Joe,
To which period or periods of Qumran does this Essene cemetery of adult
males
apply, such that the fringe theories are ruled out? Are you including de
Vaux's
theory of Qumran as a Roman outpost in the excluded fringe theories? Are you
including Cross's and Goranson's theory of Qumran as inhabited by zealots in
part of Period II as excluded in the fringe theories? Its all well and good
to
say the cemetery is essene, therefore that defines the nature of the site,
but the problem is you have left out a tiny detail of immense
significance--the
precise dating of the cemetery. If you don't know the precise dating, then
how are so-called fringe theories excluded by the cemetery? I am sure you
are
aware that nearly all expositors, archaeologists and otherwise, dealing with
Qumran
have various forms of mixed uses of the site depending on dating. Clarify
your
logic please as to what use of the site is firmly excluded when? Again on
the "when",
what exactly do you know about the precise dating of the adult male burials
of
the cemetery? Or are you assuming, against every known archaeologist writing
about Qumran, that Qumran was all Essene, all the time, and that the
cemetery
was all Qumran, all the time?
Good-naturedly,
Greg Doudna
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
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