The temple scroll, toilet practices, and the essenes

Jewish History

Volumn 10, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 9-20

  Baumgarten, Albert I ^a  

^a Bar Llan University

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EID: 53349118796     PISSN: 0334701X     EISSN: 15728579     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/BF01848250     Document Type: Article

References (63)

1. The classic statement of this position is by P.M. Cross Jr., "The Early History of the Qumran Community," in D. Freedman and J. Greenfield, eds., New Directions in Biblical Archaeology (Garden City, 1971), 75-7.
2. This view has been discussed at length by T. Beall, Josephus ' Description of the Essenes Illustrated by the Dead Sea Scrolls (Cambridge, 1988).
3. For two recent attempts to bolster and modify this conclusion, see J. Baumgarten, "The Disqualifications of Priests in 4Q Fragments of the Damascus Document: A Specimen of the Recovery of pre-Rabbinic Halakha," in J. Barrera and L. Montaner, eds., The Madrid Qumran Congress: Proceedings of the International Congress on the Dead Sea Scrolls Madrid 18-21 March, 1991 (Leiden, 1992), ii, 503-6;
4. H. Stegemann, "The Qumran Essenes - Local Members of the Main Jewish Union in Late Second Temple Times," Madrid Qumran Congress Proceedings i, 83-166.
5. For an early attempt in this direction, now widely viewed as a false start, see M. Goshen-Gottstein, "Anti-Essene Traits in the Qumran Scrolls," Vetus Testamentum 4 (1954): 141-7.
6. For a statement of my views on the matter, see A.I. Baumgarten, "The Rule of the Martian as Applied to Qumran," Israel Oriental Studies 14 (1994): 121-42.
7. For a slightly different perspective on these issues, but reaching a conclusion 1 share wholeheartedly, see M. Goodman, "A Note on the Qumran Sectarians, the Essenes and Josephus," Journal of Jewish Studies 46 (1995): 161-6.
8. Those interested in the issue of significance for drawing convincing conclusions would do well to (re)read M. Smith, "The Common Theology of the Ancient Near East," Journal of Biblical Literature 71 (1952): 135-47
9. and S. Sandmel, "Parallelomania," Journal of Biblical Literature 81 (1962): 1-13.
10. See further, P.R. Davies, "Review of Todd S. Beall's, Josephus' Description of the Essenes Illustrated by the Dead Sea Scrolls, " Journal of Theological Studies 41 (1990): 164-9.
11. M. Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism: Volume One, From Herodotus to Plutarch (Jerusalem, 1976), 465-6.
12. Pliny, NH 5. 73. On this passage, see Stern, Greek and Latin Authors, #204, i, 479-81.
13. Cross, "Early History," 76-7.
14. Ibid., 77. The emphases, of course, are mine.
15. The discussion commenced virtually immediately after the publication of the Temple Scroll and has continued since. For the opening salvo, see B. Levine, "The Temple Scroll: Aspects of its Historical Provenance and Literary Character," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 232 (1978): 5-23.
16. See also L. Schifftnan, "The Temple Scroll in Literary and Philological Perspective," in W.S. Green, ed., Approaches to Ancient Judaism H (Missoula, 1980), 143-55.
17. Many of the essays in O. Brooke, ed., Temple Scroll Studies (Sheffield, 1989) treat this issue.
18. Other important contributions to the discussion include B. Z. Wacholder, The Dawn of Qumran (Cincinnati, 1983);
19. D. Rokeah, "The Temple Scroll, Philo, Josephus and the Talmud," Journal of Theological Studies 34 (1983): 515-26;
20. H. Stegemann, "The Origins of the Temple Scroll," Supplement to Vetus Testamentum 40 (1988): 235-56;
21. idem, "The Institutions of Israel in the Temple Scroll," in D. Dimant and U. Rappaport, eds., The Dead Sea Scrolls - Forty Years of Research (Leiden/Jerusalem, 1992), 156-85;
22. D. Dimant, "The Qumran Manuscripts: Contents and Significance," in D. Dimant and L. Schiffman, eds., Time to Prepare the Way in the Wilderness (Leiden, 1995), 23-58.
23. See, e.g., M. Douglas, Purity and Danger (London/New York, 1984);
24. L. Dumont, Homo Hierarchies - The Caste System and Us Implications, 2nd ed. (Chicago/London, 1979);
25. J. Goody, Cooking, Cuisine and Class -A Study in Comparative Sociology (Cambridge, 1982).
26. In addition to the passages noted below, see his perceptive comments concerning the four grades of Essenes and the fact that they purified themselves after contact with an Essene of lower grade, as if they had been defiled by a foreigner, War 2, 150. I plan to treat this point in Josephus's account of the Essenes in a forthcoming paper.
27. Josephus, one assumes, was not Bannus's only disciple, while John had numerous followers. Neither Josephus nor the gospels specified whether this same level of observance was required of the followers of these leaders. Perhaps the followers were less restricted in their eating (and clothing). In any case, in Josephus's account of John the Baptist, Ant. 18, 116-9, he did not mention John's restricted diet. This may indicate that John's special practice did not continue down to the generation of his disciples whom Josephus might have known. For Christians, however, John was conceived as a forerunner. Perhaps this would have led them to preserve more detailed knowledge of his unusual practices.
