Teacher's linked proposals of a move to the desert and intensified asceticism. But it is easy to understand why those who had submitted themselves to the rigors of life in the wilderness should say of their erstwhile brethren that "they sought smooth things and chose illusions; they spied out breaches (in the Law) and chose the beauty of the neck" (CD 1:18-19).The belief that one has chosen the higher way does not exclude moments of disdainful envy with regard to those whose lot is more comfortable. Establishment at Qumran Led by the Teacher of Righteousness, those who had accepted his "Manifesto"moved out of the inhabited areas and settled on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. The date of the first Essene establishment at Qumran cannot be determined with precision. The archeologist who conducted the excavation, Father Roland de Vaux, O.P., considers it inadvisable to go back much earlier than the reign of John Hyrcanus (134-104 B.C.) but concedes that occupation may have begun when his uncle Jonathan was High Priest (152-143 B.C.). The archeological evidence, therefore, is at least compatible with the textual evidence which favors the identification of the Wicked Priest with Jonathan. The first Essene occupation (Period Ia) was small and probably numbered only about 50. This figure is based on the size of the buildings in Period la by comparison with those in Period Ib when the average number of inhabitants is estimated at about 200 (the number of graves in the cemetery divided by the number of years of occupation). Two fragments of legislation remain from this period, Stage II of the Rule and CD 20:1-8. Both are typical of legislation to be found in a small community still in the fervor of its origins. They are concerned with the reintegration of deliberate sinners, and they manifest a group secure in its faith and confident in the strength of its organization. How long this happy situation lasted we do not know, but it is unlikely that it was prolonged into the Ist century B.C. Two factors contributed to what was certainly a change for the worse. The first was the death of the Teacher of Righteousness (CD 20:1, 14). Since he had been the senior member of the Zadokite family in 159-152 B.C., it seems unlikely that he lived to see the end of the 2nd century B.C. The loss of the powerful spiritual personality that we know from his Hymns must have been a traumatic experience for the small isolated community at Qumran, because the very intensity of their life

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST

The Sources of the Damascus Document (CD) This work is a compilation of diverse documents which enjoyed an independent existence before being assembled into the present text. For convenience, descriptive titles have been given them. "Legislation for a Diaspora Community" (CD 9:116:19). A collection of laws enacted to govern Essene life in Babylon. "Missionary Document" (CD 2:14-6:1). An effort to win Palestinian Jewish converts to the Essene Reform. "Memorandum"(CD 6:11-8:3). An exhortation to more faithful observance addressed to Essenes living among less observant Jews. "Critique of the Princes of Judah" (CD 8:3-18). A bitter tirade directed against the ruling class in Judea for their lack of support for the Essene movement. "Appeal for Fidelity" (CD 19:33-20:1b; 20:8b-13; 20:17b-22). A timid effort to stem a rising tide of disaffection within the Qumran community. When combining these sources the compiler added a number of his own comments and a summarizing conclusion (CD 20:22-34).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

J. Murphy-O'Connor, Revuebiblique77 (1970)201-29;

78 (1971)210-32;79 (1972)200-16;79 (1972)54464; HarvardTheologicalReview64(1971)379-86; Revuede Qumran7 (1971)553-56.

demanded a continuous representation of the ideal which he embodied. The second factor was an overwhelming influx of new members. Influx of Converts This is attested by the extensive building program which characterizes Period lb. These buildings certainly were occupied in the reign of Alexander Janneus (103-76 B.C.),the successor of John Hyrcanus, but the exact date of their inception cannot be determined with any certitude. The sudden increase meant that the minimal legislation that had sufficed in Period Ia was no longer adequate, and as a result the directives now embodied in Stage III of the Rule evolved (1QS 5-7). When compared with the "Manifesto"this legislation reveals a significant

121

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The material remains of the Community suggest a well-organized life-style, which is confirmed by the literature as well. In order to avoid excessive contact with outsiders, the covenanters produced most of what they needed at the settlement itself.

122

SEPTEMBER 1977

The Archeology of Qumran Date

Period

Description

Israelite

ca. 700-600 B.c.

Round cistern. Rectangular building with rooms along eastern side of courtyard.

Essene la

ca. 150-100 B.C.

