Qumran

Qumran is the site of an ancient settlement on the northwestern Dead Sea shore. Its name is now firmly associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls - one of the most valuable archaeological finds ever.

In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd boy accidentally came across a clay jar in a cave that contained seven parchment scrolls. He could not have imagined that he had come across one of the most important archaeological finds in the Land of Israel. An additional 700 manuscripts were also unearthed, among them books describing the daily life of the sect that lived in the Dead Sea region, apocryphal books (which were not canonized), and fragments from all the books of the Bible, with the exception of the Book of Esther.

The first scholar to recognize their antiquity was Prof. E.L. Sukenik, head of the Department of Archaeology at the Hebrew University. At the end of 1947, days before the outbreak of the War of Independence, he acquired three of the first seven scrolls. The other four were smuggled to the United States and in 1954 were acquired by Yigael Yadin, Sukenik's son, who was also an outstanding archaeologist.

Shortly after the discovery of the scrolls, a group of scholars under the leadership of Dominican priest R. de Vaux began to search and excavate the cave where the first scrolls were found, as well as some 40 caves in its vicinity. Many scrolls and thousands of fragments were found in 11 caves during the dig, which lasted from 1951 to 1956. A large complex of buildings was unearthed, which was used for communal activities - prayer, study, meals, and work. They used caves as sleeping quarters (remains were found in more than 30 caves), and evidently tents and huts as well.

The complex includes a large dining room, with a nearby storehouse in which thousands of ceramic vessels were found (about a third of them made of stone - which is not subject to ritual impurity, attesting to the importance of this issue in the sect's daily life); stools, near which were found ink wells - evidently the place where the scribes sat and wrote the scrolls, storehouses, workshops, sheep pens, and extraordinarily beautiful mikvas.

The members of the Qumran sect belonged to a Jewish apocalyptic movement that left Jerusalem following an argument with the "Sons of Darkness" - their appellation for the Sadducees who served in the Temple. They chose a life of asceticism in the desert in order to separate themselves from the world of impurity and corruption, in preparation for the day when they would return and take over the Temple from the evil High Priest, emerging as victors in the war between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. One of the scrolls describes in detailed military terminology the details of that war.

Sect members turned their backs to Jerusalem during prayer and adopted a solar calendar of 364 days. Holidays were therefore celebrated on different days than the rest of the people, but always on the same day of the week: Pesach on Wednesday, Shavuot on Sunday, and Yom Kippur on Friday.

The sect, which numbered 200 people at its peak, was self-supporting. Composed predominately of young celibate males (some women evidently also lived there), it was organized along communal principles, and based on maximum utilization of the region's resources (it has been described as an early kibbutz).

The sect had a fixed daily schedule: A typical day began before dawn with communal prayer. After this, each person did his own job, whether cultivating date palms, shepherding the animals, or performing services for the community, such as carrying water to the settlement, preparing food, or maintaining the buildings. In the afternoon, the community reconvened for prayers and ritual immersion. Towards dusk, after the community meal, were evening prayers. Each member undertook to dedicate a third of the evening hours to study.

Most of the Dead Scrolls are now found at the Shrine of the Book, a special site for exhibiting the scrolls built by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Strict atmospheric conditions are observed there to minimize the possible damage to the scrolls. The ruins of Qumran are under the auspices of the National Parks Authority. A souvenir shop, restaurant, and audiovisual presentation are on the premises.

The Dead Sea Region

The Dead Sea (Hebrew: Yam HaMelach [= sea of salt], Arabic: Bahr Lut [= sea of Lot]) lies some 400 m below sea level at the lowest point on the earth's surface, and is a part of the Syrian - East Africa Rift Valley, flanked by the Judean Mountains to the west and the Moab mountains to the east.

The name Mare Mortuum (=Dead Sea) was devised by Jerome (Hieronymus about 347-419) because the 78km long, up to 18km wide sea is one of the most saline lakes in the world. It is mainly fed by the Jordan River in the north and by perennial springs and streams from the east and west.

Having no outlet, the Dead Sea is a "terminal lake" which loses more than 180 cm of water by evaporation into the hot dry air every year. These results in high concentrations of salts and minerals in a unique composition that is particularly rich in chloride salts of magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, bromine and various others. The Dead Sea brine's chemical composition reflects erosion, as well as the recycling of older deposits.

This region enjoys sunny and dry weather through out the year. On average it has 330 full days of sunshine per year. The low altitude also has other benefits as the ultraviolet rays are filtered through three natural layers: an extra atmospheric layer, an evaporation layer that exists above The Dead Sea, and a rather thick ozone layer. Vacationers and health-cure visitors (psoriasis) come to the many resorts on the shore.

In the history of the region the Dead Sea goes all the way to remote antiquity. North of the Dead Sea is Jericho, the oldest city in the world. On the south shore of the Dead Sea were the cities Sodom and Gomorra which were destroyed in the times of Abraham. At Ein Gedi David hid from King Saul. To the Greeks the Dead Sea was "Lake Asphaltus" due to the surfacing asphalt. The Egyptians used Judean asphalt, the bituminous substance rising to the surface of the lake, for many industrial and medicinal purposes as well for embalming the mummies. Plants growing in lakeside oases (Ein Gedi), especially the balsam tree, produced valuable and highly sought-after cosmetics, perfumes and medicinal substances. Their value was of such great economic importance that wars were fought for their possession, as when Mark Anthony conquered the Dead Sea area for Cleopatra.

On the Dead Sea's northern shore the Essenes settled in a community centre Qumran, who produced the famous DEAD SEA SCROLLS.

King Herod had several palaces on the west bank of the Dead Sea. Massada is the most spectacular site. All our information on the history of Massada comes from Josephus Flavius Jewish War. It is there where a small group of rebellious Jewish zealots held out against the might of the Roman Legion.

In the early part of the 20th century, the Dead Sea began to attract interests from chemists who deduced that the Sea was a natural deposit of potash and bromine. Dead Sea Works, a manufacturer and worldwide distributor of chemical products including various grades of Potash, KCl, Magnesium Chloride, Sodium Chloride and Bromine extracted from the mineral rich Dead Sea, has been operating since 1931. Dead Sea Works Ltd. (DSW) is one of the world's leading manufacturers of potash and makes a wide range of other products based on the extraction of Dead Sea minerals.
These include magnesium chloride, industrial salts, anhydrous aluminum chloride, de-icers, table salt and bath salts. DSW products are exported to over 60 countries.

Another plant is Dead Sea Magnesium, a joint venture between the Dead Sea Works and Volkswagen AG of Germany who started magnesium production.

In recent years, the Dead Sea area haws become a health, rehabilitation, recreation and beauty spa. The combination of the year-round favorable climate, the thriving health and beauty centers, and the unique natural and historical tourist attractions, attract both vacationers and health-cure visitors from around the world. Modern facilities and hotels line the shore.