Defining Sectarian By ‘Non-Sectarian’ Narratives In Qumran

Abstract

Definitions of religious groups vary greatly depending on person or group who or which determine them: terms used in definitions shaped by the other and those of self-identification are determined by cultural and social background of speaker, as well as by auditory to which definition is addressed to. Self-definition represents a continuous element in life and history of any religious community. The Qumran group, library of which was found in caves neighbouring Qumran site, came into existence in middle of second century BCE when Qumran site was established as separate center of a religious community. The history of Jewish sects begins with Persian period. A text taken as non- sectarian can express basic ideas of sect, shaped in a different form than mainstream forms of expression known from heyday of group. Keywords: non-sectarian; Qumran site; religious community; Jewish sects; Persian period