28. Compare my interpretation of this Josephus passage, below, with H. Harrington, The Impurity Systems of Qumran and the Rabbis (Atlanta, 1993), 100-03.
29. Josephus does not explain exactly why all this is forbidden on the Sabbath. In his remarks which immediately precede this passage, however, he indicates that Essenes did not carry objects on the Sabbath, It is therefore clear that carrying the mattock (whose use was obligatory) from place to place would be forbidden on the Sabbath in the view of Essenes, hence defecation was impossible. By Rabbinic standards, one could add that digging the trench would also be prohibited on the Sabbath. From the perspective of Qumran law, see CD xi, 7-9. Compare these halakhic interpretations with that offered by B. Bokser, "Approaching Sacred Space," Harvard Theological Review 78 (1985): 285-7, according to which defecation on the Sabbath was prohibited among the Essenes because of their transfer of sanctity from place to time. Bokser's interpretation is consistent with one of the fundamental postulates of his article, formulated in its opening paragraphs, ibid., 279, but is inconsistent with Josephus's indications. Arguing for such a shift of sanctity from place to time, Bokser is also unable to explain why the Essenes considered defecation defiling on all days of the week. For further discussion of that issue from my perspective see below,
30. The prophet Ezekiel, who lived his life by strict priestly rules of purification, begged God not to be required to bake his bread over human feces, as he had never, since his youth, defiled himself. God therefore allowed Ezekiel to bake his bread using cow dung as the fuel, Ezek. 4:12-15. As this passage attests, Ezekiel considered human feces defiling, while even baking his bread on animal dung was degrading. On these verses in Ezekiel, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel 1-20 (Garden City, 1983), 107-08. Perhaps it was a priest of similar background who was responsible for Prov. 30:12: "There are those who are pure in their own eyes but are not cleansed of their feces." These attitudes are unique for the Biblical period. According to Dt. 23:12-14, the army camp is to have a place for defecation, where the feces will be covered up in the ground, so that the camp in which God walks will be holy. Note however, that the person who defecated was not required to immerse himself and wash his clothing afterwards.
31. On the Biblical heritage of such impurity laws, see further, D.P. Wright, "Unclean and Clean (OT)," Anchor Bible Dictionary, vi, 736;
32. cf. Bokser, "Approaching Sacred Space," 279-81.
33. As explicitly indicated in JT Pes. 7.11.35b, feces were considered ritually pure, In all contexts other than serving priests in the Temple, in which the Rabbis discussed the requirement to wash after evacuation, it was a matter of etiquette. See the discussion of whether the Shema can be recited with feces adhering to one's body hidden under a garment, or of washing after urinating when participating in a banquet, BT Yoma 30a. At some point much later in rabbinic history, in Palestine in particular, Jews began to consider defecation at least somewhat polluting and requiring washing (although not requiring full-fledged immersion). Under what circumstances and based on what sources this new conclusion was reached is uncertain. For a discussion of the later evidence, see M. & M. Kister, "On the Jews of Arabia - Some Notes," Tarbiz 48 (1978/79): 231-47, esp. 239, n. 38 [in Hebrew]. I would like to thank Dr. Oded Irshai for calling this article to my attention.
34. On the purity required of the wizard who performed spells, as preserved in Sefer Harazim, see M. Margalioth, Sefer Harazim (Jerusalem, 1966), 8-9 [in Hebrew]. When preparing for various incantations, he was to refrain from sexual contact with women, not eat specific foods or drink wine. At times he was required to wear new or clean clothes. Purification from impurity as a result of defecation is not mentioned in the extant text; perhaps it was simply assumed as a matter of course. The remarks attributed to Jesus in Mk. 7:19-20/Mt. 15:17 are also based on the widely shared assumption in the Second Temple era that whatever goes through the stomach and then is evacuated is ritually pure. The novel points in Jesus's teaching are that (1) there is no need to be concerned about the purity status of foods that go into the stomach, and (2) what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and immoral actions such as murder, adultery, false witness and slander, defile.
35. Essenes bathed before eating, gathered together in a place where the uninitiated were forbidden, as if all this were taking place in some sacred shrine (War 2, 129). They were special clothes for this occasion, which they received upon initiation (War 2, 137) and which they took off after the meal, as if these were holy vestments (War 2, 131). On the interpretation of these passages, see further, M. Delcor, "Repas Cultuels Esseniens et Therapeutes, Thiases et Havuroth," Revue de Qumran 6 (1968): 401-25. Access to the Temple was limited to male pure Jews. This restriction was enforced even by foreign empires under whom Jews lived.
