When Hananiah Nothos awoke, it was still dark outside. He and his companions who shared the cave with him did not have to change they wore the same clothes day and night. After washing their hands, they hurried to morning prayers. On the plateau, near the community centre, stood a group of some 120 people, most of them cave dwellers and a few old and infirm residents of the centre. They stood facing east, toward the rising sun, dressed in tattered sandals and ragged white clothes that had known better times.
At the head of the congregation stood an elderly, dignified man, the priest Yohanan. The rest were adults; no children or teenagers were to be seen. The morning prayer began as follows: "The living shall praise you ... Blessed be the Lord, maker of righteousness..."
After the dawn service each turned to pursue his daily work. Hananiah went to the farm lying at the shore of the Dead Sea to pick dates. Though close to 40, he was still as agile as a young man and able to climb effortlessly to the top of the palms. He was skilled in date picking, which he had learned as a child in his father's grove. In two months' time, after the end of the date season, he will start ploughing in a small plain in the Judaean Desert, preparing the soil for the barley sowing. When not occupied in farming, he lends a hand to the shepherds, helping out with the butchering and preparing the skins for use as writing material.
He is sullen today. Yesterday he was rebuked by the overseer and the rebuke was even put in writing. And this is how it happened: A few days earlier a wayfarer made a short stop in the palm grove. He was an Essene from the tiny congregation of Enot Qaneh, some five hours walk to the south of Secacah. He told a shocking story that Herod Antipas had beheaded John the Baptist. The murder had taken place at Machaerus, a palace-fortress across the Dead Sea, opposite Enot Qaneh. The news was brought by sailors who carried wheat from Moab to Judaea. The name of John was familiar to the people of Secacah. As a young man, he had "pledged himself," in other words, offered to join the congregation, and his status was that of a postulant. But almost two years after joining, shortly before he was to be admitted as a member, he recanted. This was a rare occurrence: many more were rejected than changed their minds, especially at such a late stage. The community viewed it as a grave offense, since John had taken an oath to obey the rules of the sect when he was accepted as a candidate. From time to time rumours reached Secacah in this isolated community news from the outside world was quite rare about the multitudes that followed him and about the baptism he had introduced for the forgiveness of sins. Yet the people of this place remained hostile to John, the way renegades everywhere are detested.
The night before last, during an Assembly of the Congregation, Hananiah stood up and proclaimed: "I have something to say to the congregation." When he was given permission to speak, he asked his companions if they also thought that John's end was a punishment for his ill conduct. His speech was interrupted by an enraged hiss; it was apparent that all were angry for his bringing up such a disagreeable topic. The next day he was rebuked for "disturbing the spirit of the Yahad ("togetherness"). No wonder Hananiah was sulking today.
After a few hours of diligent work, the group sat down for a short rest. Hananiah went off to relieve himself at the far end of the palm grove. He dug a pit about a foot deep with a small mattock he always carried with him. Squatting, he took care to cover his lower body with his mantle, which, like the other members of the congregation, he had with him at all times, even on hot days, when he brought it along expressly for this purpose. After that, he washed himself in the nearby aqueduct, which carried water from a spring to the grove.
In the fifth hour, the morning work session came to an end and everybody gathered for the midday meal in the community centre. First they immersed themselves in the ritual baths. These were plaster-lined cisterns into which a staircase, occupying the whole width of a cistern side, descended. The staircase was divided by a low partition wall, symbolic rather than functional to separate those descending from those ascending. After bathing, naked except for loincloths, they changed into neat, white dress and went quietly to the assembly hall, which also served as the refectory.
They sat in rows in their usual seats, arranged according to rank. The baker distributed loaves of bread and the cook set before each person a plate with a single course. The wine was mixed with water and poured into the goblets. Before the meal, the priest said grace. Only after that did they break their bread, eating in complete silence. When they had finished, the priest recited another benediction "and you shall eat and be satisfied and bless the Lord your God for the good land he has bestowed upon you." After the meal, everyone changed back into working dress and returned to their labours.
