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Precious gold shimmers on every step and every surface of the 60-foot-high staircase that the Essenes dreamed of building alongside the Temple in Jerusalem. Here, an artist has reconstructed the stairtower, primarily according to the detailed specifications the Essenes recorded for the structure in their Temple Scroll; some details are conjectural.

The single purpose for this stairway was to provide a glorious ascent to a walkway that would cross over to the Temple roof. A logical conclusion to be drawn from this is that the Essenes intended to conduct some significant ritual on the Temple roof. According to the author, that ritual conducted by the devoutly Jewish Essenes was worship of the sun!