Two rectangular cisterns added to round cistern. Building virtually unchanged.

Essene Ib

ca. 100-31 B.C.

Major expansion in both cisterns and buildings. Aqueduct to dam in the Wadi Qumran. Site abandoned after earthquake in 31 B.C.

Essene II

ca. 4

Buildings restored with slight modifications necessitated by earthquake damage. One cistern abandoned. New decantation pool.

Roman

ca. A.D. 68-73

Second Revolt

A.D.

B.C.-A.D.

132-135

68

Only buildings in vicinity of tower in use. Big southeastern cistern alone in service. Abandoned buildings used as base by Jewish insurgents. BIBLIOGRAPHY

R. de Vaux, Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls,

London:Oxford University,1973.

shift in the composition of the Qumran community. According to the "Manifesto" all authority rests in the hands of the priestly element (1QS 9:7) whereas in the new legislation it is shared with the laity (1QS 5:9, 21-22). The newcomers, therefore, were in the great majority lay people. Whence did they come? The answer, I believe, is indicated in CD 20:22, "[Those who separated from] the House of Peleg who went out of the Holy City. . . ." Apparently, one element of the House of Peleg moved from Jerusalem to Qumran. The identification of the House of Peleg is not entirely clear. On the basis of Gen 10:25 (cf. Jub 8:8), "Peleg" is understood to connote division or separation, a theme that evokes another passage: "When the two houses of Israel separated, (it was) Ephraim (who) departed from Judah" (CD 7:12-13). The original point of reference in this latter text was the division of Israel into two kingdoms which took place after the death of Solomon, but the Essenes applied it to themselves in order to stress that they, the minority symbolized by "Judah,"could be right and the majority symbolized by "Ephraim"wrong. This would suggest, therefore, that "House of Peleg" was a symbol for all those Jews who refused to accept Essene propaganda and remained attached to the Temple in Jerusalem. All we can say at present about the influx which greatly increasedthe numbers at Qumranis that they were Jews. Unless one is inclined to attribute this influx to a BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

sudden movement of the Spirit, a historical explanation must be sought. It seems most natural to think of a persecution which would have forced individuals to take refuge there. This fits perfectly with the situation in Judea at the time. The Maccabees had come to power as fighters for religious freedom, but once their descendants were

The extensive building program during Qumran's Period Ib attests to a great influx of new members into the Community. firmly established in control of an independent Jewish state, not only did their interest in religion wane but their policies could no longer be contained within the framework of the Law. Naturally this was resented by observant groups and in particular by the Pharisees. The last years of John Hyrcanus and the first 15 years of the reign of Alexander Janneus were marred by bitter hostility between the Pharisees and the king which at times erupted into open conflict. It is possible, therefore, that the new adherents were in great part refugee Pharisees, as J. T. Milik has suggested. It must be remembered, however, that our only knowledge of the Pharisees in this period is derived from the tendentious presentation of Josephus whose details cannot be trusted.

123

Decrease in Fervor The new recruits, therefore, were more probably inspired by fear and a desire for security than by genuine commitment to the vision that was the raison d'etre of the austere desert community of Qumran. The ideal of the Teacher's followers was not accepted as an end in itself, but reluctantly as a means. Inevitably this led to tension between the highly motivated older members and the refugees; the crisis was compounded by the fact that the newcomers outnumbered the original community by almost four to one. The net result was a drastic decrease in fervor. We are aware of this situation because a number of documents were composed in an effort to turn back the tide. Stage IV of the Rule (1QS 1-4; 5:13-6:8; 10:9-11:22) was written in the hope of infusing a new spirit into legislation that had become a dead letter. It stresses that mere external conformity is not sufficient for salvation and points out that one is faced with the choice between good and evil even within the community of the saved. It is an imperious summons to genuine conversion of the heart. The "Appeal to Fidelity" (CD 19:33-20:22) is addressed to those who are physically within the community, but who have apostatized in their hearts. The warning against the consequences of such infidelity is expressed in a very low key, and one is left with the impression that authority has lost all effective control. The ineffectiveness of this effort to maintain the loyalty of the community is attested by the hortatory section of the Damascus Document (CD 1-8, 19-20). In the compiler's conclusion (CD 20:22-34) we find specific mention of the influx of new members. More significantly the compiler added the long section concerning the Man of Lies (CD 1:13-2:1)and inserted into his sources a series of allusions to this individual (CD 4:19, 8:13, 20:13-17). Such insistence is best explained by the assumption that the community of the Man of Lies remained a threat to the Teacher'sgroup. What form this menace took can only be a matter of speculation, but the minimal hypothesis would be that the mere existence of another Essene group in more comfortable circumstances constituted a permanent temptation for those committed to the austerity of Qumran. Though shaken, the community founded by the Teacher of Righteousness at Qumran stood firm and indeed rediscovered the strength of serenity. The Pesher

