R.
de Vaux excavated Aïn Feshkha in 1956 and 1958. As soon as he discovered
a system of channels and vats located in the northeastern corner of the site,
apart from the main building, he identified these installations as workshops
devoted to an industrial use, preparation and treatment of the animal skins
for the Qumran scriptorium.
He took samples and had them analysed but didn't get the conclusive results
he expected, since they contained no traces of tan. Nevertheless, he never abandoned
his theory of a tannery, even if he expressed the wish that some other interpretation
be proposed.
Nearly fifty years later, no satisfactory hypothesis has been suggested. The
question remains to determine the industry the complex was devoted to. Was there
any link between it and any of the archaeological artefacts discovered in the
Qumran settlement, in its caves or those of the cliffs?
My purpose is precisely to re-examine closely the architectural features of
the workshops and their water system, in order to express a new interpretation
of the whole area, based upon de Vaux's notes de chantier and illustrated by
unpublished photographs taken during the excavations and belonging to the Ecole
Biblique collections.