DSS.950216 Class Minutes #10, 16 February 1995               
Religious Studies 225, Dead Sea Scrolls 
Recorded by Karen Farji and Chanan Tigay

Guest speaker Ross S. Kraemer, who did her PhD dissertation at Princeton
on <t>Ecstatics and Ascetics: Studies in the Functions of Religious
Activities for Women in the Greco-Roman World</> (1976) including
attention to Philo's Therapeutae;  Author of <t>Maenads, Martyrs, Matrons,
Monastics: a Sourcebook on Women's Religions in the Greco-Roman World</>
(Fortress 1988), and more recently <t>Her Share of the Blessings: Women's
Religions Among Pagans, Jews, and Christians in the Greco-Roman World</>
(Oxford 1992). 
 
Foci of dicussion:

-- The article in <tp>Biblical Archeology</> 57/4 (December 1994) by Linda
B.  Elder, "The Women Question and Female Aesthetics Among the Essenes" (a
copy can be found in the ReligSt graduate lounge, 414 Duhring), addresses
the issue of women (and children) at Qumran and more broadly in the other
Jewish communities of the period. 

-- This introduces the question of attitudes to gender not only among the
Essenes but in the ancient writers like Philo of Alexandria and Josephus
who describe the Essenes and the similar "Therapeutae," a monastic Jewish
community that provides the only surviving piece of detailed evidence 
about the participation of women in such a community. 

Observations on the ancient accounts of Essenes:

The DSS seem to derive from a community of men. Part of this perception 
comes from the texts themselves -- i.e. the laws and regulations which are 
directed specifically at men. Other sources which lead to this perception 
are what writers in antiquity such as Josephus have written about the 
Essenes. This theory implies that the people in Qumram were in fact the 
Essenes; most scholars today accept this view.
 
Josephus in the "Jewish War" 2.118-122 describes 3 forms of Jewish
"philosophy": the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. He writes the
following about the Essenes: "marriage they disdain, but they adopt other
men's children while yet pliable and docile" -- children implying sons. In
general, it was common in antiquity to abandon unwanted children (although
it is uncertain whether or to what extent this was true of Jews), thus
providing an ample source for adoptions. According to Josephus, the
Essenes did not think there was anything inherently wrong with marriage,
but thought they could not trust women and therefore did not marry. A
question worth asking is whether Josephus was recording the facts as they
were or if he was adding his own comment. Yet, Josephus mentions one order
of Essenes who did marry (War 2.160-161) because "they think that those
who decline to marry cut out the chief function of life...the propagation
of the race". They give their wives a 3 year probation and only marry
after the woman's potential fertility is proved. Furthermore, they do not
have intercourse with them during pregnancy to show that their real motive
is the propagation of the race. 
 
Other ancient writers confirm Josephus' statement that the Essenes do not
marry, in particular Philo who says that "no Essene takes wife" -- an
indication of the male make-up of the community -- "because a wife is a
selfish creature, excessively jealous and an adept at beguiling the morals
of her husband and seducung him by her continuous impostures" (Hypothetica
11.14; Kraemer is inclined to believe that this passage is about Philo's
own views on women). While Josephus says Essenes worry about women
seducing other men, Philo's description of their concern is about women
seducing their own husbands away from spiritual matters. He mentions
nothing of the order of Essenes who do marry; neither do any of the other
ancient writers. 
 
The Dead Sea Scrolls evidence

Nothing in the scrolls as currently available makes it clear that there
were women living in the DSS community; quite to the contrary, much of the
content of the scrolls is specifically oriented toward a male community. 
 
The evidence of the Qumran graves (see the Biblical Archeology article)

The excavations of the Qumran burial sites have lead some scholars to
question the theory of an exclusive male membership. A main cemetery
holding about 1000 graves has been found at Qumran along with two
secondary ones. A total of 1200 graves is estimated. The problem lies in
that only about 50 graves have been opened (in the 1950's and '60's) and
the rest are unlikely to be opened because of resistance in some Jewish
sectors in Israel to the desecration of Jewish graves. Of the graves
excavated, 9 contained women (one with a child), 36 men and 6 children
(gender not specified).  Only 3 women were found in the main cemetery, the
rest were in adjacent areas and cemeteries.  Because of this, some
scholars have argued that these women were not members of the community,
but perhaps travelers who died on their journey (or some other type of non
member). The fact that the alignment of the women's tombs was often
different from the majority may support this theory (if the alignment of
graves was a significant part of their religious system). The problem with
prooving this is that we usually don't have information about everyday
practices such as burials because the ancient people were so familiar with
such practices that writers don't find it necessary to write about them. 

