What do you know about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Valley of the Bones?

Question

In the graves at Qumran, "burnt bones were among the skeletal remains Approximately 10 percent of the skeletons, in addition, had broken bones. There were further indications of a post-battle, military cemetery, installed - because of the practical necessity of quick burial -close to the site that had been defined."

"Probably taken from the libraries and synagogues of Jerusalem, the [Dead Sea] scrolls represent many ages and traditions of Hebrew writing, with their contradictions, variants and repetitions. The theory of the Essene scriptorium makes a romantic tale; but, unfortunately, little sense."
- John Romer, Testament

"In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scripture, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years."
- Daniel 9:2

Answer 1

Primarily, as you have read, there are about as many interpretations of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls as there are people who study the subject. Heck, there is one female professor who has made a career out of outlandish claims that have no basis in fact concerning the writing of the New Testament at Qumran. There were never any fragments of the NT found at Qumran even though there are many different languages of the OT plus some interesting apparently Essene writings.
I offer the possibility, too, that life at Qumran was not always the same. One cannot point to the place without specifying the time period in which something was true. It appears to have served several different functions over some 800 years or more.
Clearly it has its origins as an early (military?) outpost. We have pottery remains from the 7th and 8th centuries BCE for that much. I believe that at one time, Qumran was part of a very lucrative Dead Sea trade in perfume. The evidence is given by the pottery and the dates of such, along with our knowledge of the business on the Dead Sea.
We know that the inhabitants we think are the Essenes last inhabited it around 130 BCE and probably remained there until the Romans came. Their writings, or rather the writings non Biblical writings found in the caves, reflect this particular period as well as reasons why they should remain away from Jerusalem: they felt it had become unholy. Indeed, at the time of Christ, the High Priest was a paid position. Qumran was stormed by the Romans who killed the last inhabitants in 68-69 CE. The Romans used it as a garrison for about 20 years and then the Jews used it in the Bar-Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE.)
However, the relationship between the people at Qumran and the Scrolls in the caves is somewhat of a mystery. Personally I believe that the caves were used as a genizah, a place to store older scrolls that were too brittle or worn to be used further. We know also that there are apparently many Essene fragments found in the caves. It is a shame that we have lost so much to mishandling of the scrolls. Many of the Bedouins who discovered the scrolls would hang them in their tents hoping to use them for the leather casements for their sandals. When they were found to be too brittle, they were often given to the children who kicked the priceless scrolls around in the dirt until they were destroyed.
Perhaps there was a scriptorium there and perhaps not. However it seems likely that whoever was there knew about the scrolls in the cave and it also seems that they were a group who wished to be left alone, which parallels some of their writings.
The fact that they fought so hard rather than run away when the Romans attacked them makes us think that they believed that they would be protected. Their writings seem to indicate they believed the second coming was at hand. Many of the earlier graves were laid out in much more organized manner. There are lots of puzzles at Qumran, to be sure.
Lastly, the greatest evidence that this was not an Essene colony is that Qumran is not mentioned by Josephus in his discussion of them. If it were that important as an Essene community, it would be likely that it would be mentioned.
I offer the possibility, too, that life at Qumran was not always the same. One cannot point to the place without specifying the time period in which something was true. It appears to have served several different different functions over some 800 years or more.
Clearly it has its origins as an early (military?) outpost. We have pottery remains from the 7th and 8th centuries BCE for that much. I believe that at one time, Qumran was part of a very lucrative dead Sea trade in perfume. The evidence is given by the pottery and the dates of such, along with our knowledge of the business on the Dead Sea. We know that the inhabitants we think are the Essenes last inhabited it around 130 BCE and probably remained there until the Romans came. Their writings, por rather the writings found in the caves, reflect this particular period as well as reasons why they should remain away from Jerusalem: they felt it had been unholy. Indeed, at the time of Christ, the High Priest was a paid position. Qumran was stormed by the Romans who killed the last inhabitants in 68-69 CE. The Romans used it as a garrison for about 20 years and then the Jews used it in the Bar-Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE.)
However, teh relationship between the people at Qumran and teh Scrolls in the caves is somewhat of a mystery. Personally I believe that the caves were used as a genizah, a place to store older scrolls that were too brittle or worn to be used further. We know also that there are apparently many Essene fragments found in the caves. It is a shame that we have lost so much to mishandling of the scrolls. Many of the Bedouins who discovered the scrolls would hang them in their tents hoping to use them for the leather casements for their sandals. When they were found to be too brittle, they were often given to the children who kicked the priceless scrolls around in the dirt until they were destroyed.
Perhaps there was a scriptorium there and perhaps not. However it seems likely that whoever was there knew about the scrolls in the cave and it also seems that they were a group who wished to be left alone, which parallels some of their writings.
The fact that they fought so hard rather than run away when the Romans attacked them makes us think that they believed that they would be protected. Their writings seem to indicate they believed the second coming was at hand. Many of the earlier graves were laid out in much more organized manner. There are lots of puzzles at Qumran, to be sure.
Lastly, the greatest evidence that this was not an Essene colony is that Qumran is not mentioned by Josephus in his discussion of them. If it were that important as an Essene community, it would be likely that it would be mentioned. As you indicate, it is quite a conundrum, but some evidence and opinion from it is clearly better than others.

Answer 2

Actually, I believe the inhabitants of Qumran were the ones who copied ancient scrolls, (they found a lot of writing instruments in Qumran), though they did probably at one time have originals from the synagogues, they would have been returned immediately after the copying was done.

The Essenes were waiting around to fight for God in the the 'great war" with evil, (the tribulation in Revelation), and they seem to have gotten that confused with the Romans who are the ones who actually executed all of them.

Answer 3

I highly recommend the books of the late professor Carsten Peter Thiede to you, especially "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Origins of Christianity" by Lion Publishing plc, Oxford, England, and everything else he wrote, too you. It's a tresuare and great help to understand the questions connected with the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Answer 4

The Qumran site has long been thought by many scholars to have been a Roman military post.

Answer 5

You're kidding right??? about "Dead Sea Scrolls" being "formative years of Judaism". "Dead Sea Scrolls" were created very long AFTER. Their value is exhibition display only.

Answer 6

The main thing about the Dead Sea Scroll that I appreciate is they show just how accurate what has been handed down to us today really is.

Few major discrepancies are found in our copies.

Answer 7

I know a little more now that I did a few minutes ago...:D