Emmaus
Emmaus is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before two of his disciples while they were walking on the road to Emmaus.
Although its geographical identification is not certain, several locations have been suggested throughout history, chiefly Imwas and Al-Qubeiba, both in the West Bank. It is known only that it was connected by a road to Jerusalem; the distance given by Luke varies in different manuscripts and the figure given has been made even more ambiguous by interpretations.
Names and location
The place-name Emmaus is relatively common in classical sources about the Levant and is usually derived through Greek and Latin from the Semitic word for "warm spring", the Hebrew form of which is hamma or hammat. In the ancient and present-day Middle East, many sites are named Hama Hamath and variations thereof.The name for Emmaus was hellenized during the 2nd century BC and appears in Jewish and Greek texts in many variations: Ammaus, Ammaum, Emmaus, Emmaum, Maus, Amus, etc.:,
Emmaus may derive from the Hebrew ḥammat meaning "hot spring", although this remains uncertain. It is generally referred to in Hebrew sources as Ḥamtah or Ḥamtān. A spring of Emmaus, or alternatively a 'spring of salvation' is attested in Greek sources. Unlike other Biblical or Mishnaic sites with the name "Ḥamah" and where the traditional Hebrew spelling has been preserved in classical texts throughout the ages, Emmaus differs insofar that the traditional Hebrew spelling for this place in most classical sources is or. During the late Second Temple period, Emmaus was renamed Nicopolis, a name remained in use as late as the 6th-century Madaba Map. Emmaus is mentioned by this name in Midrash Zutta for Song of Songs 6,8 and Midrash Rabba for Lamentations 1,45, and in the Midrash Rabba on Ecclesiastes. According to Sozomen, it was renamed by the Romans "in consequence of the conquest of Jerusalem and the victory over the Jews."
Emmaus in the New Testament
Emmaus is mentioned in the Gospel of Luke as the village where Jesus appeared to his disciples after his crucifixion and resurrection. indicates that Jesus appears after his resurrection to two disciples who are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, which is described as being 60 stadia from Jerusalem. One of the disciples is named Cleopas, while his companion remains unnamed:
That very day two of them were going to a village sixty stadia away from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were speaking about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were speaking and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him … As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on further. But they urged him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is declining." So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him.
According to the gospel, the story takes place in the evening of the day of Jesus's resurrection. The two disciples hear that the tomb of Jesus was found empty earlier that day. They are discussing the events of the past few days when a stranger asks them what they are discussing. "Their eyes were kept from recognizing him." He rebukes them for their unbelief and explains prophecies about the Messiah to them. On reaching Emmaus, they ask the stranger to join them for the evening meal.
When he breaks the bread, "their eyes opened" and they recognize him as the resurrected Christ. Jesus immediately vanishes. Cleopas and his friend then hasten back to Jerusalem to carry the news to the other disciples.
A similar event is mentioned in the Gospel of Mark, although the disciples' destination is not stated. This passage is believed by some to be a late addition, derived from the Gospel of Luke.
The incident is not mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew or John.
Possible locations
Emmaus is the Greek variant of the Hebrew word and place-name for hot springs, hammat, and is therefore not unique to one location, which makes the identification of the New Testament site more difficult.Several places in Judea and Galilee are called Emmaus in the Bible, the works of Josephus Flavius, and other sources from the relevant period. The one most often mentioned is a town of some importance situated in the Valley of Ajalon, later called Emmaus Nicopolis.
Historical identification
Many sites have been suggested for the biblical Emmaus, among them Emmaus Nicopolis, Kiryat Anavim, Coloniya, el-Kubeibeh, Artas and Khurbet al-Khamasa. The oldest identification that is currently known is Emmaus Nicopolis. The identification is complicated by the fact that New Testament manuscripts list at least three different distances between Jerusalem and Emmaus in Luke 24:13-14.Emmaus Nicopolis/Imwas
The first modern site identification of Emmaus was by the explorer Edward Robinson, who equated it with the Palestinian Arab village of Imwas, near the Latrun Abbey. Before its destruction during the Six-Day War in 1967, the village of Imwas was located at the end of the Ayalon Valley, on the border of the hill country of Judah, at 153 stadia from Jerusalem via the Kiryat Yearim Ridge Route, 161 stadia via the Beth-Horon Ridge Route and lower by elevation.Eusebius was probably the first to mention Nicopolis as biblical Emmaus in his Onomasticon. Jerome, who translated Eusebius' book, implied in his letter 108 that there was a church in Nicopolis built in the house of Cleopas where Jesus broke bread on that late journey. From the 4th century on, the site was commonly identified as the biblical Emmaus.