Both Josephus and Philo estimated the total number of Essenes at 4000. 
This does not explain why there are only 1200 graves (especially if they
lived there for more than 100 years). A possible explanation is that many
people in antiquity, and Jews in particular, practiced secondary burial
where bones were desiccated and put into a box (an "ossuary") to be buried
later elsewhere, such as in a family grave.  Yet no evidence of secondary
burial has been found so far at Qumran. Only if the remaining graves are
explored will we have more answers. 
 
The DSS texts:

The mention of women in the DSS texts presents an interpretative problem: 
it is found within the context of legal discussions that may be either
THEORETICAL or ESCHATOLOGICAL and thus would not necessarily suggest the
actual presence of women. The texts are directly drawn out of the law
codes of the scriptures and furthermore, an eschatological community would
not have been concerned with having offspring. 
 
Based on the text 4Q502 -which Garcia Martinez includes under "4Q Ritual
of Marriage," some argue that the presence of women was not simply
hypothetical or eschatological. Based mainly on Fragments 19 and 24,
Joseph Baumgarten [Journal of Jewish Studies 34 (1983) 125-35] has argued
that this is not a marriage ritual, but a ritual of old age. He says these
two fragments are indicative of the whole fragment. The ritual would then
be an honoring of elders in the community (both men and women). 

Philo on the Therapeutae:

Philo describes a monastic community called the Therapeutae in his essay
"On the Contemplative Life". He contrasts this community, whose members
lead a "contemplative life," with the Essenes that he described in the
sister tractate "Every Good Man is Free," who he claims lead an "active
life" (they farmed, engaged in commerce, etc.). The Therapeutae ate only
bread and water (therefore, they must have had money since they apparently
didn't make the bread, so they must have bought it with money they had
brought with them). Philo claims that such people lived in many places
throughout the world, but their main center was on the shores of the
Mareotic Lake (and the Mediterranean) just west of Alexandria. 
 
At least since the time of Eusebius (early 4th century CE), Philo's
description was thought to be of an early Christian monastic community.
Only since the late 19th century has it been proven otherwise. There is
also some debate about whether Philo has imaginatively created this
community, because nobody else mentions it (nor do any texts survive from
the community itself) and it could have been the embodiment of his ideal
community (he shows great admiration for them). Kraemer believes it was
more likely a real community. 
 
Philo mentions both men and women Therapeutae. They study philosophy,
allegorical texts and scriptures in individual cells during the week and
come together in a common sanctuary on the Sabbath (seventh) day. The
whole ceremony is described as a model of mystical experience, drawing
upon Greek ideas of mystical encounters in the cult of Dionysus. 
 
An important point is the mention of these women as "aged virgins". 
Kraemer believes that "aged" in this case refers to post-menopausal women. 
This is significant because Philo suggests elsewhere that women who do not
menstruate are no longer considered women. In Philo's philosophical
system, becoming MALE is an essential part of his belief. Just as the
soul's (feminine word in Greek) ultimate goal is to become male and
virgin, the women can become male now that they are no longer
menstruating. And since such women aren't really women any longer, they
can do all the things men do (except perhaps sit together with men in this
common sanctuary; Philo does say that the genders are separated). 

If Baumgarten is right and there are women among the DSS Essenes, the idea
of having "aged women" would not contradict the need for purity in the
community (according to Philo's theory that women become men after
menopause) -- a major concern among the DSS people. One theory holds that
they are there in the wilderness because they want to separate themselves
from an impure community in Jerusalem. These men could have been worried
that menstruating women would render them impure. They felt that ritual
purity would place them in a special relationship with God. 
 
Dr. Ross S. Kraemer concluded by saying that it is very easy to forget
about women in antiquity because almost everything that we know or are 
taught is oriented toward the experiences of men. Let the reader beware! 

//end dss.950216//