On his way to the grove, about a half-hour walk, Hananiah saw some of his companions digging a grave for an old man, Simeon of Beisan, who had died that morning. It was rumored that he was a hundred years old. No one doubted that he was very old indeed. He had once told Hananiah that the year he married (years later he would leave home and join the Secacah community) the country was overrun by Parthian hordes, and that he still remembered their fine horses.
Hananiah was born in Pelusium, in northern Sinai. His father, whom nobody remembered, died before he was born. His mother had also passed away while he was still a young child, and he was adopted by an Essene family with six children of their own. His adoptive father, Hyrcanus, was a weaver, and Hananiah, like the rest of the family, lent a hand. Hyrcanus also owned a small palm grove where Hananiah enjoyed working. He naturally preferred the breezy grove to the stuffy, dark textile work-shop. The anonymity of his father was well-known, and the street urchins used to taunt him with the nickname "Nothos," meaning bastard.
One day, when Hananiah was about 20 years of age, an elderly Essene came to Pelusium from Jerusalem. In spite of his tattered clothes, he looked quite distinguished. The Jerusalemite carried very few belongings a tiny bundle, a water flask, the habitual mattock, and something most unusual for a man of his age and bearing a sword. He was known for his ability to interpret dreams and Hananiah came to the house of the Essene family hosting the visitor to ask his advice. Lately, he had been troubled by a strange recurring dream. In the dream, he saw himself standing on top of a palm tree, near the coast, watching the sun rising over the sea. What made it so strange is that in Pelusium, the sun never rises or sets over the sea, and Hananiah did not realize that such a thing was possible. But the old man knew. He told him that the dream meant that Hananiah was destined to join the Essene community on the shores of the Dead Sea. He proceeded to tell him exactly what he needed to do where to go and what he should expect there. Hananiah informed his adoptive parents of all that had transpired. His father's face fell, and his mother wept, for she knew that she would never see him again. The next day, Hananiah set out upon his journey, which would take two weeks. He found hospitality in Essene homes; in each home, he also received advice on where to stop next.
When he reached Secacah, Hananiah understood the meaning of his dream, for here the sun rose above the sea. He was accosted by an unsmiling man, about 40 years old, who asked him what he wanted. "I wish to join the community," said Hananiah. This man, the overseer, asked Hananiah to sit, and then sat down himself in front of him at a greater distance than is usual between two men conversing. After a long conversation, which was in fact an undisguised examination, a slight smile appeared on the overseer's face. He told Hananiah that he was admitted as a postulant for a period of study. That very evening, Hananiah was permitted to join the Assembly of the Congregation, where he was asked to take an oath: "To return with all his heart and soul to every commandment of the Law of Moses ... and to separate from all the men of falsehood."
After some months and several tests he was admitted for probation. First he was brought before a committee of three, who examined his body carefully, being mindful not to touch him (for physical contact with a non-member would defile them). They looked very closely at each part of his body, as they believed that a man's nature can be inferred from his physiognomy, together with his date of birth. As it was found that "his thighs are long and lean and his toes are thin and long," and that he was born under the sign of Taurus, they concluded that he was a humble person, and that "his spirit consists of six parts in the House of Light and three in the House of Darkness." The youngster who was examined after him, however, had "saw-like teeth, thick fingers, thick and very hairy thighs, ... and thick and short toes," and it was deemed that his spirit consisted of eight parts from the House of Darkness and one from the House of Light.
After being presented before the Congregation, and after a deliberation over whether he would "enter or depart," he was admitted for the first year of novitiatehood. He was permitted to keep his personal belongings, but was not yet allowed to touch the food of the congregants. A year later, he appeared again before the Assembly, which examined "his case with regard to his understanding and observance of the Law." He was then admitted to his second, and final, year of novitiatehood. He handed over his property (though it was not yet merged with the general property) to the bursar, and was allowed to touch the food, but not the drink, of the community. At the end of this year, he was accepted as a full member. His property was merged with that of the community; he was permitted to take part in meals, ritual immersion, and the Assembly of the Congregation; and he was "inscribed among his brethren in the order of his rank for the law, for justice, and for the Pure Meal."
