Place · Land of Israel / Judea
En-Gedi
Ancient names: Engaddai
An oasis cited by Pliny as a boundary of the Essene settlement he describes by the Dead Sea.
31.4627°N 35.3877°E · representative coordinate · Pleiades 687893 ↗
Statements linked to this place
Each block is a sourced statement. Click the number to see the cited page.
Which group produced part of the Dead Sea Scrolls is a recent controversy. Pliny locates an Essene settlement between Jericho and En-Gedi, and the scrolls community resembles the Essenes in many respects. Most scholars identify it as Essene, but some argue that it was a branch of the Sadducees.
Community: The men of En-Gedi
In two letters, Bar Kochba struggles to keep his men in line: he accuses those of En-Gedi of living comfortably off the property of the 'House of Israel' without caring for their brothers, and threatens to put others' feet in chains. Some read in them a war going downhill, but being undated they cannot be put in order. The 'Galileans' mentioned in one of them are puzzling: perhaps Christians, but no one knows for sure.