36. See Josephus, Ant. 12, 145-6. According to the Rabbis in the Mishnah, Yoma 3:3, discussed above, the Temple had additional special purity requirements. Even someone pure by all standards had to immerse himself one further time before serving in the Temple. The idea that priests should not wear outside the Temple those vestments in which they served in the Temple goes back at least as far as Ezek. 44:17-19. If Josephus's Essenes shared these positions, as seems likely, it may help explain their purity practices. It might also assist us in understanding why they regarded defecation as polluting.
37. In addition to the requirements of celibacy, common property, and common meals, the member was to conceal nothing from other members of the sect, creating a situation in which each member was a permanent spy concerning the activities of others. As a further indication of the erasure of personal identity, charity to those in need was encouraged, but "presents to relatives are prohibited without leave from the managers" (War 2, 134). See further 4Q477, frag. 2, ii, 8, in which someone was rebuked for loving his near kin, and the discussion in E. Eshel, "4Q477: The Rebukes by the Overseer," Journal of Jewish Studies 45 (1994): 117-8.
38. On sectarian life as effacing individual identity, see L. Coser, Greedy Institutions: Patterns of Undivided Commitment (New York, 1974), 103-16. Coser focuses his comments on individuality as expressed in sexuality. His conclusions, however, can and should be extended to all aspects of human self-expression.
39. One such hatchet was found in Cave 11 near Qumran. See further R. de Vaux, "Une hachette essenienne?" Vetus Testamentum 9 (1959): 399-407. As de Vaux concluded, there is no way of knowing for which of many possible purposes this hatchet was employed, hence no way to identify it as one given to an Essene on entering the group. This hatchet cannot verify that Qumran was an Essene settlement.
40. Translation in G. Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, 3rd ed., (Harmondsworth, 1990), 144. Note that according to Sabbath law, someone who lived in accordance with the requirements of the Temple Scroll would be unable to utilize these toilets on the Sabbath, as they would be located further from the city (3,000 cubits) than one is permitted to walk on that day (2,000 cubits). In that sense, his situation would be like that of Josephus's Essene.
41. For interpretations of this passage, see Y. Yadin, The Temple Scroll (Jerusalem, 1983), i, 298-301;
42. L. Schiffman, Law, Custom and Messianism in the Dead Sea Sect (Jerusalem, 1993), 100-01 [in Hebrew].
43. One of the characteristics of the toilet facility in the Temple, according to Mishnah Tamid 1:1, was its privacy: it could be used by only one person at a time. 11QT, by contrast, did not specify that its latrine was to be used on an individual basis only.
44. How well wastes would have been recycled when deposited in such a permanent hole, walled round and covered up, is a matter of speculation. Without running water to drain such a pit, it should have been quite unpleasant, even if far removed from inhabited areas. The camps envisaged in the War Scroll were to have latrines, 1QM vii, 7. The text does not specify whether these were to be permanent installations such as in the Temple Scroll, or (as likelier in an army camp) ad hoc arrangements.
45. On this point, see further A.I. Baumgarten, "Josephus on Essene Sacrifice," Journal of Jewish Studies 35 (1994): 169-84.
46. There is other evidence for the presence of Essenes in Jerusalem: Judas the Essene taught a considerable number of disciples in the Temple (War 1, 78; Ant. 13, 311); John the Essene was appointed at a public meeting held in the Temple (War 2, 562-7).
47. Even in the rocky area of Jerusalem, one could find some spots where digging a hole for this purpose would be readily feasible.
48. Compare my interpretation of this aspect of the passage with that of J. Milgrom, "Further Studies in the Temple Scroll," Jewish Quarterly Review 71 (1980/81): 96-7.
49. Feces appear as defiling twice in the Damascus Document, x, 10-11: "No man shall wash in feces-tainted water or in water that is less than a mareil." Immersion in water polluted with feces is as ineffective in removing impurity as immersion in a pool that contains too little water. On the interpretation of this passage, see S. Lieberman, Greek in Jewish Palestine (New York, 1942), 135, n. 151. A mareil of water, according to Lieberman, is a big hamper's worth, sufficient to meet the minimum criterion of water necessary to render the immersion pool valid.
