None of the four gospels of the New Testament mention the Essenes despite specific mention of the Pharisees, and the Sadducees.

According to historians, the Essenes flourished between the 2nd century B.C. and the 1st century AD
Josephus gave a detailed account of the Essenes in The Jewish War (c.75 A.D.)
Claiming first hand knowledge, he states that they comprised one of three major Torah schools – the other two being the Pharisees and the Sadducees - but were significantly less in number
He echoed the description by Roman writer Pliny the Elder that they had customs and observances such as collective ownership

The holy Essenes did not marry and lived a celibate life; the sect practiced communal residence, money, property, food and clothing.
Additionally they practised ritual immersion in water and ate together after prayer
Some scholars have asserted that Jesus himself was an Essene, since his teachings espoused many of the same codes of conduct.

The Essenes disappeared from history after the Diaspora whether, as a small pacifist group, they were massacred by the Romans or, as some have theorized, evolved into the early Christian church remains a mystery but they were certainly practising what some term 'Christian communism' - based on Biblical verses in Acts 2 and 4 - before the birth of Jesus