Out of the Cave
In her book “Out of the Cave”, Edna Ullman-Margalit deals with archaeological reasoning. In general terms, the analysis is reasoning about reasoning, and, from the theoretical point of view, takes place on the meta level.
In the following, I will use Ullman-Margalit’s analysis as a model of theoretical reasoning without taking any stand on the archaeological studies, or on the substantial theories about the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Ullman-Margalit 2006, 6). My thesis is as follows: Edna Ullman-Margalit’s reconstruction of the hypothesis formation and the theoretical disputes related to the findings is relevant for the methodology of human sciences in general, including DSL. For this reason, I will first briefly describe the findings of Qumran and the competing theories explaining those findings (Ullman- Margalit, 23). After that, a summary of Ullman-Margalit’s theoretical analysis will be introduced. Finally, an attempt will be made to apply Ullman-Margalit’s model to DSL.In the spring of 1947 a group of Bedouin shepherds were looking for a few stray sheep in the desert of Judea near the Qumran ruins, northwest of the Dead Sea. In one of the caves they came upon seven scrolls of scripture. Later it was realised that these scrolls contained ancient texts, the origin of which could be dated back to the time before the current era. The find was followed by a veritable wave of archaeological digs. By 1956, ten other sites had been examined, and the result was a large group of writings measuring six to seven metres in length, as well as thousands of fragments. The material is contained in approximately 900 manuscripts that consist of over 300 different compositions of text, some of them biblical.
The biblical writings include readings of holy texts, such as interpretations of the prophet Habakuk. Also included is “The War Scroll”, which describes an eschatological war between Light and Darkness that lasted more than 40 years.
“The War Scroll” also presents a description of the equipment needed for warfare and the forming of armies, as well as their strategies. Another side of the scrolls includes administrative orders, such as norms on religious rituals, cleanliness, asceticism, celibacy and so forth.The finding of the scrolls has been held as the most significant archaeological discovery of the past millennium. It has been suspected that they form a picture of the birth of early Christianity and its relationship to Judaism, as well as the (real) life of John the Baptist and Jesus, since the texts can be said to be descriptions of “current events”, at least on the basis of the time of their writing. To put it differently: for the archaeologist, the finding of the scrolls is like a huge telescope, bringing a way of life over 2,000 years old within the reach of the researcher.
It has been thought that the people who lived in Qumran came to build their community approximately 150 years before the current era, staying in place until 68 AD, when the Roman legions destroyed the city, as they had recently done to the temple in Jerusalem. According to this view, the writings seem to have been born within a time frame of more than 200 years, but with most likelihood they were made in the few decades preceding the current era.
On the basis of the scrolls, it has been deduced that the people responsible for them were part of a group (sect) that opposed the prevailing concept of the similarity of priests and kings. To them, kings came from the family of David and priests from that of Abraham. As an alternative to the lunar calendar followed in Jerusalem, the group adopted a solar calendar of 364 days. The Qumran people were also strict in their use of the Law of Moses, and at least some of them lived in celibacy. In addition to this, they were expected to practice asceticism and the purity of soul and body, which has been taken to mean that the large pools found in the excavations were used for ritual baths.
The folk of Qumran rejected the urban way of life, shunned the collection of property, had common dinners led by priests, strictly defined rites of initiation and were patiently waiting for the beginning of the last battle between Light and Darkness.This much, and much more in detail, is known. But this is also the part where questions begin to arise. The standard theory, the basic points of which were formed in the time after the first findings, sees that the people of Qumran were an Essenean religious sect, and that it was the Essenean scribes who wrote up both biblical and administrative texts. It is precisely this prevailing theory that Edna Ullman-Margalit, calling it the DSS theory, takes into critical examination, looking especially at the traps of scientific reasoning it includes.
Both the representatives of the DSS theory and its critics have to put together a puzzle of many pieces that do not seem to take any acceptable form. It is therefore no wonder that in addition to the DSS theory, there are nearly twenty competing explanations for the contents and origin of the Qumran scrolls. All of them refer to the same facts, but many of them give these facts an interpretation different to that of the DSS theory
The DSS theory and the competing theories all presuppose two things. First, the textual interpretation of the scrolls' content, including philology, readings of the bible in the original language, the research into the history of early Christianity and Judaism, knowledge of the texts of historians from the examined era, etc. Second, one must have knowledge of empirical research - in this case, archaeology in particular - as well as the ability to read papyrus texts and put texts together from small fragments. We are dealing with a real multi-disciplinary and multi-layered project, which is therefore also very complicated.
