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Qumran calendrical texts
Qumran calendrical texts refers to some of the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran that contain references to calendars and timekeeping. These texts include the mishmarot, which were the rosters of weekly shifts or courses for Temple service. In addition to the mishmarot, there are also other calendrical texts, for example those concerned with the yearly festivals, such as found in the Temple Scroll, and the liturgical texts with calendrical structures.
Among Qumran texts, there are documents from different periods of time. While most of the texts are in Hebrew, there are also Aramaic documents. Thus several different calendars are attested in Qumran. The most common calendar found is what has often been described in initial publications as a solar calendar. Yet further research showed that the picture is more complicated, and the lunar phases also play an important role in several Qumran documents.
About twenty texts from Qumran deal with calendars, which reflects the great importance that the "proper chronology" played for the community that produced the scrolls.
The main 364-day calendar found in Qumran has often been described as a ‘solar calendar’. However, several scholars like Philip Callaway and Uwe Glessmer have objected to this terminology, and instead stressed the schematic nature of this calendar. Indeed, the use of this 364-day calendar does not depend on the regular observation of the sun.
The main feature of this 364-day calendar seems to be the predominant importance of Sabbath-observance. This calendar makes sure that any other regular biblical holiday does not fall on the Sabbath, and does not interfere with its observance. That is why Feldman suggests the use of the term 'Sabbatarian calendar'.
This calendar differs significantly from the Babylonian lunar calendar that evolved into the 354-day Hebrew calendar known today. The scrolls' 364-day calendar divided the year into four quarters and recorded the feast days of the community. In this Sabbatarian (or Sabbatical) calendar, the Feasts were always fixed on the same day of the month, and typically occurred on different days from those indicated in the Babylonian-based calendar.
Many of the Qumran texts featuring this calendar are contained in the rosters of weekly shifts or courses of temple service for the twenty-four priestly families, known as Mishmarot.
There is some ambiguity as to whether the four cardinal days were at the beginning of the month or the end. The clearest calendar attestations give a year of four seasons, each having three months of 30, 30, and 31 days, with the cardinal day the extra day at the end, for a total of 91 days or exactly 13 weeks. Each season started on Wednesday, the fourth day of the week (Hebrew: יוֹם רְבִיעִי, romanized: yom rəb̲iʿi), every year.
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Qumran calendrical texts
Qumran calendrical texts refers to some of the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran that contain references to calendars and timekeeping. These texts include the mishmarot, which were the rosters of weekly shifts or courses for Temple service. In addition to the mishmarot, there are also other calendrical texts, for example those concerned with the yearly festivals, such as found in the Temple Scroll, and the liturgical texts with calendrical structures.
Among Qumran texts, there are documents from different periods of time. While most of the texts are in Hebrew, there are also Aramaic documents. Thus several different calendars are attested in Qumran. The most common calendar found is what has often been described in initial publications as a solar calendar. Yet further research showed that the picture is more complicated, and the lunar phases also play an important role in several Qumran documents.
About twenty texts from Qumran deal with calendars, which reflects the great importance that the "proper chronology" played for the community that produced the scrolls.
The main 364-day calendar found in Qumran has often been described as a ‘solar calendar’. However, several scholars like Philip Callaway and Uwe Glessmer have objected to this terminology, and instead stressed the schematic nature of this calendar. Indeed, the use of this 364-day calendar does not depend on the regular observation of the sun.
The main feature of this 364-day calendar seems to be the predominant importance of Sabbath-observance. This calendar makes sure that any other regular biblical holiday does not fall on the Sabbath, and does not interfere with its observance. That is why Feldman suggests the use of the term 'Sabbatarian calendar'.
This calendar differs significantly from the Babylonian lunar calendar that evolved into the 354-day Hebrew calendar known today. The scrolls' 364-day calendar divided the year into four quarters and recorded the feast days of the community. In this Sabbatarian (or Sabbatical) calendar, the Feasts were always fixed on the same day of the month, and typically occurred on different days from those indicated in the Babylonian-based calendar.
Many of the Qumran texts featuring this calendar are contained in the rosters of weekly shifts or courses of temple service for the twenty-four priestly families, known as Mishmarot.
There is some ambiguity as to whether the four cardinal days were at the beginning of the month or the end. The clearest calendar attestations give a year of four seasons, each having three months of 30, 30, and 31 days, with the cardinal day the extra day at the end, for a total of 91 days or exactly 13 weeks. Each season started on Wednesday, the fourth day of the week (Hebrew: יוֹם רְבִיעִי, romanized: yom rəb̲iʿi), every year.