>Let me reply with 2 presuppositions: > >1) the word "essene" is the anglicized form of "hasid". More to the point, 'Essene' is the Anglicized form of 'Assai', Aleph Samech Aleph Yod (pl. Assaim), a word whose origins are not certain and which some equate with the Therapuetae of Egypt. Eric Forster