The DSS theory is vulnerable to many counter-arguments, and questions can be posed in at least three directions.
The first is about the origin of the texts, the second (textual criticism) about the content of the scrolls and the third about archaeological finds and their interpretation.Origin
1. Were the texts really written in Qumran and why? Surely it is possible that they were made in, for example, Jerusalem, and only hidden in the Qumran caves as the Roman legions were approaching.
2. If the texts were written in Qumran, it still leaves a question open: were they made by the Essenes and why? At the time of the writing of the scrolls there were numerous religious groups in Judea, many of which had similar separatist intentions.
3. Even if the texts were made by the Essenes, we might ask: was the group responsible for the scrolls really a sect and what does it mean to belong to a sect? The Jews were divided into Sadducees and Pharisees, and the scrolls include material that connects them to parts of both groups. In order to talk about a sect, we either need to define the concept of a sect or to classify the Essenes under some other known sect.
Content
The interpretation of the texts has been done with the aid of writings from the era's historians. Important sources are, for example, Flavius Josephus and Pliny the Elder. This still leaves open the reliability of contemporary descriptions. The more interesting question is whether we are forced to interpret incomplete descriptions in a way that gives support to the meaning projected onto the texts beforehand. Is there a deductive circle from texts to contemporary writings and back?
The Interpretation of Archaeological Findings
1. The excavations have brought up a defensive tower and signs of battle. Was Qumran more of a military fortress than home to a religious sect?
2. A counter-question can also be posed about the large pools that have been taken to be ritual bath sites. What if they were the storage for the fortress' water? In the harsh conditions of the desert, water had to be stored for the people to survive.
3. The digs have also brought up dining sets, glass objects and other such objects. Why couldn't we think that Qumran was just a luxury resort for a nobleman from Jerusalem, not a holy place or a fortress?
4. Industrial objects have also been found. What if Qumran was some kind of a production site?
5. Skeletons of men, women and children have been found in different caves. According to the DSS theory, at least the majority of the Qumran people lived in celibacy. How can we explain the skeletons of women and children? Or was the Qumran destroyed by the Romans later used as a burial site?
Ullman-Margalit begins by noting a fascinating factor in the background. When the first findings were made in 1947, the scrolls were put in the hands of non-Israelis. In addition to this, the researchers who were the first to shape a scientific theory for the scrolls (the DSS theory) were English, French, German and partly American (Ullman-Margalit, 26). Therefore, it is possible, even somewhat believable, that the ideology of the researchers, either Christian or with shades of Christianity, had something to do with their interpretations. It was only natural that they were expecting clues about the birth of early Christianity, perhaps even the life of Jesus. It was not as natural for them to think about the findings from a Jewish angle, not even on the basis of early Christianity possibly growing from the Judaism of the era. From these remarks, we can point out that the DSS theory is possibly not ideologically neutral. The same hesitation is also possible as regards the legal interpretations, depending, of course, on the area of law and contextual surroundings. Still, this dimension of the subject will not be discussed any further in this context, no matter how fascinating and important it is.
An attempt to answer to the questions Why the Essenes? Why Qumran? and Why a sect? presupposes a distinction between two lines (or chains) of reasoning. One is the textual examination (interpretation) of the scrolls, the other the interpretation of the archaeological findings.
In short, we can talk about the textual line and the archaeological line. Both have been used to verify the basic hypothesis of the DSS theory, according to which the scrolls were written by an Essenean sect living in Qumran on both sides of the year 0.To quote an example given by Ullman-Margalit, the reasoning concerning the Essenes in the DSS theory proceeds in the following way:
1. The concept of a sect is defined by listing the characteristics of a sect and by giving the community the modifier “Qumran - sect”
2. The text of the scrolls is used to deduce that these are the same sectarians who are mentioned in other writings from the same time (e.g. Flavius Josephus and Pliny)
3. The content of the Qumran scrolls is similar to how the Ancient historians described the Essenes
4. There is an adequate similarity between the scrolls, the place where they were found and the description provided by the Ancient historians
5. Therefore: The Essenes wrote the scrolls.