Dead Sea Discoveries · 2011 · 26 citations · 0 references
ArtsAnthropologyArchaeologyAncient ArtMaterial Culture StudiesTextile ArtTextile HistoryTextile MaterialsMuseum TextilesQumran CommunityReligious TextilesTextile ArchaeologyTextile Remains
The Rockefeller Museum holds a set of Qumran textiles that are unusual for the site, and the cave where they were found lies in the lower Kidron Valley, outside the traditional Qumran cave system. The cave was examined in 2007 by Porat, Eshel, and Frumkin. The study found that the textiles from Qumran were exclusively linen, unadorned and white, contrasting with the woolen, sometimes dyed textiles from the nearby cave, and this simplicity aligns with literary descriptions and suggests the Qumran community deliberately distinguished their garments.
Abstract Among the Qumran textiles that were kept at the Rockefeller Museum was a group of textiles that were unusual for Qumran. Most of them were made of wool, and some were dyed or decorated. Their marking QCC—Qumran Christmas Cave indicates their origin. In 2007 the cave was investigated by Porat, Eshel, and Frumkin. The cave is located in the bottom section of Kidron valley and doesn’t belong to Qumran caves. It can now be determined that all of the textiles from Qumran are made solely of linen. They were free of any colored decoration, except for scroll wrappers that decorated in blue. This, and the simplicity and whiteness of the textiles from Qumran, is compatible with the literary sources. It appears that the people of Qumran wished to differentiate themselves from the rest of the population also on the basis of their style of garments.