Public Release:  Remote latrine reconfirms the presence of Essene sect at Qumran

Ancient parasites show that cleanliness may have been next to sickliness

University of North Carolina at Charlotte


Now, new scientific findings from the settlement connect Qumran to details in the scrolls, and give direct evidence of Essene culture at the site. The discovery may also provide a window into dynamic relationships between the sect's rigorous religious practices and the community's health.

A forthcoming report presenting new bioarchaeological evidence from Qumran reconfirms the "Essene hypothesis" by showing the presence of unusual and extreme toiletry and hygiene practices in the ancient community. The evidence points to the Qumran inhabitants' detailed obedience to unique, rigorously demanding precepts that are specified in Dead Sea Scrolls texts and also documented in a Roman-era descriptions of the Essenes.


University of North Carolina at Charlotte biblical scholar James Tabor suggested the investigation at a site outside the ruins of Qumran, noting instructions in two of the Dead Sea Scrolls (the "War Scroll" and the "Temple Scroll") specifically requiring latrines to be located at a significant distance "north-west of the city," and also to be "not visible from the city." Tabor had also noted that the first century Jewish historian Josephus described very similar exotic toilet practices among the religiously strict sect known as the Essenes.



"I started thinking that in the scrolls they have these very explicit descriptions of where the latrines have to be," Tabor explained. "It has to do with religious ritual purity -- the latrines have to be located in a place that the ancient texts designate as 'outside the camp'. That's a phrase used in the Torah, where Moses tells the ancient Israelites 'build your latrines outside the camp.' When you go to the toilet, take a paddle or a shovel with you and use the toilet and then cover it up," he said, explaining that the ancient practice appears to have been revived at Qumran.

"This group is very strict and they observe this practice rigorously -- in one text it says go 1000 cubits, and in another text, 2000 cubits -- and they specifically state 'northwest' in the scrolls. Josephus, in talking about the Essenes, mentions it as a point of admiration or piety - he says that these people are so holy, that on the Sabbath day they won't even use the toilet, because on the Sabbath one can't go outside the settlement," he said.

"It turns out, if you go northwest from Qumran you get to this bluff - a large natural plateau separated from further cliffs - and if you go around it, it hides you from the camp. One of the things Josephus says is that they also believe that their latrines should shield them from view of the camp, so I thought 'this is getting really good, if I can just find some evidence for toilet practices.'"



"Frankly, I was surprised," said Zias. "A parasitologist I talked to told me that my chances of finding something were just about nil. Finding evidence of parasites would be easy in a latrine, but in the middle of the desert... But small things like parasite eggs in feces can hang around for thousands of years. At the Dead Sea, we have hair and hair combs with desiccated lice in them because of the dryness."

"The evidence shows conclusively that the area was a toilet," Zias noted. "The samples contained eggs from intestinal worms that are specific to humans. These things had to come from human feces. The presence of eggs in three out of four 100-gram samples indicates heavy and continual use of the specific site suggested by Tabor."


"One possible concern was that the latrine area could have been used by Bedouins, who are known to have been near Qumran," said Zias. "However, according to Bedouin anthropologist Professor Aref Abu-Rabia, Bedouins are generally not known to bury their human waste, and fecal matter left on the surface quickly dries up and is broken down by sun and wind. This stuff was certainly buried, as the ancient documents say it should be."


"I went there and the entire area looked like somebody had plowed it, the earth was so nice and soft, while the rest of the desert was very hard," he said. "In fact, I broke my pick collecting control samples from the other areas."

Zias and Tabor also note that the settlement's unusual latrine practices may be clues in solving some of Qumran's other archaeological puzzles -- in particular, questions raised by the 1,100 graves found at the site, which are almost exclusively male.


"And yet we are told that these men arrived very healthy - they had physical examinations coming in. The people at Qumran thought that you could look at body types and tell what kind of person you were. Josephus tells us that the Essenes were selective -- you had to be 20 years old, and you had to be healthy," Zias noted.

The puzzle comes together for Zias when he combines the community's latrine practices with its near-obsessive use of pools for ritual cleansing and bathing.

"Burying your feces in the outdoors makes a lot of sense until you live in Qumran," Zias said. "What happened was that 20 to 40 people went out there every day over a period of 100 years. By burying their fecal matter, they actually preserved the microorganisms and parasites. In the sunlight, the bacteria and parasites get zapped within a fairly short amount of time, but buried, the parasites can live in the soil for up to a year. Then people pick up things by walking through fecally contaminated soil -- it's like a toxic waste dump, and if you have any cuts on your feet..."



There were other immersion pools at Qumran as well, and Zias and Tabor point out that the Essenes' rigorous ritual purification practices seem likely to have insured that they too were contaminated by cross-infection.






