Qumran has been the subject of recent controversy, with a number of scholars challenging Roland de Vaux's interpretation of the site as a sectarian settlement. In these updated and annotated essays, Jodi Magness examines various aspects of the archaeology of Qumran, including the architecture, pottery, cementery, and coins. She beliefs that de Vaux's interpretation is correct, and that the community that inhabitated Qumran should be identified with the Essenes mentioned in our ancient sources.