[Megillot] Qumran cemetery-the skeletons

[Joe Zias]

S. Goranson noted on the list the new article on the Qumran cemetery by B. Schultz which is appearing in DSD, somehow the author  missed the fact that the 9 tombs opened by Y. Magen et al will soon be published by Y. Nagar.
 Following a lecture on Qumran by Y. Magen a few months back I asked him about the sex of the north-south burials which I have claimed over the past few years as being Essene burials from the late Second Temple Period. Not surprisingly, they were all adult males which provides further support that what we are witnessing here is, aside from one female on the fringe,  an Essene cemetery of  adult males.  This fact, should dispel all those fringe theories being bandied about that the site is a manor, fortress etc. Those advocating these theories must somehow explain the fact that no woman nor children are present in the cemetery population for anyone of us to take them seriously.

Joe Zias

Joe Zias www.joezias.com
Anthropology/Paleopathology

Science and Antiquity Group @ The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Israel