on Nahum, which was probably composed about the middle of the Ist century B.C.,mentions the enemies of the sect. But there is no trace of the anger bred of fear which characterizesthe tirades of earlierdocuments. The author exhibits a tranquil confidence that one day truth will triumph (4QpNah 3:3-5). In that moment the arrogance of his community's enemies will be seen for what it is, a masquerade to hide their wickedness, and those with a

It is possible that the new converts to Essenism were refugee Pharisees. minimum of goodwill who have been led astray by them will turn to the true Israel concretized in the community of the Teacher. This dispassionate assessment would seem to suggest that the crisis had been successfully overcome. In any case the Qumran community had sufficient equilibrium to survive the dislocation imposed on them by the earthquakeof 31 B.c. Where they went during this enforced exile, or even how long it lasted, we do not know. Around the beginning of the Christian era, however, they returned to build in the ruins, there to live in peace and hope until the drums of the Roman legions sounding down the Jordan valley awoke them to danger. They hid their precious manuscripts in the caves around the settlement, working slowly and carefully at first, but towards the end in panic. Perhaps some died under the arrows that fell on the tower when the Romans occupied the site in A.D.68-69. Some certainly escaped, and the fact that a copy of "The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifices"was found at Masada could mean that one at least got that far. A Roman garrison remained at Qumran until the beginning of the 2nd century;the Essenes never returned. Since so much Qumran material is still unpublished, this sketch of the history of the Essenes is necessarily provisional. It could be claimed that it is premature, but my justification is the thesis of Oleg Grabar,to which I fully subscribe: "Most knowledge and all explanations are only working hypotheses whose constant refinement is the very stuff of intellectual endeavour and whose major criterion of value is not so much their possible truth as the degree to which they can serve to direct further studies, even if the latter end up by abandoning them." (The Formation of Islamic Art, New Haven, 1973, p. xvii).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

J. Murphy-O'Connor, "TheEssenesand theirHistory,"Revue biblique81 (1974),pp. 215-44.

124

SEPTEMBER1977

THE

PAGAN

WITNESS

TO

THE

ESSENES

DAVID GRAF

Two ancient authors identify and briefly describe the Essenes: Pliny the Elder, a well-educated and well-traveled Roman who rose to become aprocurator under Vespasian,and Dio of Prusa, a rhetorician and orator expelled from Rome under Domitian only to be rehabilitated by Trajan.

Among the meager references to the Essenes in ancient literature are the testimonies of Pliny the Elder and Dio of Prusa. In spite of their brevity they have been important evidence for identifying the community which once resided near the Dead Sea with the Jewish sect of the Essenes. Since it is only rarely that classical authors take cognizance of affairs within this quarter of the Roman empire, it may seem somewhat puzzling that these literati, neither one of whom is known to have ever visited Judea, should have mentioned this strange and obscure wilderness settlement. Although no precise explanation can be given, an inquiry into their life and thought does help elucidate the nature of their witness and provide some insight into the activities and preoccupations of prominent aristocratsof Greco-Roman society during the Ist century A.D. The Elder Pliny Gaius Plinius Secundus the Elder (A.D. 23/24-79) was an important member of the Caecilii family from the town of Comum in the northwest region of Transpadana in Italy. After receiving his education in Rome, he began his career in the military service, at age 23, being stationed with the armies on the Rhine for 12 years. While at this frontier post he was able to produce a number of volumes David Graf is a doctoral candidate in history at the Universityof Michigan. His article on the Saracens and the defense of the Roman Empire will appear in BASOR 229.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

