'
What an incredible smell you’ve discovered!
Posted on 11/14/2006 8:21:04 AM PST by aculeus
Archaeologists, it seems, will dig anything, even latrines. Sometimes this uncovers the stuff of scholarly evidence.
Over a hill, a discreet distance from and out of sight of the ruins of Qumran, near the Dead Sea, a broad patch of soil appeared to be discolored. Two archaeological sleuths had reasons to suspect this may have been Qumran’s toilet. Soil samples yielded the desiccated eggs of human intestinal parasites.
The researchers say this could well be evidence supporting the controversial view that Qumran was occupied by an ascetic Jewish sect, the Essenes, and that they probably wrote the Dead Sea scrolls and hid them in nearby caves. The discovery of the scrolls, beginning in 1947, was a sensation, with the promise of yielding insights into Judaism and early Christianity.
The new findings were announced yesterday by Dr. James D. Tabor, a biblical historian at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Joe E. Zias, a paleopathologist in Israel. In an interview, Dr. Tabor said the link between the latrine and the Essenes was intriguing, but not firm. Not enough organic material has been recovered for scientific dating tests. Qumran has been in ruins since A.D. 70.
Two of the scrolls refer to a requirement that latrines be “northwest of the city” and “not visible from the city.” The Qumran latrine, some 1,000 yards away, seemed to comply.
Dr. Tabor conceded that it was possible, as recently proposed, that the site was a pottery factory but said it would have been run by a strict religious Jewish community.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
"one of his colleagues specializes in fossillized...um...the end result of what people ate. It's a recognized specialty."
A coprologist.
nyah, nyah. ;') Thanks for the ping.
Remote latrine reconfirms the presence of Essene sect at Qumran
EurekAlert / University of North Carolina at Charlotte | November 13, 2006 | James Hathaway
Posted on 11/14/2006 3:20:10 AM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1738210/posts
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Fighting? and they're still doing that too. :)
I laughed, but it's really not funny is it?
In some follow up, I'm not at all sure the Essenes kept Kosher, or at least Kosher in the way we think of it today. I really don't know anything about them.
Also, there is a current school of though that a fair number of the Rabbinical Kosher requirements were developed out of the "I might be accidently sinning" school of thought. (The most common argument being related to milk/meat -- although I am not sure I buy that, as I think it has more to do with deeper thought as to the basis for the requirements.)
Anyway, according to this school of thought, what-we-think-of-today as kosher developed more as the Romans crushed and occupied Israel --- kind of a response to "why is this happening to us."
That said, pork would have been always off the list, which is high on the IP culprits.
And washing hands before you eat would have been on the list, too.
No, it isn't ... especially since my tax dollars pay this guy's salary :-).
"What I got a kick out of was this guy used to love to say, "It may be sh*t to you but it's my bread and butter.""
Considered not eating there? ;-)
LOL! (But guys under 50 should be allowed to laugh!)
Yeah. :(
'
What an incredible smell you’ve discovered!
Oxtering challenge ping.
See the blog http://pacific-science-scrolls-scandal.blogspot.com/
and scroll down for information on the steadily growing number of opponents of the Essene theory.
Yes, the "Essene latrine" claim a stretch (the material can't be dated and a toilet has already been dug up within Qumran which makes the Essenic feces argument completely arbitrary).
In fact, it is an outrageous attempt to defend the Qumran-Essene theory of Dead Sea Scroll origins by a group of scholars who for twenty-five years attempted to ignore criticism of that theory altogether.
Unfortunately, the Essene theory is still being presented as the truth in museum exhibits all over the world. See the blog on this problem at http://pacific-science-scrolls-scandal.blogspot.com/
|
|
|||
Gods |
Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. |
||
|
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
|||
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.