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1.INTRODUCTION
TheDeadSearegionisanareaofarcheologicalexcavationsofspecialinterest
topublicopinionbecauseoftheeventsrecordedonthepagesoftheBible.
Inthe1940s,nearthestoneruins(Arabic,khirbeh’)calledQumran,the
famousmanuscriptswerediscoveredthatcontainedbothbiblicalandnon-
biblicalmanuscripts.Thequestionsofthegenesisofthescrolls,theirconnec-
tionwithQumranresidents,whoandwhyinhabitedthissettlement,and
whatfunctionitperformed:thatofaprayersite,aproductionsite,orasum-
merresidence,havenotbeensettledyetinadefiniteandconvincingmanner.
Withnewdiscoveries,increasinglyirreconcilableopinionsarebeingformed.
Untilrecently,thegenerallyacceptedhypothesishasbeenthatofthe
EssenenatureofQumran.ItsfounderwastheQumranexcavator,Rolandde
Vaux(1953a,b,1954,1955,1959,1973).DeVauxdistinguishedthechiefpe-
riodsofexpansionofthesettlementanditshabitationseparatedbylayersof
destruction(cf.Table1):
TheperiodofIronAgeII,lastingfromthe8thcenturyB.C.totheend
ofthe7thcentury,whenanIsraelifortexistedhere,ultimatelydestroyed
andburntdown;
PeriodIa,correspondingtothetimeofruleofJohnHyrcanus;
PeriodIb,lastingtillthebuildingshadbeendestroyedbyanearth-
quake1orHerod’sbattles,i.e.toabout31B.C.;
ahiatusbetweenPeriodsIbandIImarkedbyalayerofalluvium;
PeriodII,fromca.10-4B.C.to68A.D.whenQumranwasdemolishedby
aRomaninvasionandthecollectionofmanuscriptshiddeninnearbycaves;
PeriodIIIofaRomanoccupationorperhapsthatofinsurgentsofthe
SecondJewishrevoltinA.D.132-135.
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1Thisconceptionisrejectedtoday,cf.Humbert(2003a:436-437,2006:31),Magenand
Pelleg(2006:107);astoearthquakesinthisregion,seeKarczandKafri(1978),Migowskietal.
(2004:310),Ambraseys(2006:1014).
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