Dead Sea Scroll & Essenes' Latrine [audio 6min @15:50]

The Essenes must have thought they were so smart. They hid out in the desert, where no one could bother them. They apparently penned the Dead Sea Scrolls. And, unlike their neighbors -- nomadic shepherds -- they didn't just go to the bathroom wherever the urge happened to find them. They were fastidious and sanitary -- and they all went in one latrine. According to a new study, though, that might not have been all that smart after all. In fact, their tidy toilet habits may actually have contributed to their downfall. The CBC interviews Dr. James Tabor, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and one of the authors of the study.