History
In 332 BC, Alexander the Great?s armies swept through Israel, and his successors continued his campaign to bring the Greek culture onto every part of the world. The Hellenistic culture deeply offended the Jews, but soon many of the Jewish people were seduced and eventually conformed to this secular worldview that glorified the human being through philosophy, athletics, religion, and the arts.

The Essenes formed when Jonathan the Hasmonean took the office of the high priest approximately 170 BC. Initially, faithful Jews had been led by the Hasmonean family, but the Hasmoneans gradually became Hellenistic. The Essenes established a religious movement dedicated to restoring true worship of God. The community at Qumran was Essene-like in its practice.

Beliefs
For about two hundred years, the Essenes carried on an almost ascetic way of life. Believing they had been called to isolate themselves from hellenistic society, they sought to create a new system of purity.

When the Messiah arrived, the Essenes wanted him to find people who were prepared to reestablish the true priesthood and true kingship of David and to battle the forces of spiritual darkness. Their mission was to prepare the way for the Messiah and to bring spiritual light to the world.

Daily Life
Each day began with prayers, and continued with work at appointed jobs in the kitchens, the gardens at a nearby oasis, the pottery kilns, or the scriptorium where scribes diligently copied scriptures and commentaries.

The Essenes assembled for a daily ritual bath and a communal meal. They attached spiritual significance to their daily cleansing and the community eating together. The members of this highly organized society saw themselves as God?s soldiers. They strengthened their bodies, minds, and spirits for the battle that would usher in the new age.

Dead Sea Scrolls
Essene scribes wrote extensively on copper, leather, and parchment about their order, the Essene lifestyle, the coming Messiah, and the exciting new age that would soon arrive.

In AD 68, the Romans destroyed Qumran. It is possible that the Essenes placed their sacred scrolls in jars and hid them in nearby caves as the Romans approached to protect them from danger. These extensive writings were discovered by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947 and later became know as the Dead Sea Scrolls.