Etienne Nodet proposes that Qumran functioned as a pilgrimage site for the Essenes from the 1st century BC onwards. Nodet suggests that the Essenes were scattered everywhere within Palestine in rural communities and that they used to commemorate a renewal of the early Israelites' entrance into the Promised Land, after crossing the Jordan river and celebrating Passover at Gilgal with Joshua, Moses' heir. The Essene dead were moved to be buried at Qumran...