The Essenes settled Qumran during the 2^nd century BC after fleeing the Maccabean revolt in Jerusalem. They lived there peacefully for two hundred years, farming, herding, and studying the Scriptures until the Roman occupation of Palestine sparked an uprising in 66 AD. The Essenes sided with the rebellious groups, bringing upon themselves the wrath of the Romans from Jericho, who occupied Qumran and massacred the Essenes. The settlement there was never rebuilt.

During the summer of 1947, a young Arab shepherd discovered a group of caves in the vicinity of Qumran. In a jar inside one of the caves, the shepherd found a piece of leather with writing on it—the earliest known copy of the book of Isaiah. This discovery led to comprehensive excavations of the two hundred caves in the area, twelve of which yielded numerous intact scrolls, many fragments of scrolls, and a great number of other documents. Because of Qumran’s proximity to the Dead Sea, historians refer to these finds collectively as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

There is much speculation about the role of the Essenes in the early Christian period and what relationship, if any, Jesus or John the Baptist may have had with them.