including a biography of his patron, P. Pomponius Secundus, the governor of Upper Germany,and 20 books on the German wars. In A.D.58 he returned to Italy and a quiet life of study and retirement during the tumultuous reign of Nero. With the death of the infamous emperor and the accession of Vespasian, he came out of retirement to serve as procurator in a number of provinces. During this period, Pliny became an ardent supporter of the Flavian House, serving as counsellor to Vespasian and dedicating the 37 volumes of his Natural History to Vespasian's son Titus in A.D. 77. This prodigious encyclopedic work was culled from more than 100 principal authors and is indicative of Pliny's extraordinary thirst for knowledge. According to his nephew, Pliny the Younger (A.D. 61-112), he regularly rose after midnight to study by lamplight. He had books read to him and took notes while at leisure, at meals, and even when he was being rubbed down and dried after his bath; while traveling and in the midst of his public duties, he kept a secretary at his side to read aloud or take notes (Epist. 111.5). It was this exceptional curiosity that eventually led to his death. On 24 August, A.D. 79, while in command of one of the two imperial fleets stationed in Italian waters, his attention was drawn to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius which overwhelmed the coastal cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. While eagerly inspecting the phenomenon and attempting to relieve the distressed, he became one of the fatalities of the famous disaster about which Pliny the Younger has left us such a vivid description (Epist. VI.16 and 20).

125

The referenceto the Essenes lies embedded among the thousands of facts and observations which comprise the Natural History, his only extant work. The suggestion that Pliny's discussion of the sect is a personal eyewitness report, assuming that he was perhaps a companion with Vespasian or Titus on their campaigns to the East during

He had books read to him and took notes while at leisure, at meals, and as he was being dried after his bath. the Jewish Revolt of A.D. 66-73 (A. Dupont-Sommer 1961:37), remains mere speculation. Such conjectures also ignore the nature of his work, which primarily derived its information from diverse materials by various authors. These sources are listed initially by Pliny and cited occasionally throughout his work. Although he has frequently drawn criticism for his lack of discrimination and careless use of these sources, recent investigations have demonstrated that he was at times far more

intelligent in his use of this material than commonly has been assumed. Pliny himself indicated that he attempted to be selective in utilizing various writers for his discussions, depending on their particular knowledge of the subject at hand; he also recognized the limitations of any single comprehensive account (N. H. 3.1). Nor was he merely dependent on the older Hellenistic geographers for his discussions of remote and distant regions. As he informs us (N.H. 6:84-91; cf. commentary in Schwarz 1974:21-48), his rather lengthy account of the Indian Ocean island of Taprobane (modern Ceylon) was derived from reports by ambassadors sent to Rome from the island during the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41-54). As an important administrator in the Roman government and intimate friend of the Flavians, Pliny must have had access to other such official reports and documents. Furthermore, during the Ist century the archives of the emerging bureaucracy and central agencies of the Principate became the depository for important documents relating to the administration of the imperial provinces (Posner 1972: 189-205). Included among these official records were the reports of geographical

Comumo

Rome

Prusa

Mauretania

Qumran Cyrene0

kpj

The Mediterranean, showing the homes of classical writers and travelers who commented on the Essenes.

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1977 SEPTEMBER

Juba II as depictedin sculptureand on a coin.

explorations and scientific investigations which were an integral part of Roman military campaigns into new territories (Sherk 1974: 534-62). For the East, this began with Theopanes of Mytilene, the personal historian of Pompey, who recorded the events of his eastern campaigns which brought about the annexation of Syria, the settlement of Judea, and the humbling of the Nabatean king Aretas (67-63 B.c.). Under Augustus, the prefect of Egypt, Aelius Gallus conducted a campaign into Arabia Felix in 26-25 B.c., accompanied by Jews sent by Herod the Great and by Nabatean allies (Josephus, Ant 15.317; Strabo 16.780-82;also Jameson 1968:71-84). Pliny reports having received his information about Arabian towns not known by earlier writers (N.H. 6.160) from the records of this military operation, and perhaps the details he records about the Incense route leading from the Arabian peninsula to Gaza originated with these reports (N.H. 12.64-65). Even more important to Pliny, according to Sallman (1971:88), was the work of the scholarly King Juba II of Mauretania (d. A.D. 23). Juba had been raised and educated in Italy and later married BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of Anthony and Cleopatra. Juba, an advisor and companion to Gaius Caesar on his expedition to the East about A.D. 1, later prepared a treatise on Arabia which he dedicated to the young prince. This work apparently provided the basic source for Pliny's account of the region. In addition,

