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Re: C-14, coins, Essenes
Dear Ian,
1) Again, I think J. Magness makes a very good case (much better than
de Vaux or Laperrousaz) for the end of period IIb in 9/8 BCE or later.
The coin hoard is significant in this. Please read her important
contribution (DSD 2).
2) Pliny wrote Essenes lived "without money." This relates to the keeping
of common funds by the mevaker, overseer, epimeletes. This relates to the
communal nature of Qumran Essenes, unlike Sadducees. (Perhaps keep this in mind
when the new [first century CE?] ostracon is published.) Pliny wrote that
people "throng" there. Pliny wrote they persist, "...so fruitful for them
is the repentance..." (In my view, it is interesting to compare this
with John the Baptist as presented in Matthew 3.) In the past you heve
indeed parodied a small isolated sect.
3) I did not parody the issue of scribal hands. I recognize many and note that
the widespread Essenes circulated texts among many members for a long time
as well as obtaining texts from outsiders, in the case, e.g. of some Bible
texts. Your comments were self-contradictory, agreeing that more texts
remain to be found just after denying that it was reasonable for me to
observe that the mss so far found are not a complete set.
4) Post 63 BCE sources on Sadducees include NT. Sadducees did not end in
63. And you do not deal adequately with Alexander's wife. And you have not
shown why sons of Zadok = Sadducees.
5) To analyse coins, I recommend reading dig reports and books by Yaacov
Meshorer. One should know about such famous coins as the revolt coins before
making many assertions. I had the privilege of working with Dr. Joyce
Raynor (a student of Meshorer) at Sepphoris, where there are many coins.
One needs to consider evidence in context. For instance, Alexander ruled
a long time and minted many coins; his bronze coins--if my memory serves
me well--stayed in circulation a long time. I am guessing that the number
of coins (those randomly dropped) is rather small. this may relate to the
communal economic structure which Philo, Josephus, and Pliny describe.
6) The C-14 evidence already available, in my view, is one of several
sources of overlapping evidence which exclude the possibility of the
proposed deposit in 63 BCE.
Sincerely,
Stephen Goranson UNC-Wilmington