Joe, I assure you that I never go into new age bookstores; nor do I hold a
candle for Itzhar with whom I had disagreements about other things than Qumran.
My interest in Qumran grew out of my work in Jericho. There are great
similarities between the two sites, and some differences that can be accounted
for by the likely different uses the two sites had. The engineers who built the
aqueduct to Ein el-Aujar would certainly have been aware of the potential
water that could be gathered at Qumran and could be utilised to save using the
expensive spring water for other than irrigating balsam and for domestic
purposes. The royal estate was unlikely to have allowed such a resource out of
its control. Re paupers getting to Qumran. I think you underestimate the
capabilities of our ancestors. It would not have been beyond their ingenuity
to organise relays of people/animals to get a corpse from Jerusalem to Qumran
in 24 hours ( and then, cynically, I would add, when dealing with a pauper,
who would be too concerned about the technicalities - lets get the poor fellow
in the ground!).
I seem to remember an article you once wrote blaming the poor health and
premature death of most of the Qumran skeletons to the appalling quality of the
water in the mikvaot after a couple of months of summer heat. This seems to
contradict your last sentence
David
----- Original Message -----
From: Joe Zias
To: David Stacey
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 7:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Megillot] Qumran cemetery, once again...
Shalom David, the number of fringe theorists today, article wise, part. those
who are not dirt arch. or anthro. outweigh those who know anything about the
topic. This includes people like Izhar H. who told me that he never read
anything about Q. as no one knows what they are talking about. The following
year he taught a course on the arch. of Qumran, that's how bad it gets. In
England step into a new age bookstore and check out the section on rel. and the
DSS, you will be shocked. Ever try walking from Jrsm to Qumran, its a two
dayer and I've done it, first day to Mar Saba, second day to Qumran which is in
violation of Jewish law, paupers had to be buried closer and Qumran is 'geog.
wise' a non starter.
As for paupers I would expect to see a lot of signs on the skeleton,
dentition, none whatsoever which would indicate poor health.
Shalom
Joe
David Stacey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Joe, Please remember that my article was essentially about the archaeology
of the aqueducts and I have not gone deeply into the cemetery. I did not say
that all the graves in Qumran were of paupers, those corpses being brought in
from e.g. Callirhoe and Nabatea would not be those of paupers. You contradict
yourself because you say that the graves are of "those individuals who lived
and died there" and yet. at the same time, you say that "a large number of
burials are secondary burials" which, as they were in coffins, would have come
from outside Qumran. I don't think that you have given enough thought to what
would happen to a pauper who died on the streets of e.g. Jerusalem. Certainly
his family, if he even had one, could not have paid for ANY form of burial yet
it would have been a mitzvah to bury him. A 'burial society' would find the
cheapest way to dispose of the corpse and a burial in Qumran, where a few
graves could be dug in advance, would be far cheaper, even having to schlep
the body hurriedly there, than any form of grave near to Jerusalem which would
have to be cut into bedrock. By your own admission many of the burials came
from outside of Qumran so how can it provide conclusive proof about the
inhabitants? If by 'fringe theorists' you mean that I identify Qumran as a
fringe suburb of the royal estate in Jericho (which, as you know, I helped
excavate for over ten years and know intimately) then I am indeed a fringe
theorist!
David Stacey
----- Original Message -----
From: Joe Zias
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 4:24 PM
Subject: [Megillot] Qumran cemetery, once again...
David Staceys response to Judi Magness response of his article in DSD
clearly shows what happens when the the cemetery is not fully understood in all
of its parameters. While Stacey has perhaps more field experience than most
archaeologists working in IL today, his attempt to explain the cemetery at
Qumran as a paupers cemetery fails to comes to terms with several facts which
are unique at Qumran for which I would argue for it being a Essene cemetery.
For example, a large number of burials are secondary burials, not primary
burials, secondly there are burials in wooden coffins implying added expense,
both of which paupers could not afford. Thirdly, they aside from one woman on
the margin, are all men and no children, would it be that only adult males are
poor ? For me it's inconceivable that these poor or their families would have
had enough income to transport the body to Qumran before nightfall, pay workers
to dig the grave, buy wooden caskets, re-open some tombs to bury another
individual at a later date etc. The key to understanding Qumran lies with the
cemetery, for it is here that those individuals who lived and died there tell
their story. Lastly, I would suggest to all those interested in Qumran to have
a long hard look at the cemetery first and then see if their conclusions are in
sync or conflict with the cemetery data . If that is not convincing then have
a look (RQ) at recent our finding of the public latrines some distance from
the site, just as Josephus related. In short, Qumran is 'glatt' Essene to
argue otherwise, is legitimate, however there is and has been too many
attempts to understand the site by those with little or no experience in burial
archaeology, therefore what is simple has become complicated. Trying Googling
archaeology, Masada, Ein Gedi, Jericho, and see how many hits one gets compared
to Qumran, the results are shocking, as those three sites are diverse,
complicated and more relevant to the arch. of the ANE, than Qumran, however
Qumran has become a magnet for all the fringe theorists due to its association
with the DSS.
Joe Zias
Joe Zias www.joezias.com
Anthropology/Paleopathology
Science and Antiquity Group @ The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Israel