In addition to ambassadors' reports, Pliny must have had access to other such official reports and documents. Juba's work was used for observations concerning Ethiopia (N. H. 5.16), the Nile (N. H. 5.51), the sea route to India (N.H. 6.96), and the Euphrates (N.H. 6.124). Isodoros of Charax, a geographer who also accompanied Gaius Caesar on his imperial mission and whose description of the Partian Stations is extant, does not appear to have been employed as extensively by Pliny (N. H. 6.141 "Dionysius" is usually assumed to be an error for "Isodoros;"cf. N.H. 12.56).

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From such memoirs and official reports Pliny may have drawn his account of the Essenes, the accuracy of which can only be measured in light of the writings of the community itself and the more extensive accounts of Philo and Josephus. It is striking that in his discussion of the Decapolis and the region of the Jordan that follows this passage, Pliny's designation of Hieromice for the River Yarmuk (N.H. 5.74) has been confirmed by imperial coins found at Adraa Der'c from the reigns of Commodus (A.D. 180-92), Septimius Severus (A.D. 193211), and Valerianus (A.D. 253-60; cf. Spijkerman 1971: 327-30). Such striking accuracy in one detail neither obscures the grotesque errors he occasionally commits

Ancienttestimonyto the Essenes. On the west side of the Dead Sea, but out of range of the noxious exhalations of the coast, is the solitary tribe of the Essenes, which is remarkable beyond all the other tribes in the whole world, as it has no women and has renounced all sexual desire, has no money, and has only palm-trees for company. Day by day the throng of refugees is recruited to an equal number by numerous accessions of persons tired of life and driven thither by the waves of fortune to adopt their manners. Thus through thousands of ages (incredible to relate) a race in which no one is born lives on for ever: so prolific for their advantage is other men's weariness of life! Lying below the Essenes was formerly the town of Engedi, second only to Jerusalem in the fertility of its land and in its groves of palm-trees, but now like Jerusalem a heap of ashes. Next comes Masada, a fortress on a rock, itself also not far from the Dead Sea. This is the limit of Judaea. Pliny, Natural History 5.73, trans. H. Rackham (Cambridge, MA/London: Loeb Classical Library, 1942).

Furthermore, Dio somewhere praises the Essenes, a community of complete happiness, situated beside the Dead Sea in the interior of Palestine somewhere near Sodom itself. Synesius.Dio in Dio Chrvsostom,Vol. 5. trans. H. Lamar Crosby (Cambridge, MA/London: Loeb Classical Library, 1951), p. 379.

128

nor exonerates him from his lack of reliability in other matters. It does, however, suggest that his geographical comments in this section may be dependent upon trustworthy accounts. Dio of Prusa The testimony of Dio concerning the Essenes comes to us only secondhand, briefly summarized by Synesius of Cyrene (A.D.370-413). Because of his political position, Synesius, a pupil of the Neoplatonist philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, was appointed the bishop of Ptolemais (Libya) even before he became a Christian (Marrou 1963: 126-50). The strange fascination he had for Dio is reflected in a number of his writings, including his satiric response to the latter'sEncomium on Hair which he entitled Encomium of Baldness. Another essay devoted to Dio was intended for the instruction of a son who had been promised to him in a vision. This admiration for Dio is easily explained in light of his contempt for and pointed attacks against Christian

His style won him the nickname of Chysostomos ("man with a golden mouth").

