The time when Qumran was studied in splendid isolation is long gone, but much work remains to be done when it comes to situating the site in its wider context. In this paper, Qumran is contextualized, on the one hand, within the larger ecological history of the Mediterranean and, on the other, within the Mediterranean world of classical antiquity. Questions regarding the functions of the Qumran settlement are addressed from the perspective of “marginal zones” in the Mediterranean, which provides an ideal backdrop through which to illumine aspects of daily life at Qumran. Furthermore, it is shown how comparative case studies from the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean help us to nuance the discussion concerning “Hellenization” or “Romanization” with regard to Qumran. Finally, a new understanding of L4, which is here interpreted primarily as a dining room, is proposed on the basis of archaeological parallels from the Graeco-Roman world. A pan-Mediterranean perspective, therefore, allows us to generate new insights on old questions and novel interpretations.

中文翻译：

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从犹太沙漠到大海：地中海背景下的库姆兰

在辉煌的孤立中研究库姆兰的时代早已一去不复返了，但要在更广泛的背景下定位该网站，仍有许多工作要做。在本文中，库姆兰一方面处于地中海更大的生态历史中，另一方面处于古典古代的地中海世界中。关于库姆兰定居点功能的问题是从地中海“边缘地带”的角度来解决的，这为阐明库姆兰日常生活的各个方面提供了理想的背景。此外，它展示了来自希腊-罗马地中海的比较案例研究如何帮助我们细致地讨论关于库姆兰的“希腊化”或“罗马化”的讨论。最后，对 L4 的新理解，这里主要解释为餐厅，是根据希腊罗马世界的考古学相似性提出的。因此，泛地中海视角使我们能够对旧问题和新解释产生新的见解。