Essenes

One of the approximately 24 Jewish groups active during the 1st century AD.

The Essenes viewed both the Sadducees and the Pharisees as corrupters of Jewish law. Many Essenes were celibate and viewed the world as a conflict between the spiritual (good) and the physical (bad). They were tremendously concerned with ritual purity. The group that lived in Jerusalem kept itself separate from other Jews, fearing ritual contamination.

Some scholars believe that Essenes lived in small commune-like groups separate from the rest of the Jewish world. There, they wore carefully washed white garments. Some scholars believe that a desert commune found at Qumran by the Dead Sea was, in fact, an Essene community.