monastics for their retreat from public life and rejection of Greek culture. For this cultivated man of letters, who claimed to be a descendent and scion of the ancient Spartan kings, Dio representedthe epitome of the Greek style of life, a man of oratorial skill who actively was engaged in political life. Dio himself was born ca. A.D.40 into a celebrated family in the Bithynian town of Prusa. His maternal grandfather had obtained Roman citizenship through friendship with the emperor, perhaps Claudius (Dio 41.6, 46.4). Dio began his public career as a rhetorician and orator at Rome, his style winning for him the nickname of Chrysostomos ("theman with a golden mouth") as well as the praise of Philostratus, who regarded his style as having the ring of Demosthenes an Plato (Lives of the Sophists 487). Not all moderns agree. As Momigliano candidly comments (1969: 257): "He was an ordinary moral preacher,and like ordinary moral preachershe was a bore. Like many bores he managed to have an audience." His "audience" included his own town Assembly and Council at Prusa, the Rhodians, Alexandrians, and even perhaps the emperor Trajan himself. It is related by Philostratus that Trajan once remarked to Dio while they were riding together in the golden chariot celebrating a military victory: "I do not understand what you are saying, but I love you as I love myself' (Lives of the Sophists 488). Since it appears that

SEPTEMBER 1977

Trajan understood Greek (Cassius Dio 68.3.4), the story is probably apocryphal, although the relationship it suggests is no doubt true. In A.D.97, Dio paid a visit to Trajan's predecessor, the Emperor Marcus Cocceius Nerva, from whom he derived his Latin cognomen of Cocceianus. His earlier relationship with the Imperial house had not been so warm or friendly. While at Rome he had come under the influence of the Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus, who was expelled from Italy by Nero and again by Vespasian during their respective attacks against philosophers (cf. MacMullen 1966:46-94). These repressive actions prompted Dio to attempt to disassociate himself from philosophy as marked by the writing of several pamphlets in which he ridiculed all philosophers as the plague of every state. Nonetheless, sometime at the beginning of Domitian's reign (A.D.8196), Dio suffered the same fate, probably as a result of his friendship with Titus Flavius Sabinus, the emperor's cousin and an alleged conspirator (Suetonius, Domitian 10). Banished from Italy and his native Bithynia, Dio took up the life of the wandering philosopher, roaming throughout Greece, Southern Russia, and Asia Minor in humble attire as a "tramp"or "beggar"(Dio 13.10-11). This stage in his careercame to an end only with the death of Domitian, upon which he again took up residence at Prusa and promoted Roman interests in the cities of the Greek East, as one of the precursors of the movement later called the "Greek Renaissance or "Second

Sophistic" (see Bowersock 1969 and 1974 for discussion and bibliography). It was likely that Dio's interest in the Essenes was stimulated during the period of his exile, for during this time he appears to have had some interest in strange philosophies and peculiar sects. He traveled, for example, to the Roman camp at Viminacium on the Danube, where he lived among the savage Getae whose struggle for freedom against Rome had struck his curiosity and provoked his pen in the History of the Getae (Dio 12.16 and 20). His attention was also drawn to the Brahmansof India as a model of the Stoic-Cynic style of life (Dio 35.22). The origin of his information about the Essenes is difficult to determine. One can only conjecture that it may have been obtained from the Jews of his native province in Asia Minor or perhaps indirectly from Pliny the Elder himself, whose nephew Pliny the Younger served as governor of the province of Bithynia and is known to have heard of the province of Bithynia and is known to have heard accusations raised against Dio by the citizens of Prusa (Epistles 81 and 82). There is no reason to assume an entire work had been devoted to the praise of the Essenes. It is much more likely that Dio had merely alluded to the sect in one of his speeches (Treu 1958:42). What is striking is that this referencewould be preserved centuries later by Synesius of Cyrene, a public official who was engaged in criticism of the desert monks of North Africa who had withdrawn from the rest of society into seperate communities.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bowersock,G. W. 1969 Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire. Oxford:

Clarendon. Bowersock,G. W., ed.

1974 Approaches to the Second Sophistic. Papers

presentedat the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Philological Association. University Park, PA: AmericanPhilologicalAssociation. Dupont-Sommer,A. 1961 The Essene Writingsfrom Qumran. New York:

World. Jameson,S. 1968 Chronologyof the Campaignsof AeliusGallusand C. Petronius. Journal of Roman Studies 58: 71-84.

MacMullen,R.

1966 Enemies of the Roman Order. Cambridge, MA:

HarvardUniversity. Marrou,H. 1963 Synesiusof CyreneandAlexandrianNeoplatonism. Pp. 126-50 in The Conflict Between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century, ed. A.

