A Greek-Style Bath at Qumran?

This chapter examines the archaeological settlement of Qumran and how a full understanding of the data requires locating Qumran in the context of ancient eastern Mediterranean material culture. The analysis focuses on the contested interpretation of the purpose of small pools in the central courtyard of the main building. Roland de Vaux, who excavated Qumran in the 1950s, regarded them as possibly connected to a workshop belonging to the sectarians. Jean-Baptiste Humbert and Alain Chambon assert that the site was not sectarian, but rather an aristocratic Hasmonean villa. They support this argument by identifying the pools as a Greek bath. The chapter challenges this assertion through comparative analysis of related baths in Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean, the results of which contradict the interpretation of the pools as a Greek bath.