Dead Sea Scrolls: Who Lived at Qumran?

The various theories about who lived at Qumran can be divided into two camps, according to whether or not one believes that an intimate connection exists between the scrolls and the archaeological ruins. This point is particularly important because some of the scrolls are clearly sectarian; that is, they describe both the beliefs and the lifestyle of a separatist Jewish religious community. Was this separatist community living at Qumran? The methodological question this raises is whether or not one may use the scrolls to illuminate and explain the archaeological findings of Khirbet Qumran or, vice versa, use the Qumran […]