Qumran is positioned 10 miles south of Jericho by way of the Dead Sea on a desolate location perfect for the Essenes sect, recognized also as the “Dead Sea Sect” whom lived there. The archeological area was once excavated by Roland de Vaux, a Catholic priest within the years of 1953-1956 and excavations proceed to this day. Qumran is legendary and of serious significance for the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in nearby mountain caves, and a frequent sightseeing visit during your jewish heritage tours.
The archeological Israel excursion site of Qumran is a place that has been inhabited at a number of occasions in historical past. At the lowest level of the dig are remains from constructions and pottery originally from the Iron Age II, as well as a circular cistern from this similar period, that used to be later changed to be included in to a complex aqueduct and reservoir device for water. Many believe it's most probably that Qumran used to be the website mentioned within the Bible as “Ir ha-Melah,” town of Salt.
In 130 BCE the inhabitants of Qumran known as Essenes sect modified the cistern, and introduced rectangular cisterns, constructed also additional rooms, and installed pottery kilns, and in three decades developed and constructed 3 additonal buildins to the site, and a advanced water reservoir system complete with aqueducts connected to a dam. The last people inhabited Qumran from 132 – 135 CE, during the Jewish struggle the sect and site was overran by the Roman armies, and Qumran lay in ruins, after Qumran was occupied by Roman garrison for roughly two decades.
During your Jewish heritage trip you can explore Qumran finding ruins of water channels to transport the water from the wadi from the infrequent storms in the desert. The sect required vast amounts of daily use of water for his or her purification rites and ceremonies in dozens of cisterns, mikvot (ritual purity baths), and pools of water. Here in Qumran is also the Scriptorium, or “writing benches” present in a room with inkwells, suggesting that the second story building was once the place the dead Sea Scrolls were written and copied. Even if no scrolls have ever been found in the site, actual pottery jars discovered at both the Qumran caves and in the Qumran site are strong proof that the scrolls were written here. The Qumran ruins also include a big eating corridor, used for communal eating. There were as much as 3 rows of tables for the sect, and within the next room more then seven hundred cups, two hundred plates, and one hundred bowls discovered. Also in Qumran, archeologist discovered over 1,200 cemeteries, within the just about all male celibate group.
Your Israel Tour will visit Qumran usually the same day touring Masada, enjoying an afternoon resting, swimming and floating on the dead sea, and taking advantage of the numerous health and spa treatments in the Dea Sea resort area.