יישוב נוסף של כת מדבר יהודה בעין אל-ע'וור שבחוף ים-המלח

The present article is a report of the excavations at 'Ain el-Ghuweir, on the north-western shore of the Dead Sea, some 15 km south of Qumran. The site was discovered during an archaeological survey of the area and excavations were necessitated by the construction of the new 'Ain Feshkha— En-Gedi road, which runs through the site, at an oasis in the bleak desert. Building remains were found from the Iron Age II and the Early Roman period; only the finds of the latter period are dealt with here. A building measuring 19.50 × 43.00 m came to light, along with other walls. Two strata were evident, with two destruction levels. The coins are from the period of Herod, Archelaus and Agrippa I, i.e. between 37 B.C. and A.D. 44. The pottery, however, would push this span backwards to include the reign of Alexander Janneus. The history of the site seems to resemble that of Kbirbet Qumran and 'Ain Feshkha. A cemetery found here, some 800 m north of the above building remains, contains about 20 graves, almost all oriented on a north—south axis, with the head to the south. Both male and female remains were found. An inscription on a jar in one grave reads yhwḥnn.... The scant pottery evidence indicates that the cemetery is of the same period as the other remains on the site. The character of this cemetery is essentially identical with that at Qumran.