Twenty years had already passed since Hananiah had joined the community, during which time he never ventured more than a few miles out of Secacah. He led an uneventful life, except for a severe head wound he suffered in his eighth year as a full member. It occurred while he was trying to chase away some Edumean shepherds, who had led their flocks into the farm. A stone hurled from a sling hit him above his left eye, breaking his skull, and while he was lying unconscious on the ground, he was struck again with a club. Hananiah lay bedridden for many days. Eventually he recovered, but severe headaches and nose bleeds plagued him to his last days. In the evening, Hananiah and his fellows returned from the farm to Secacah. They immersed themselves one again, changed into white garments, and sat down for the evening meal. Owing to the death of Simeon of Beisan that morning, they concluded their supper with the mourner's grace: "As one whose mother comforts him, so shall He comfort them in Jerusalem, and their hearts shall rejoice like the groom with his bride..." The following third of the night will be spent by Hananiah with some of his companions in study of holy books.
Hananiah will live another 25 years in this congregation, the first monastic community in the western world, of which it is written "they shall eat in common and pray in common and deliberate in common."
Notes:
1 A scroll published recently has preserved the names of some members of the Qumran community. This is the only one of the 600 non-biblical scrolls which contains such data. Here, the overseer wrote down the names of those he rebuked and the misdemeanours they committed. One of the rebuked was Hananiah Nothos.
2 It seems that most of the inhabitants of Qumran (originally called "Secacah," see note 15) lived in caves. Even if some scholars are correct in the contention that only one of the natural caves in the rocky escarpment was used for habitation, it cannot be denied that at least six artificial caves below the marl plateau were used for this purpose. The marl cliffs south of the compound suffered badly from erosion, and it is quite plausible that some caves disappeared along with their contents. In the winter of 1995-96, some new artificial caves north of the compound were unearthed.
3 Washing the hands at rising is known to us as a rabbinic (i.e. Pharisaic) law, but it is highly probable that the Essenes, always more stringent, practiced it too.
4 Flavius Josephus writes: "Before the sun is up they utter no word on mundane matters, but offer to him (the sun) certain prayers, which have been handed down from their forefathers, as though entreating him to rise."
5 The community centre is the Qumran complex of buildings unearthed by R. de Vaux. No living quarters were found here, though there is some possibility that a few rooms were built on the second floor.
6 "They do not change their garments or shoes until they are torn to shreds or worn threadbare with age" (Josephus).
7 44.7 percent of the Jewish male population in Palestine between 330 bce and 200 ce bore 2.3 percent of the names. The name Yohanan is the fifth in frequency and Hananiah the seventh.
8 Only at the age of 20 could one join the community: "At the age of 20 years (he shall be) enrolled" (Rule of the Congregation 1) and only "at the age of 23 years may he take his place among the foundations (i.e. the officials) of the holy congregation to work in the service of the congregation."
9 The oasis of Ein Feshkha (modern-day Enot Tzukim) lies 2.5 km. south-southeast of Qumran In 1958, de Vaux excavated remains of a farm that must have supplied part of the food consumed there.
10 Dates were probably the main crop at this site. Pliny the Elder writes that the Essenes living on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea "had only palm trees for company." The water of Feshkha is brackish and very few plants can stand such salinity. Of all agricultural crops, the date palm is probably the most tolerant of salt. Today, as in antiquity, date palms are grown very close to the Dead Sea shores. Dates are picked in the autumn.
11 This plain, known by its Arabic name el-Buqei'a (which means "the small plain"), lies west of the cliffs bordering Qumran and west of the fortress of Hyrcania. The plain was inhabited in the Iron Age, but it is almost certain that it was cultivated in the Roman and Byzantine periods as well, when every cultivable piece of land was tilled.