50. According to CD xi, 2, a man may not put on feces-stained garments or ones taken from storage on the Sabbath unless they have been washed or rubbed with frankincense. For a discussion of this passage, see Schiffman, Law, Custom, 111-2. For a brief history of Jewish purification in honor of the approach of the Sabbath see ibid., 112, n. 184. The Damascus Document thus shares with Josephus's Essenes the conviction that feces are a source of impurity that must be removed. Whether a member of a group that lived by CD would immerse after every defecation is not stated, but is likely in light of the above.
51. Cf. Bokser, "Approaching the Sacred," 284,
52. and the summary of the research of Tyloch in J.Z. Kapera, "A Review of East European Studies on the Temple Scroll," in Brooke, Temple Scroll Studies, 279. According to Tyloch, a comparison of Josephus's information on the Essene toilets with the regulations in the Temple Scroll confirms the Essene identity of the author(s) of the Temple Scroll. In light of the analysis above, Tyloch's conclusion is incomprehensible, and explicable only as a result of jumping to conclusions based on vague similarities.
53. Similar confusion reigns in Yadin's discussion of Josephus's Bethso and his account of the Essene Gate (War 5, 144), Y. Yadin, "The Gate of the Essenes and the Temple Scroll," in Y. Yadin, ed., Jerusalem Revealed (New Haven/London, 1976), 90-1. Bethso, however it be understood, and the Gate of the Essenes were different, two separate points along the western stretch of city wall. Assuming the latter got its name from its use by the Essenes for leaving the city to toilet facilities, and if Bethso (=bet tsoa) were latrines or an exit to latrines (two possible conclusions for which Yadin argued), the Essenes did not use the installations connected with Bethso, as their gate was different. Thus, if Josephus's Bethso has any connection with the latrines to be installed according to the Temple Scroll, the fact that the Essene gate was at a different place reinforces my argument that the Temple Scroll is not Essene.
54. Some degree of variation among those called Essenes did exist. Thus Josephus knew of celibate Essenes, as well as of others who did marry (War 2, 160-1). Bannus may also been someone with an Essene past.
55. Psychiatrists, who must cope with a wide range of symptoms associated with virtually every syndrome, identify certain symptoms as diagnostically significant. From the whole group of accompanying phenomena, these particular symptoms are the ones which establish just what the problem is and what treatment is indicated. I mean the discussion of Essene toilet practices above to be understood as having the same degree of definitive significance. I owe this analogy to a suggestion of Dr. Jonathan Fine of the Bar-Ilan University.
56. This is not merely a problem of definition. The consequences of the groupings we propose in scholarly classification affect the context in which we place the subject under discussion, hence the background against which it is seen, with many of the conclusions we draw ultimately dependent on that context. A misleading grouping can thus lead to our not choosing the most enlightening context to use as our backdrop.
57. See H. Beebe, "Domestic Architecture and the New Testament," Biblical Archeologist 38 (1975): 95. Nevertheless, no toilets were found in the indoor installations of the grand homes in the Upper City of Herodian Jerusalem. See N. Avigad, Discovering Jerusalem (Jerusalem, 1980), 143. Perhaps their inhabitants employed chamber pots, or perhaps a facility outside the house, such as in the courtyard. According to Herodotus, describing conditions in Egypt of the fifth century BCE, one of the characteristic behavior patterns of Egyptians (as opposed to Greeks) was that they defecated and urinated in private, in their houses, Hdt. 2, 35. Just what structures, if any, existed in their homes to be utilized for these purposes is not specified by Herodotus. Perhaps the Egyptians used nothing more than a chamber pot.
58. See M. Douglas, How Institutions Think (London, 1987), 49.
59. See R. Porter, "History of the Body," in P. Burke, ed., New Perspectives on Historical Writing (University Park, 1991), 206-32, esp. 217-20. In recognition of the significance of the body as a conveyer of meaning, analyses of the history of the body in different societies and time periods have become numerous of late.
60. For initial applications of this approach, see S. Gilman, The Jew's Body (New York, 1991);
61. H. Eilberg-Schwartz, People of the Body (Albany, 1992);
62. D. Boyarin, Carnal Israel (Berkeley, 1993).
63. Thus, to suggest one possibility worth further exploration and consideration, perhaps the ad hoc toilet practices of the Essenes were indicative of a high level of immediate expectation of eschatological redemption, while the permanent facilities in the Temple Scroll reflected a lower level of imminent hope. The members of the former group considered themselves more as an army camp, marching in the wilderness towards the promised land, and in whose midst God was walking; hence their toilet practices were closer to that of Dt. 23:12-14. If this conclusion could be sustained, it would be a valuable indication of the level of eschatological tension among the Essenes, a subject concerning which our sources (Philo, Josephus and Pliny) are otherwise silent.