Excavations at Khirbet Qumran and the Essene hypothesis

Record summary

Roland de Vaux directed major excavations at Khirbet Qumran after the first scroll discoveries, documenting a settlement, installations, pottery, coins and a nearby cemetery. De Vaux associated the site with the Essenes and proposed a relationship between the settlement and the scrolls. This became a foundational but contested model for comparing textual communities with material remains. Alternative interpretations have emphasized a rural estate, pottery production, military or commercial functions, or a more complex sequence of occupations. Both the excavation record and publication history require close source criticism.