12 In the arid regions of the country, barley was preferred to wheat.
13 The person occupying the position of overseer was in charge of all organizational and social aspects of the community, including the acceptance of new members and their instruction.
14 The oasis of Enot Qaneh (modern-day Ein el-ghuweir) lies 15 km south of Qumran. There, Pesach Bar Adon unearthed a building of Qumranic nature. The pottery as well as the tombs are very similar to those of Qumran and it is highly likely that the site was occupied by an Essene community.
15 Secacah This was probably the ancient name of Qumran.
16 There are two versions of the murder of John the Baptist, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The Gospels blame Herodias, Herod's wife, for the assassination, explaining that John was arrested by Herod because he condemned his marriage to Herodias, in a union forbidden by Jewish law. Herodias, through her daughter, Salome, asked for his murder and her request was granted. According to Josephus, Herod killed John because he feared that the religious movement he created might turn into a revolt. Many scholars believe that John was, for a short time, a member of the Essene community at Qumran. Our feeling is that he left because he could not come to terms with the Essene predestination theology. His preaching of a "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" is in polar opposition to the Essene teachings, which do not allow for repentance.
17 John was killed in 29 ce, about a year before the crucifixion of Jesus. Thus, Hananiah, who was 40 at the time, would have been born around 11 bce.
18 Macherus was a Herodian palace-fortress similar to Masada, built in Moab, east of the Dead Sea.
19 The Assembly of the Congregation was the general assembly of the community; a body with legal authority. "Should any man wish to speak to the congregation... let him rise to his feet and say: I have something to say to the congregation.' If they command him to speak, he shall speak" (Community Rule).
20 "And in an Assembly of the congregation no man shall speak without the consent of the congregation" (Community Rule).
21 "On the other days (i.e. weekdays, for on the Sabbath the Essenes did not relieve themselves) they dig a trench with a mattock such is the nature of the hatchet which they present to the neophytes and wrapping their mantle about them, that they may not offend the rays of the deity, sit above it. They then replace the excavated soil in the trench. For this purpose they select the more retired spots" (Josephus). In the Temple City, and it stands to reason in other cities as well, where "retired spots" were hard to find, regular lavatories were built.
22 "And though the discharge of the excrements is a natural function, they make it a rule to wash themselves after it as if defiled" (Josephus).
23 The hours were reckoned from dawn onward, a system still used by certain ultra-orthodox groups in Israel. Thus the fifth hour in the winter is not the same as it is in the summer.
24 "They again assemble in one place and, after girding their loins with linen cloths, bathe their bodies in cold water (Josephus). "And when his flesh is sprinkled with purifying water and sanctified by cleansing water..." (Community Rule).
25 Of the 16 cisterns in Qumran, ten are ritual baths. These baths are characterized by a low partition wall, some 5-10 cm. in height. On one side the "unclean" bathers descended, while on the other the "clean" ascended, with the wall symbolically dividing them.
26 These clothes were worn only during the meal, and were taken off at its end, as they were "holy vestments" (Josephus).
27 The baker and the cook are described in detail by Josephus.
28 In antiquity, wine was consumed only when mixed with water. "Where it is customary to mix wine with water to the amount of one half, a third, or a quarter, one should mix. One should not deviate from the local custom." Some scholars believe that the Essenes abstained from wine, but most probably they did not. It is difficult to imagine that people who celebrated the "Festival of the New Wine," and may, even have instituted it, abstained completely.
29 "And when the table has been prepared for eating, and the new wine for drinking, the Priest shall be the first to stretch out his hand to bless the first fruits of the bread and new wine."
30 In accordance with Josephus, "No clamour or disturbance ever pollutes their dwelling; they speak in turn." In general, the assemblies of the Essenes were orderly and quiet: "No man shall interrupt a companion before his speech has ended... each man shall speak in his turn." A member who interrupted his companion was required to do penance for ten days; penance involved exclusion and reduction of food rations by one-quarter.
