thisexplanation, claiming that the site was no monastery but rather a Roman fortress or a winterresidence. Some also believe that the Qumran site has little if anything to do with the scrolls andthe evidence available does not support a definitive answer. 13A lapse in the use of the site is linked to evidence of a huge earthquake. Qumran wasabandoned about the time of the Roman invasion of 68 A.D.,14 two years before the collapse ofJewish self-government in Judea and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Thescrolls are believed to have been brought from Jerusalem the Judean wilderness for safekeepingwhen Jerusalem was threatened by Roman armies. This was the time that Qumran was a judeanmilitary fortress which was destroyed in a battle with the RomansSince their discovery, the Dead Sea Scrolls have been the subject of great scholarly andpublic interest. For scholars they represent an invaluable source for exploring the nature of post-biblical times and probing the sources of two of the world's great religions. For the public, theyare artifacts of great significance, mystery, and drama. 15The Dead Sea Scrolls give us a better view of a crucial period in the history of Judaism.Judaism was divided into numerous religious sects and political parties. With the destruction ofthe Temple in 70 AD., all that came to an end. Only the Judaism of the Pharisees; the mostpowerful Jewish sect--Rabbinic Judaism--survived. Qumran literature shows a Judaism in themidst of change from the religion of Israel as described in the Bible to the Judaism of the rabbis asexplained in the Talmud, which tells the rules that Jews live by.16 Scholars have emphasized similarities between the beliefs and practices shown in the Qumranmaterial and those of early Christians.17 These similarities include rituals of baptism, communalmeals, and property.18 One of the most fascinating similarities is how the people dividedthemselves into twelve tribes led b...
