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Masada VI (Israel Exploration Society, Jerusalem)

A SECTARIAN PRESENCE. This Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice manuscript was discovered at Masada alongside the Joshua Apocryphon. Also known as the Angelic Liturgy, this sectarian work mentions angelic priesthood, the heavenly temple and Sabbath worship there. Ten copies were found at Qumran, and the presence of this sectarian composition in multiple Qumran caves contradicts the idea that each cave held its own theologically distinct collection. Its presence at Masada reflects a connection to the sectarian Qumranite community.