31 To the east of the community centre lie three cemeteries: a large one with 1,100 well-aligned graves and on its outskirts two small ones with some 100 graves. In the main cemetery only male skeletons were found, but in the peripheral one there were some skeletons of women and children. Remains of wooden coffins and heaps of bones in some burials both signs of secondary burial suggest that some of the interred were brought from afar and were not part of the Qumran community.
32 "They live to a great age most of them to upwards of a century in consequence, I imagine, of the simplicity and regularity of their mode of life" (Josephus).
33 The Parthian invasion took place in the year 40 bce. At that time, Simeon would have been at least 20 years old (the minimum age for bridegrooms. Since the story takes place in 29 ce, Simon would have been at least 89 years old.
34 Pelusium A prosperous harbour city in northwestern Sinai, famous for its textiles. A Jewish garrison guarding the Egyptian border was stationed there at least since the first century bce. Most probably, the main language of the Jewish community was Greek.
35 "Marriage they disdain, but they adopt other men's children, while yet pliable and docile, and regard them as their kin and mould them in accordance with their own principles" (Josephus). It should be remembered that while some of the Essenes practiced celibacy, others (probably most) led a more or less regular family life.
36 Nothos The Greek word for bastard.
37 "They carry nothing whatever with them on their journeys, except arms as a protection against brigands" (Josephus).
38 "There are some among them who profess to foretell the future, being versed from their early years in holy books, various forms of purification and apophthegms of the prophets; and seldom, if ever, do they err in their predictions" (Josephus).
39 "And they enter into the houses of men whom they have never seen before as though they were their most intimate friends... In every city there is one of the order expressly appointed to attend to strangers, who provides them with raiment and other necessities."
40 Anyone wishing to join the community had to be examined by the overseer.
41 "And so far are the junior members inferior to the seniors, that a senior, if but touched by a junior, must take a bath, as after contact with an alien" (Josephus). If this was the case regarding a junior, all the more so with strangers such as Hananiah.
42 "Whoever approaches the Council of the Community shall enter the Covenant of God in the presence of all who have freely pledged themselves. He shall undertake by a binding oath to return with all his heart and soul to every commandment of the Law of Moses..." (Community Rule).
43 The most important principle in Essene teaching was their belief in predestination. Unlike normative Judaism, which has upheld for the last 3,000 years a belief in free will, the Essenes believed that decisions are taken by God. According to their world view, a person is born either into the Camp of the Children of Light or into the Camp of the Children of Darkness with no possibility of crossing from one camp to the other. One's character can only be judged by astrological and physiognomical means.
44 The people of Qumran believed that every person is composed of nine parts, some of light and some of darkness; since nine is an odd number, and cannot be evenly divided, a person must belong to one camp or the other.
45 Both the Community Rule and Flavius Josephus elaborate on the procedure for inducting new members into the community. The information provided by both sources is quite similar, except that Josephus writes that the novitatehood lasts three years, while according to the Community Rule it takes only two. This inconsistency can be explained by assuming that the probationary period was preceded by a year's study.
46 Community Rule.
47 Over 50 skeletons were unearthed at Qumran, but only one has been studied properly by physical anthropologists. We have chosen, arbitrarily of course, this skeleton to represent our Hananiah. In the skull there are signs of two healed wounds, the most severe of which, in the left forehead, left a deep depression. Despite the severity of the wound, his mental capacities would not necessarily have been impaired. The man lived for over 65 years.
48 "And the Congregation shall watch in community for a third of every night of the year, to read the Book and to study Law and to bless together."
Magen Broshi, an archaeologist specialising in the Dead Sea Scrolls, was born in Israel, 1929, and educated at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. He was curator of the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem from 1965-1994. He is chairman of the Museum Association of Israel.