A pottery workshop was found at Qumran, and according to excavator Roland de Vaux, pottery types recovered from this site included a wide range of cups, bowls, plates, kraters, cooking pots, jars, jugs, juglets, flasks, lids, and oil lamps. The same types of pottery have also been found within the caves; these were primarily for domestic use, drinking from the cups, eating from the plates and bowls, and drinking from the jugs and juglets. Jars were used as storage (grain, wine, oil), and oil lamps to illuminate rooms and caves.
Neutron activation analysis indicates that while about one-half of the pottery dishes were made of a clay known from pottery made in Jerusalem, the others are made of a non-Jerusalem clay which may have been local. Interestingly, the big cylindrical "scroll jars" such as the one in the middle of this photograph are of the Jerusalem clay. Scholars believe this suggests that they were made locally but with imported clay, since it would have been quite difficult to safely transport such a large jar down the rugged terrain on pack animals from the city.
Neutron activation analysis indicates that while about one-half of the pottery dishes were made of a clay known from pottery made in Jerusalem, the others are made of a non-Jerusalem clay which may have been local. Interestingly, the big cylindrical "scroll jars" such as the one in the middle of this photograph are of the Jerusalem clay. Scholars believe this suggests that they were made locally but with imported clay, since it would have been quite difficult to safely transport such a large jar down the rugged terrain on pack animals from the city.
Primary Source
- Jodi Magness, 2002. The Archaeology of the Dead Sea Scrolls. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