Emmaus Nicopolis appears on Roman geographical maps. The Peutinger Table situates it about west of Jerusalem, while the Ptolemy map shows it at a distance of from the city. The Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke seems to lie some from Jerusalem, though a textual minor variant, conserved in Codex Sinaiticus, gives the distance between the New Testament Emmaus and Jerusalem as 160 stadia. The geographical position of Emmaus is described in the Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Sheviit 9.2:
From Bet Horon to the Sea is one domain. Yet is it one domain without regions? Rabbi Johanan said, "Still there is Mountain, Lowland, and Valley. From Bet Horon to Emmaus it is Mountain, from Emmaus to Lydda Lowland, from Lydda to the Sea Valley. Then there should be four stated? They are adjacent."
Archaeologically, many remains have been excavated at the site of the former Palestinian village, now located inside Canada Park, which support historical and traditional claims. Five structures were found and dated, including a Christian basilica from the 6th century and a 12th-century Crusader church. Emmaus Nicopolis is a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.
There are several sources giving information about this town's ancient history, among them the First Book of Maccabees, the works of Josephus, and chronicles from the Late Roman, Byzantine and Early Muslim periods. According to 1 Maccabees 3:55-4:22, around 166 BC Judas Maccabeus fought against the Seleucids in the region of this particular Emmaus, and was victorious at the Battle of Emmaus; later, this town was fortified by Bacchides, a Seleucid general. When Rome took over the land it became the capital of a district or toparchy, and was burnt by order of Varus after the death of Herod in 4 BC. During the First Jewish Revolt, before the siege of Jerusalem, Vespasian's 5th legion was deployed there while the 10th Legion was in Jericho. The town was renamed Emmaus Nicopolis in AD 221 by Emperor Elagabalus, who conferred it the title of polis following the request of a delegation from Emmaus. The Plague of Emmaus in AD 639, mentioned in Muslim sources, is claimed to have caused up to 25,000 deaths in the town.
Nicopolis was the name of Emmaus under the Roman Empire until the conquest of Palestine by the Rashidun Caliphate in 639. The Church Fathers unanimously considered this city to be the Emmaus of the New Testament where Jesus was said to have appeared after his death and resurrection; it is sometimes distinguished from other Emmauses of Palestine and other Nicopolises of the Roman Empire by the combined name or. The site of the ancient city, now lies between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in Israel. The archaeological site has been cared for by a resident French Catholic community since 1993 but are formally organized as a part of Canada Park under the general supervision of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
Hellenistic, Hasmonean period
Due to its strategic position, Emmaus played an important administrative, military and economic role in history. The first mention of Emmaus occurs in the First Book of Maccabees, chapters 3–4, in the context of Judas Maccabeus and his revolt against the Greek Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century. The first major battle of the revolt, the Battle of Emmaus, is traditionally believed to have occurred in this area, with the Seleucids establishing a fortified camp here from which to control the countryside. During the Hasmonean period, Emmaus became a regional administrative centre in the Ayalon Valley.According to one theory, Emmaus of the Hasmonean and early Roman periods was located at Horvat 'Eqed.
Roman period
mentions Emmaus in his writings several times. He speaks about the destruction of Emmaus by the Romans in the year 4BC. The importance of the city was recognized by the Emperor Vespasian, who established a fortified camp there in AD68 to house the fifth legion, populating it with 800 veterans, though this may refer to Qalunya rather than Emmaus Nicopolis. Archaeological works indicate that the town was cosmopolitan, with a mixed Jewish, pagan and Samaritan population. In AD130 or 131, the city was destroyed by an earthquake. In 132, the ruins of Emmaus fortress were briefly reconstructed by Judean rebels under Simon Bar Kokhba and used as a hideout during the revolt.The city of Nicopolis was founded on the ruins of Emmaus in early 3rd century, after Julius Africanus, who said he had interviewed descendants of Jesus' relatives, headed an embassy to Rome and had an interview with the Roman emperor Elagabalus on behalf of Emmaus, then a small Palestinian village. St. Eusebius writes "Emmaus, whence was Cleopas who is mentioned by the Evangelist Luke. Today it is Nicopolis, a famous city of Palestine." In 222, a basilica was erected there, which was rebuilt first by the Byzantines and later modified by the Crusaders.
Archaeological evidence attests to the existence of a Samaritan synagogue at the site: a limestone capital, discovered in secondary use in the floor of a twelfth-century church, is believed to have originally belonged to this synagogue. The capital, in a debased Ionic style, bears two inscriptions — one in Hebrew and the other in Greek — suggesting its function as part of the façade of the synagogue's Holy Ark.