Momigliano.Oxford:Clarendon. Momigliano,A. 1969 Dio Chrysostomus.P. 257-69in Quartiocontributo

Posner,E. 1972 Archives in the Ancient World. Cambridge, MA:

HarvardUniversity. Sallmann,K. G.

1971 Die Geographie des alteren Plinius in ihrem Verhdltniszu Varro. Untersuchungen zur antiken

Literaturund Geschichte11. Berlin/NewYork:De Gruyter. Schwarz,F. F.

1974 Pliny the Elderon Ceylon. Journal of Asian History

8: 21-48. Sherk,R. K. 1974 Roman GeographicalExplorationand Military Maps. Pp. 534-62 in Vol. II:1 of Aufstieg und Niedergang der r6mischen Welt,ed. H. Temporini.

Berlin/NewYork:De Gruyter. Spijkerman,A. 1971 Yarmouk-Coinsof Adraa Arabiae.Studii Biblici Franciscani Liber Anuus 21:327-30.

Treu, K. 1958 Synesios von Kyrene, ein Kommentar zu Seinem "Dion." Berlin.

alla storia degli studi classici e del mondo antico.

Rome.

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1977

129

Thirty Years Ago THE NEWS OF THE DEAD

SEA SCROLLS

REACHES ASOR MEMBERS

G. E. Wrightand W F. Albright, editors of the Biblical Archaeologistand the Bulletinof the AmericanSchools of Oriental Research, announce the discovery of the scrolls and its implications.

Notes from the President's Desk We had hoped to include in this number a statement by President Burrows on the sensational discovery of Hebrew rolls. ... The following succinct statement covers the basic facts as known to the editor. Since this is unquestionably the greatest manuscript find of modern times, we await further details with keenest interest, hoping devoutly that nothing happens to the rolls which are now in the possession of the Hebrew University. According to the news from Sukenik the rolls were discovered by Bedouin in a cave near the northern shore of the Dead Sea during the past winter. Apparently they had been concealed in pottery jars, wrapped in linen and covered with pitch for protection against the elements. Certainly some of the rolls are in a remarkable state of preservation, though at least one is very much the worse for wear. Four of the rolls, one of parchmentand three of leather, were purchased by the Metropolitan of the Syrian Orthodox Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem; they are said to be safely out of the country, after three had been fully reproducedby Dr. John C. Trever, who is an expert photographer. The Hebrew University bought a number of other rolls; in all there would seem to be at least eight and possibly more. The most important of the rolls owned by the Syrian Monastery is a complete scroll of the Book of Isaiah. Dr. Trever sent the editor two photographs to illustrate the script of this parchment, which is easily a thousand years older than that of the oldest Hebrew biblical roll hitherto known. The script is materially older

130

than that of the Nash Papyrus of the Decalogue, which is itself earlierthan the most archaic squarecharacterof the Herodian Age yet known from contemporary graffiti. With respect to the form of individual letters the script is similar to that of the Edfu papyri and the ostracon from the third century B.C. Sukenik is quoted as saying that some of the rolls are over two thousand years old and that none is later than the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Isaiah scroll now in the Syrian collection thus goes back to about the second century B.C.;in other words, it may be early Maccabean, while the Nash Papyrus is late Maccabean, from the first century B.C. (additional evidence for this date has accumulated since the editor's article of 1937). Among the rolls being studied by Burrows,Trever and Brownlee is part of a commentary on Habakkuk and a "curious manual of ritual and discipline" from a still unidentified Jewish sect. The Sukenik material is reported to include another text of Isaiah, a book of hymns resemblingthe Psalter, a historical narrativeof an unidentified war, and the original Hebrew of several apocryphal books hitherto known only from Greek translations. It is easy to surmise that the new discovery will revolutionize intertestamentalstudies, and that it will soon antiquate all present handbooks on the background of the New Testament. We congratulate the fortunate scholars who are preparing these rolls for publication, and hope that nothing will happen to prevent complete salvage of an almost incredible discovery! W. F. ALBRIGHT

