ABSTRACT
The Qumran ritual system seems to have been very intensive and characterized by frequent rituals or as some scholars express it, life in the Qumran movement was in some way ritualized has discussed the fully ritualized life in the Dead Sea Scrolls, comparable to structured, ascetic life in the monastic setting. Purity rules, Sabbath observance, prayer life, study of Scriptures, structured hierarchical meetings, and adherence to the specific 364-day calendar marked life in the movement as prescribed, predictable, and sequential. Moreover, Qumran scholars tend to follow the standard social-scientific view that ritualized life or rituals were an important factor in creating social cohesion in the group. By promoting communal submission to priestly authority, standards for initiation and expulsion, patterns of feasting and fasting, carefully-delineated constructions of time, and strict purity requirements, the rituals entangled community members inextricably with Gods will for the cosmos and drew them away from the profane world of their Jewish and non-Jewish neighbors.
