Mikveh at Qumran

Mikveh at Qumran, Locus 138, looking east, early first century B.C.E. Photograph courtesy of Jutta Jokiranta.

This ritual immersion pool, or mikveh, was used for ritual purification after impure events such as menstruation, sex, childbirth, skin disease, contact with a corpse, or performing animal sacrifice. According to the laws of the Torah (especially Leviticus), both men and women were required to maintain ritual purity. Fresh water was channeled into the mikveh through aqueducts fed by nearby rivers. Qumran lies at the northwestern edge of the Dead Sea in the Jordan River valley and in the first century B.C.E. and first century C.E. was the site of a Jewish sect that maintained strict purity standards.

Mikveh at Qumran,  Locus 138, steps looking east





Collective ceremonies having a common focus on a god or gods.

A religious subgroup.

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