Essenes a hoax?

[Pete C]

Biblical scholars have long argued that the Dead Sea Scrolls were the work of an ascetic and celibate Jewish community known as the Essenes, which flourished in the 1st century A.D. in the scorching desert canyons near the Dead Sea. Now a prominent Israeli scholar, Rachel Elior, disputes that the Essenes ever existed at all - a claim that has shaken the bedrock of biblical scholarship.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2009031...08599188542100

[Brian Olewnick]

Originally Posted by Pete C

a claim that has shaken the bedrock of biblical scholarship.

Not to mention the crosswording public!

[Pete C]

[Gary Sisco]

Hoax or fakery?

You decide.

[Uli]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

Hoax or fakery?

bakery.

[Scott Dolan]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

Hoax or fakery?

You decide.

Sheesh...

[Brian Olewnick]

Originally Posted by Scott Dolan

Sheesh...

Kebab.

[Tom Storer]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Biblical scholars have long argued that the Dead Sea Scrolls were the work of an ascetic and celibate Jewish community known as the Essenes, which flourished in the 1st century A.D. in the scorching desert canyons near the Dead Sea.

I seriously question whether an ascetic and celibate community in the scorching desert can really be said to flourish.