| This study examines the calendar observed by the sect whose writings have been found in the caves of the Judean desert. Chapter I introduces the Qumran calendar as an outgrowth of the 364-day pseudo-solar year described in the astronomical chapters of 1 Enoch and defended in the Book of Jubilees. The Temple Scroll completes a calendric foundation by making canonical several summer harvest festivals not found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Chapters II through VII detail the eight mishmarot manuscripts, providing text, translation, and analysis toward understanding the fully developed calendric structure. These investigations manifest arguments that establish the beginning of the sect's lunar month at the full moon, present coordination methodologies that balance the 364-day solar year with the 354-day lunar one, and reveal two different arrangements of the festival cycle. The Conclusion gathers under the heads of Enoch and Jubilees evidence to propose two sectarian calendar traditions and brings forward other texts which could be similarly categorized. Three appendices and a glossary support the discussion from non-mishmarot calendars and presenting an eclectic six-year calendar in full detail. |
