The Essenes, the scrolls, and the Dead Sea /
Taylor, Joan E.
The Essenes, the scrolls, and the Dead Sea / Joan E. Taylor. - First edition. - 1 online resource (vii, 418 pages, 16 unnumbered pages) : illustrations, maps
Includes bibliographical references (pages 344-383) and indexes.
Part I. The Essenes in ancient literature -- 'A peculiar problem' : a short history of scholarship on the Essenes -- Philo of Alexandria -- Josephus -- The Herodians of the Gospel of Mark -- Pliny -- Dio Chrysostom, Synesius, and Julius Solinus -- Christian and Jewish writings from the second to fifth centuries -- Conclusions : the essential Essenes -- Part II. The Dead Sea, the Essenes, and the scrolls -- The history of the Dead Sea -- Essenes beside the Dead Sea : Qumran -- The Dead Sea scrolls -- 'Roots, remedies and properties of stones' : Dead Sea healing -- General conclusions.
Ever since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in caves near the site of Qumran in 1947, this mysterious cache of manuscripts has been associated with the Essenes, a 'sect' configured as marginal and isolated. Scholarly consensus has held that an Essene library was hidden ahead of the Roman advance in 68 CE, when Qumran was partly destroyed. With much doubt now expressed about aspects of this view, the Essenes, the Scrolls and the Dead Sea systematically reviews the surviving historical sources, and supports an understanding of the Essenes as an influential legal society, at the centre of Judaean religious life, held in much esteem by many and protected by the Herodian dynasty, thus appearing as 'Herodians' in the Gospels. Opposed to the Hasmoneans, the Essenes combined sophisticated legal expertise and autonomy with an austere regimen of practical work, including a specialisation in medicine and pharmacology. Their presence along the north-western Dead Sea is strongly indicated by two independent sources, Dio Chrysostom and Pliny the Elder, and coheres with the archaeology. The Dead Sea Scrolls represent not an isolated library, quickly hidden, but burials of manuscripts from numerous Essene collections, placed in jars in caves for long-term preservation. The historical context of the Dead Sea area itself, and its extraordinary natural resources, as well as the archaeology of Qumran, confirm the Essenes' patronage by Herod, and indicate that they harnessed the medicinal material the Dead Sea zone provides to this day.
English.
9780191611902 0191611905 9781283689090 128368909X 9780191745911 019174591X
400159 MIL
GBB269857 bnb
016126282 Uk
Dead Sea scrolls.
Dead Sea scrolls
Qumrantexte
Essenes.
Excavations (Archaeology)--West Bank--Qumran Site.
Esséniens.
Fouilles (Archéologie)--Cisjordanie--Qumrān (Site archéologique)
RELIGION--Judaism--General.
Essenes
Excavations (Archaeology)
Essener
Essenen.
Dode-Zeerollen.
Godsdienstige bewegingen.
West Bank--Qumran Site
Qumran.
Electronic books.
BM487 / .T39 2012eb BM175.E8 / T39 2013e
296.814
The Essenes, the scrolls, and the Dead Sea / Joan E. Taylor. - First edition. - 1 online resource (vii, 418 pages, 16 unnumbered pages) : illustrations, maps
Includes bibliographical references (pages 344-383) and indexes.
Part I. The Essenes in ancient literature -- 'A peculiar problem' : a short history of scholarship on the Essenes -- Philo of Alexandria -- Josephus -- The Herodians of the Gospel of Mark -- Pliny -- Dio Chrysostom, Synesius, and Julius Solinus -- Christian and Jewish writings from the second to fifth centuries -- Conclusions : the essential Essenes -- Part II. The Dead Sea, the Essenes, and the scrolls -- The history of the Dead Sea -- Essenes beside the Dead Sea : Qumran -- The Dead Sea scrolls -- 'Roots, remedies and properties of stones' : Dead Sea healing -- General conclusions.
Ever since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in caves near the site of Qumran in 1947, this mysterious cache of manuscripts has been associated with the Essenes, a 'sect' configured as marginal and isolated. Scholarly consensus has held that an Essene library was hidden ahead of the Roman advance in 68 CE, when Qumran was partly destroyed. With much doubt now expressed about aspects of this view, the Essenes, the Scrolls and the Dead Sea systematically reviews the surviving historical sources, and supports an understanding of the Essenes as an influential legal society, at the centre of Judaean religious life, held in much esteem by many and protected by the Herodian dynasty, thus appearing as 'Herodians' in the Gospels. Opposed to the Hasmoneans, the Essenes combined sophisticated legal expertise and autonomy with an austere regimen of practical work, including a specialisation in medicine and pharmacology. Their presence along the north-western Dead Sea is strongly indicated by two independent sources, Dio Chrysostom and Pliny the Elder, and coheres with the archaeology. The Dead Sea Scrolls represent not an isolated library, quickly hidden, but burials of manuscripts from numerous Essene collections, placed in jars in caves for long-term preservation. The historical context of the Dead Sea area itself, and its extraordinary natural resources, as well as the archaeology of Qumran, confirm the Essenes' patronage by Herod, and indicate that they harnessed the medicinal material the Dead Sea zone provides to this day.
English.
9780191611902 0191611905 9781283689090 128368909X 9780191745911 019174591X
400159 MIL
GBB269857 bnb
016126282 Uk
Dead Sea scrolls.
Dead Sea scrolls
Qumrantexte
Essenes.
Excavations (Archaeology)--West Bank--Qumran Site.
Esséniens.
Fouilles (Archéologie)--Cisjordanie--Qumrān (Site archéologique)
RELIGION--Judaism--General.
Essenes
Excavations (Archaeology)
Essener
Essenen.
Dode-Zeerollen.
Godsdienstige bewegingen.
West Bank--Qumran Site
Qumran.
Electronic books.
BM487 / .T39 2012eb BM175.E8 / T39 2013e
296.814