Posted on 12/23/2006 9:41:35 AM PST by blam
The hidden latrines of the Essenes
By Ran Shapira
In one of his detailed accounts of the Essenes, Flavius Josephus (Yosef Ben Matityahu), described one of the many laws that shaped the Jewish sect's way of life during the Second Temple period. While the Essenes sat in a circle, Josephus wrote, it was forbidden for them to spit into its center. Like many other laws outlined by Josephus, the details of this law appear in the Dead Sea Scrolls found in caves along the northern end of the Dead Sea. These scrolls are attributed to the Essenes.
The resemblance between the 1st century historian's testimony and the content of the Dead Sea Scrolls does not end with the law forbidding spitting into the center of a circle. Magen Broshi, former curator of the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem, where the Qumran scrolls are housed, says there are dozens of parallels between Josephus' writing and the content of the scrolls. One of the main similarities regards purification rituals and the Essenes' meticulous hygiene.
Anthropologist Joe Zias, of the Hebrew University Science and Archaeology Department, recently found positive evidence of the Essenes' adherence to these rituals. Together with Dr. James Tabor, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina and parasitologist Stephanie Harter-Lailheugue of the CNRS Laboratory for Anthropology in Marseilles, France, Zias found the latrines that were used by the Essenes in Qumran. The three researchers say that, in addition to shedding a great deal of light on the unique culture of the Essenes in Qumran, the discovery represents an archaeological bonanza: Additional proof that the Essenes wrote the scrolls. Zias explains that when feces are left on the desert floor...
.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Previously posted article :
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)
(As a somewhat-on-topic aside, I have a colleague who, given a choice, preferred to excavate old latrines, because, according to him, "Folks throw and drop the darndest things down the privy-hole...")
Latrine deaths over Kenyan cell phone
Three men have died trying to retrieve a mobile phone from a pit latrine in the Kenyan town of Mombasa.
University student Dora Mwabela dropped the phone into the latrine while she was answering a call of nature, the Daily Nation newspaper reports.
She offered a reward of 1,000 shillings ($13) for anyone who could recover the phone, worth 6,000 shillings.
Most Kenyans survive on less than $1 a day.
First, recently married radio technician Patrick Luhakha, 30, tried to get the phone back.
Not found
He ripped up the toilet floor before going down a ladder into the latrine.
After a while, nothing more was heard from him and a neighbour, Kevin Wambua, went to check on his friend.
He then slipped and fell into the putrid mess and was also unable to get out.
A third man, John Solo, then tried to rescue the two, while policemen stood and watched, the paper reports.
He collapsed while halfway down the ladder and neighbours managed to haul him to the surface but he died on his way to hospital.
A fourth man had to be held back from trying to rescue his two friends by acting Mombasa Police chief Peter Njenga.
"We would have been talking of four dead," Mr Njenga said.
"The fumes inside must be extremely poisonous considering the short time it was taking to disable the retrievers," he said.
The cell phone was not found.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2850045.stm
Methane and hydrogen sulfide are not good things to breathe...
They need a confined space entry policy.
Jim Carey, "DO NOT-T-T GO IN THERE !!!"
Same here. If we have documentable proof of some sort of behavior taking place in ancient Greece, that also appears in a tale of Greek mythology, does that automatically make all of the Greek myths true?
OK, so the Essenes have some interesting prohibitions regarding spitting that have made it into the Dead Sea Scrolls, that doesn't mean every word of those scrolls is true.
Now if we found one of the cell phones of the Essenes, we'd really have something. Their peeps, phone numbers, text messages...
Not the most appetizing article to eat with my dinner, but interesting, nonetheless.
No kidding. Wonder what kind of ring tones they might have had...
Google "Jewish ringtones" and you will find a lot. "Essene ringtones" is limited. Must be before the internet.
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.