Jericho by Qumran and Qumran by Jericho in Late Antiquity: A Multispectral Cultural Landscape through the New Cultural Studies

The memory of Jericho in Ancient Judaism is generally related to the conquest of Canaan and luxuriant palm groves. Numerous geographical, historical, archaeological, epigraphic, literary and administrative data are now available to reconstruct the cultural landscape of the region and its dynamics in Late Antiquity. The relationships between Jericho and Qumran, i.e. the Khirbeh and its inhabitants – the Essenes – during the Hasmonean and Herodian periods reveal dynamics at work between the centre of Jericho’s territory and its southern periphery, i.e. Khirbet Qumran, and vice-versa. The multispectral approach, following the New Cultural Studies, results in (re )evaluation of Jericho in the origins of the Essene community, and the not negligible role of Khirbet Qumran and its inhabitants within the territory of Jericho.