Editing Essenes (section)

===Magarites===
The Magharians or [[Magarites]] ({{Langx|ar|Al-Maghariyyah}}, 'people of the caves')<ref name=dss>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/|isbn=978-0-19-508450-4|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls|title=Magharians|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor-first=Lawrence H.|editor-last=Schiffman|editor2-first=James C.|editor2-last=VanderKam}}</ref> were, according to [[Jacob Qirqisani]], a [[Judaism|Jewish]] sect founded in the 1st century&nbsp;BCE.
[[Abraham Harkavy]] and others identify the Magharians with the Essenes, and their author referred to as the "Alexandrinian" with [[Philo]] (whose affinity for the Essenes is well-known), based on the following evidence:{{r|dss}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Abraham|last=Harkavy|chapter=Le-Ḳorot ha-Kittot be-Yisrael|editor-link=Heinrich Graetz|editor-first=Heinrich|editor-last=Grätz|title=Geschichte der Juden|volume=iii|page=496|language=he}}</ref>
* The sect's name, which, in his view, does not refer to its books but to its followers who lived in caves or desert areas—an established Essene lifestyle;
* The sect's founding date coinciding with that of the Essenes;
* The theory that God interacts with humans through an angel aligning with Essene beliefs, as well as Philo's concept of the ''[[Philo#Logos|Logos]]'';
* Qirqisani's omission of the Essenes from his list of Jewish sects, which can be explained if he considered the Magharians to be synonymous with the Essenes.