Qumran Caves in Context: Lamps Q43 and Q44 from Cave 1Q as a Case Study

Cave 1Q was visited and looted on several occasions between 1947 and late 1948, before official excavations took place in 1949. This caused an upheaval of the archaeological context and a dispersion of the materials from the cave. As a result, we must ascertain the findspot and the subsequent history of acquisition of the archaeological artefacts assigned to the cave: those not coming from official excavations, but also some recorded in the excavation reports, which often omit information about the excavation process, how the archaeological materials were retrieved, and where they were found. In some cases, archival documentation allows us to recover this information and recompose the archaeological context of the cave in a more consistent way. Lamps Q43 and Q44, assigned to Cave 1Q, and belonging to a distinctive type barely attested outside Qumran, represent an interesting case study in this respect; especially if we consider that they have played a key role in the debate on the chronology of the scroll deposit inside the cave. The present work allows us to put forward some methodological considerations, to highlight some shortcomings in previous studies, and to underline the importance of a holistic approach to the investigation of the material context of the Qumran caves.