Essene Ethnicity

Ethnicity is a sociological construct that has immense value if placed within the field of archaeology. By defining the Essenes as an ethnic group, two purposes are served: to provide further evidence that may link the Essenes to the Qumran community, and to display the usefulness of other, less acknowledged concepts for archaeology. In addition, this paper argues for a fluid definition of the Essenes as a solution to discrepancies between the Essenes found in classical literature and the archaeological remains of the Qumran settlement. The tendency to assign the Essenes by default to the Qumran community and whether there are sufficient grounds for this identification is also examined.