Qumran is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947 by a shepherd boy who was originally from Bethlehem. Fitting! The scrolls were scriptures on scrolls that were remarkably close to the translations of Bible we already had, but just older. Mike said that the residents who lived in the area right after the time of Jesus were likely Assines, a sect like the Pharisees and Saducees that were very into clean living, celibacy, and worship. Sounds kinda like monks to me. Anyway, they lived in this area to get away from Jerusalem which they believed had become so corrupt before 100AD, to worship with peace and quiet. This group called themselves “the sons of light” and the Romans “the sons of darkness.” Of all the places we’ve seen yet, such a high concentration of ritual baths. It’s like these guys were obsessed with the ritual baths and cleanliness, there were several. They were deep, and with steps, like this:
They’re probably 10-12 feet deep easy. There are 11 caves in this area, and the scrolls were found in cave 6
And here’s one of us for good measure.
Never has this kid been so willing to be photographed. I’m taking advantage of it!
Last stop, the Dead Sea.