The archaeological site of Qumran is of significant importance to Israel because it is the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Excavations first began in 1851 when a French archaeologist began searching through an old cemetery. In 1856 Albert Isaacs hypothesized that the city of Qumran was actually a fortress of some kind.
In 1950 full scale excavations began on the caves of Qumran. Many different pieces of pottery were found and analyzed to have come from the Iron Age. At this time it was hypothesized that Qumran was referred to as the City of Salt. Secacah, in Joshua 15:62.
An interesting thing that the archaeolgists noted was that there seemed to a consistent evolution of improvement throughout the fortress with frequent additions, extensions and improvements. For instance: The water channel was raised in order to carry water to newer cisterns further away and a dam was placed in the upper section of Qumran, which also had a aquaduct brought to the site. Rooms were added, floors were raised pottery ovens were relocated and locations throughout the site were repurposed.
Later on an archaeologist De Vaux interpreted the site as the home to the ritualistic Jews called the Essenes. This small group of Jews was dedicated to rewriting the manuscripts. He hypothesized that the scrolls were hidden for their safety because the Essenes were attacked.
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