1. The Dead Sea Sect and Its Worldview I The discovery of Dead Sea Scrolls, whose authors were apparently the Essenes, has generated many new insights into different areas of the study of ancient Judaism, and will undoubtedly continue to do so. It is particularly worth noting that the discovery of the Scrolls provides for us the earliest known example of the ancient sectarian literature, and therein lies their import, as research tools into the social and religious underpinnings of the sects. The