The Essenes are a sect of Second Temple Judaism that flourished from the second century BCE to the first century CE which some scholars claim seceded from the Zadokite priests.

Being much fewer in number than the Pharisees and the Sadducees (the other two major sects at this time), the Essenes live in various cities but congregate in communal life dedicated to asceticism (some groups practice celibacy), voluntary poverty, and daily immersion.

Many separate but related religious groups of this period share similar mystic, eschatological, messianic, and ascetic beliefs. These groups are collectively referred to by various scholars as the "Essenes."

Josephus records that Essenes existed in large numbers, and thousands lived throughout Roman Judaea.

The Essenes have gained fame in modern times as a result of the discovery of an extensive group of religious documents known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are commonly believed to be the Essenes' library—although not conclusive.

These documents preserve multiple copies of parts of the Hebrew Bible untouched from possibly as early as 300 BCE until their discovery in 1946.

Some scholars dispute the notion that the Essenes wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls.[2] Rachel Elior questions even the existence of the Essenes.

The first reference is by the Roman writer Pliny the Elder (died CE c. 79 ) in his Natural History.

Pliny relates in a few lines that the Essenes do not marry, possess no money, and had existed for thousands of generations.

Unlike Philo, who did not mention any particular geographical location of the Essenes other than the whole land of Israel, Pliny places them in Ein Gedi, next to the Dead Sea.

A little later, Josephus gave a detailed account of the Essenes in The Jewish War (c. 75), with a shorter description in Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94) and The Life of Flavius Josephus (c. 97).

Claiming first hand knowledge, he lists the Essenoi as one of the three sects of Jewish philosophy alongside the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

He relates the same information concerning piety, celibacy, the absence of personal property and of money, the belief in communality, and commitment to a strict observance of Sabbath.

He further adds that the Essenes ritually immersed in water every morning, ate together after prayer, devoted themselves to charity and benevolence, forbade the expression of anger, studied the books of the elders, preserved secrets, and were very mindful of the names of the angels kept in their sacred writings.