BASOR 110 (April, 1948) 2-3

1977 SEPTEMBER

A Phenomenal Discovery The most important discovery ever made in Old Testament manuscripts was officially announced on April 11 by Dr. Millar Burrows of Yale University, who during the past year has been Director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem. The entire Book of Isaiah in Hebrew was found on a well-preserved scroll of parchment;and the date-first century B. C., says Dr. Burrows! This is amazing, for complete Hebrew manuscripts of Isaiah, or for that matter of any part of the Old Testament, have hitherto been unknown before the 9th century A.D. . . . One exception to this is a tiny fragment of Deuteronomy known as the Nash Papyrus; and it was this fragment which gave the clue to the date of the newly found manuscript. According to the news release of Dr. Burrows and from what may be inferredfrom his Newsletter of March 7, the Metropolitan Athanasius Yeshue Samuel and Father Butros Sowmy of the Syrian Orthodox Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem arrived at the American School sometime toward the end of February, bringing with them four ancient Hebrew manuscripts, two in parchment and two in leather. Dr. Burrows was absent from the school on a trip to Iraq, but the two Fellows of the School. Drs. John C. Trever and William H. Brownlee, were there. What they found caused far more excitement, at least in them, than the bombing and shooting in Jerusalem. Dr. Trever identified the Isaiah manuscript and recognized the similarity of its script to that of the Nash Papyrus. Dr. Brownlee meanwhile identified a second scroll as part of a commentary on the Book of Habakkuk. A third "appearsto be the manual of discipline of a comparatively unknown little sect or monastic order, possibly the Essenes." The fourth manuscript is still unidentified; it is a tightly rolled leather scroll which cannot be undone for fear of its crumpling. I understand that some letters on the cover seem to indicate a slightly later date than the Isaiah roll but not postHerodian. It is fortunate that Dr. Trever is an excellent photographer. The manuscripts have been completely

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

photographed in order to preserve their contents in case of damage to the originals (except, of course, for the fourth mentioned above). Is the dating of the Isaiah manuscript correct? Could it be forgery?Several photographs, comprising Isa. 61:4-65:4, were sent to Dr. W. F. Albright of Johns Hopkins University, the scholar who established the date of the Nash Papyrus. I learn that the script is beautifully

. . .unquestionably the greatest manuscriptfind of modern times ... clear and cannot possibly have been forged, and that in Dr. Albright's opinion it is to be dated in the 2nd century B. C., before the time of the pre-Herodian Nash Papyrus. This is more astonishing still. The views of scholars regarding the date of composition of Isa. 56-66 are many and varied. Those, however, who have dated ch. 65, for example, as late as 200 B.c. are certainly shown to be mistaken. If the newly found manuscript actually dates from the 2nd century B.C., then we must allow considerable time before that for the collection in its present form of the whole corpus of material contained in the Book of Isaiah. In any event, the manuscript dates within three or four centuries from the period when the bulk of the material in Isa. 56-66 must have been completed. The state of its text and the manner of its writing and spelling will form the subject of many an interestingvolume and article in the future. In fact, it may well cause a revolution in the study of the Hebrew language. At last there are Hebrew manuscripts which date as near to their originals as do the main manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. At the moment, however, all we can do is to sit back and await more information. G. E. WRIGHT BA 11.2 (May, 1948) 1-3

131

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From the God of Knowledge comes all that is and shall be.... He has created man to govern the world, and has appointed for him two spirits in which to walk until the time of his visitation: the spirits of truth and falsehood Those born of truth spring from a fountain of light, but those born of falsehood spring from a source of darkness. All the children of righteousness are ruled by the Prince of Light and walk in the ways of light, but all the children of falsehood are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness.... Until now the spirits of truth and falsehood struggle in the hearts of men and they walk in both wisdom and folly. According to his portion of truth so does a man hate falsehood, and according to his inheritance in the realm of falsehood so is he wicked and so hates truth. For God has established the two spirits in equal measure until the determined end, and until the Renewal, and He knows the reward of their deeds from all eternity. He has allotted them to the children of men that they may know good [and evil, and] that the destiny of all the living may be according to the spirit within [them at the time] of the visitation. From The Manual of Discipline translated by G. Vermes in The Dead Sea Scrolls in English (Baltimore: Penguin, 1968 third edition)

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1977 SEPTEMBER

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