Introduction: Qumran and the Essenes The articles in the present collection consist of my studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a pursuit I began when the scrolls were first discovered and which continues to this day, as their publication continues. Though some of these studies were published years ago, I chose not to needlessly update them. I have spared the readers many of the hypotheses put forward by some scholars, primarily because I do not wish to take part in the creation of the “phantasms” that