News at Eleven (Back Page): And a closer look at [Roland] de Vaux's Qumran

findings raises questions about his picture of a community that disdained luxuries and even money. He uncovered more than 1,200 coins--nearly half of which were silver--as well as evidence of hewn stone columns, glass vessels, glass beads and other fine goods. Some of it likely comes from later Roman occupation, but Belgian husband-and-wife archaeologists Robert Donceel and Pauline Donceel-Voute believe that most of the accumulated wealth indicates that Qumran was an estate--perhaps owned by a rich Jerusalem patrician--that produced perfume.

from Smithsonian Magazine: Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls

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