Quote:Yeah because they were a Jewish order.
The whole Essene thing has taken a number of hits in recent years. Forgetting Magen and Peleg's archaeological research, and since you are so fond of Josephus, why not accept Josephus at his word. According to him, the Essenes did not live in monasteries in the countryside. They lived in the cities.
Poor Father Roland De Vaux was a French monk and apparently let his European imagination run wild. Magen and Peleg found evidence of Qumran being a pottery factory.
