Evidence of Ritual Purity Through the Archaeology at

QumranBy Isabel Spurlock

OutlineLayout of Khirbet QumranArchaeological Evidence

PotteryThe ToiletCommunal MealsMiqva’ot

“. . . . the traveler leaves the Jerusalem-Jericho road when it comes out into the Jordan Valley and takes a macadamized road south-east to the north end of the Dead Sea. He then follows a rough track, which runs in and out of the wadis along the northwest coast of the Dead Sea for some four miles. On reaching the bed of the desolate Wadi Qumran he can see [the] ruins….” -J.T. Milik

Scroll Jars Bag Shaped JarsScroll Jars:

• Cylindrical base• Small handles• Wide mouth• Bowl shaped lids

Bag Shaped Jars:• Pointed base• Bag shaped• Long neck• Small mouth• Sometimes has

large handles

In Miqsat Ma’aseh ha-Torah, or 4QMMT it writes:5 [And] also concerning liquid streams: we say that in these there is no6 [pu]rity, and also that liquid streams cannot separate impure7 [from] pure, because the liquid of the liquid streams and their vessels is alike,8 the same liquid. (4QMMT B55-58) .

It says in 4QTohorot A (4Q274 3 ii):[2] …those whose impurity [extends over days ][3] and any (vessel) which has a seal…[ shall be unclean][4] for a more (scrupulously) pure person. Any herb [which has no][5] dew moisture on it may be eaten. If it is n[ot eaten, let him put it ][6] into the water. For if one [were to put it on][7] the ground and [water] wetted it [when][8] the rain [falls] upon it, if an [unclean person] touches it, let him by no means [eat it][9] in the field during the period [of his purification][10] Any earthen vessel [into which a creeping thing] f[a]lls[11] [whatever] is in it [becomes unclean any][12] liquid be[comes unclean]

“He shall not open a plastered vessel on the Sabbath.” (CD 11:9).

The Toilet!The toilet, excavated by de Vaux, is located in L51 on the eastern side towards the miqveh in L48-L49. There is a clay pipe set into a mud-lined pit, with the suggested possibility of a wooden box over the top for a seat, but no evidence has been found to support this. There is no saved analysis of the soil sampled there, but the finds at Qumran are comparable to toilets in the ancient Mediterranean.

• The Temple Scroll 46.13-16 says: “And you shall make them a place for a hand outside the city, to which they shall go out, to the northwest of the city, roofed houses with pits in them, in which the excrement will descend, so that it will not be visible at any distance from the city, 3,000 cubits.”

• The War Scroll, 1QM7.6-7, places the toilets 2000 cubits away, 1000 less than the Temple Scroll requires

• Josephus talks about the toilet practices of the Essenes:“[On the Sabbath they do not]… go to stool [at all]. Nay, on other days they dig a small pit, a foot deep, with a paddle (which kind of hatchet is given them when they are first admitted among them); and covering themselves round with their garment, that they may not affront the Divine rays of light, they ease themselves into that pit, after which they put the earth that was dug out again into the pit; and even this they do only in the more lonely places, which they choose out for this purpose; and although this easement of the body be natural, yet it is a rule with them to wash themselves after it, as if it were a defilement to them.” -Josephus’ War Chapter 2

Dining Hall

Communal Meals

• “They shall eat, pray, and deliberate communally. Wherever ten men belonging to the society of the Yahad are gathered, a priest must always be present. The men shall sit before the priest by rank, and in that manner their opinions will be sought on any matter. When the table has been set for eating or the new wine readied for drinking, it is the priest who shall stretch out his hand first, blessing the first portion of the bread or the new wine. In any place where is gathered the ten-man quorum, someone must always be engaged in study of the Law, day and night, continually, each one taking his turn.” (1QS 6:2-7)

4Q256, line 21-28.• “He shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation

until he has completed a second year among the men of the Community. But when the second year passed, he shall be examined, and if is be his destiny, according to the judgment of the Congregation, to enter the Community, then he shall be inscribed among his brethren in the order of his ran for the Law, and for justice, and for the pure Meal; his property shall be merged and he shall offer his counsel and judgment to the Community.”

Mikva’ot• 16 Pools total• 10 are Mikva’ot

• 577,800 liters of water

After being admitted into the Community:

“For it is through the spirit of the true counsel concerning the ways of man that all his sins shall be expiated…and when his flesh is sprinkled by cleansing water (mei niddah) and sanctified by cleansing water (mei doche), it shall be made clean by the humble submission of his soul to all the precepts of God” 1QS 3.7-9

“A[ny man] [who has a discharge from his member, or one who brings upon himself th]oughts of lust, or one who ]…his touch is like that of the…[he will wash his clo[th]ing [and bathe in water]…him the one who touches him will ba[the]” 4Q266 6 i 14-16

“Any woman who has discharge of blood [she will be in her men]strual impurity se[ven days…she] will remain fo[r]…the seven days…..the menstruant and a[ll] [tou]ch her..stir up the blood of her discharge..the waters…and in the waters of purification…the living waters…her hand.” 4Q272 1 ii 7b-17