Definition:

Qumran is an archaeological site on the West Bank of the Dead Sea with 11 caves that have yielded the Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical, literary, and sectarian scrolls written in Hebrew, as well as artifacts. In antiquity, the Hellenistic settlement, founded in the second century B.C. and abandoned in the face of the Romans in A.D. 68, had communal structures. It may have been home to a Jewish sect, the Essenes or an unknown community like the Essenes.


There were probably between 150 and 200 residents ["Daily Life at Qumran'] living in the caves for cool shelters.

Baumgarten says Pliny the Elder supports our picture of the Essenes at Qumran because he describes a celibate male-only Essene city on the West Bank of the Dead Sea. He further describes them as their own race, separate from the Jewish groups, a point which Josephus corrects. Examination of the bones in a Qumran cemetery reveal at least one ancient woman, as well as men.

The site held 10 ritual baths, a common kitchen, a refectory, and a mill.

References:

• Dead Sea Scrolls at the Library of Congress
• "Daily Life at Qumran"
  Magen Broshi, Hanan Eshel, Claude Grenache
  Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 63, No. 3, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
• "Who Cares and Why Does It Matter? Qumran and the Essenes, Once Again!"
  Albert Baumgarten
  Dead Sea Discoveries, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2004), pp. 174-190

Also Known As: Khirbet Qumran (an Arabic name)