World-famous for having hidden the Dead Sea Scrolls for almost 2000 years, Qumran was the site of a small Essene settlement around the time of Jesus – specifically, from the late 1st century BCE until 68 CE, when it was destroyed by the Romans. The ruins are not that extensive, but from an elevated wooden walkway you can clearly make out the aqueduct, channels and cisterns that ensured the community’s water supply.
Elsewhere are ritual baths (the Essenes were zealous about ritual purity); the refectory, in which communal meals were eaten; and the scriptorium, where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls may have been written. One of the caves where the scrolls were discovered can be visited on a two-to-three-hour walking circuit (not recommended in summer). The small museum and its seven-minute multimedia program will give you basic historical background. Wheelchair accessible.
Qumran is a safe vantage point for watching wintertime flash floods. Walking from Qumran to Ein Feshkha takes about five hours one-way. Park HQ has a restaurant.
Qumran is 35km east of Jerusalem and 35km north of Ein Gedi. All Jerusalem–Dead Sea buses pass here.
