They are arranged in a cluster around a central great hall that doubles as a dining room and scriptorium. There is an elaborate series of cisterns and channels that keep the inhabitants supplied with water, which is a major concern as they are forever taking ritual baths . I have never seen such compulsion. Romans are great ones for baths. They build them everywhere and use them often. But at Masad Hasidim, the Essenes climb in and out of their mikvahs, tubs before meals, after meals, instead of meals. They have taken to ritual bathing with the same fervor the followers of Bacchus have to wine. More dwellings stand a short distance down the road. They house a separate part of the community. Wives and families of men who joined the community live there. Their rule requires celibacy, but it also prohibits abandoning families. The men visit their families from time to time, but do not stay. Opposite the settlement, the hills rise steadily upward to the west, pockmarked with hundreds of caves and washes, providing hiding places for outlaws like Barabbas.
