Reconsidering Reclining at Qumran

Abstract

This article reexamines the default assumption that diners did not recline at Qumran. It not only investigates the sparseness of the evidence for meals eaten while sitting, but also considers what has been overlooked in ignoring the possibility of more elaborate celebratory dining in connection with the Qumran sectarians. Building on scholarship that offers parallels between Qumran and Hellenistic Voluntary Associations, as well as reconsidering the Community Rule and the archaeological evidence from the site, this article investigates new ways of looking at the evidence of Qumran. These nuances can challenge presumptions of homogeneous eating practices, allowing for other possibilities, such as that the community only “dined” on Shabbat, or once a month, in smaller dining spaces, while the largest dining space may have been used otherwise, by everyone, when they ate but did not dine.