To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 2:34 PM
Subject: RE: [Megillot] Qumran history, again
At 03:21 PM 12/22/2004, you wrote:Just a note on a curiousity: >from Essenes, including those in Jerusalem inside the Gate of the Essenes.
Jerusalem gates name where they lead to, OUTSIDE the city: shaar shxem leads to Shxem, shaar Yafo leads to Yaffo, shaar of the Essenes presumably leads to an Essene settlement, village, outside the SW of the city.
And Herod's Gate leads to Herod? the Lion's Gate leads to Lions? The Zion Gate leads to Zion (outside the city?). The Dung Gate leads to Dung? I'm not so sure we can make a case for actual geography based on the names of gates, which tend to be as symbolic as they do geographical. Now, to be sure, folk probably carried dung out the dung gate and the road to Damascus was found at the Damascus gate. But the eastern Gate is purely theological as is the Zion gate, which does NOT lead out of the city, but INTO. Hence, to suggest that the Essenes lived out the road named the same as a gate in the city seems something of a stretch. Anyway, there were Essenes all over the place, and not just, putatively, at the Dead Sea. So by all rights every gate in the city led to some Essene settlement or other.
Best
Jim
The Essene Gate did lead to something...the Bethso (Latrines) which the Essenes were required to use in accordance to Dt. 23:13 with Miq'vaot on the return path. The gate was cut through the existing structure in the Roman period and 30-50 Essene kohanym were supposed to have beem living in the SW corner of the city. I think Pixner's article was convincing.
Jack
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