In 1962 Dr. Anthony Phillips, former Chaplain and Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford, and Headmaster of The King’s School, Canterbury, visited the site of Qumran along with a group that included Richard Harries (formerly Bishop of Oxford and now Lord Harries), and John Rogerson, (who became Professor at Sheffield University). The seven slides he took at the site (numbered 30-35 & 37) present the area before any development for tourism; six of these (30-35) are shown here. Kindly note that these slides are copyright. All rights are reserved, and may be reproduced only by permission of Dr. Phillips, at a.phillips920@btinternet.com. Accompanying captions were written by Joan Taylor, Dennis Mizzi and Marcello Fidanzio for the Leverhulme International Network Project of Dispersed Qumran Cave Artefacts and Archives.
Kodachrome II Transparency Slide No. 30 “Qumran Essene Community”
Slide 30) View from the tower over the site of Qumran southwards to the east wall and plateau. In front of the east wall is the pool of Locus 71. The small ritual bath (miqveh) Locus 68 lies in front of this. Part of Locus 24 can be seen in the foreground with Period 3 wall intact.
Kodachrome II Transparency Slide No. 31: Cliffs / Caves
Slide 31) View northwards from site of Qumran to rocky cliffs where Caves 3Q and 11Q were found. In the lower foreground this view importantly shows the remains of ‘Trench A’ and ‘Trench B’, dug just north of the buildings.
Kodachrome II Transparency Slide No. 32 : Qumran Essene Community?
Slide 32) View over Locus 30 ‘scriptorium’ to area of ‘pantry’ (Locus 86/89) and then on to the plateau. In the distance one can see the high level of the water of the Dead Sea at Ras Feshkha.
Kodachrome II Transparency Slide No. 33: Caves 4 & 5 Qumran
Slide 33) View from the Qumran plateau along the wadi to Caves 4Qa and 4Qb. The original entrance can be seen at the top and also the new entrance cut by the archaeologists.
Kodachrome II Transparency Slide No. 34: Cave 4 Qumran
Slide 34) View along the arm of the Wadi Qumran that cuts through just to the east of the buildings. Cave 4Qa is seen on the right side.
Kodachrome II Transparency Slide No. 35 Cave 4: John, Luke, and third figure
Slide 35) Three men standing in the ‘window’ of Cave 4Qa that faces south to the Wadi Qumran and the land leading down to Ain Feshkha. Here Dr. Phillips remembers being ‘pestered by an aggressive hornet’.
Dispersed Qumran Cave Artefacts and Archival Sources (DQCAAS) 