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133-448: 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. The place-name Emmaus

266-570: 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

399-595: A difference in the description of the distance between Emmaus and Jerusalem in the Gospel texts, versus the distance as transcribed in the earliest Greek Gospel codices. In the Gospel texts, more widely embraced by the West, the distance is transcribed as 60 stades , whereas the Codex Sinaiticus , which was known to Eusebius and Jerome, places the distance at 160 stades . The identification of Biblical Emmaus with two villages in

532-404: A distinct identity, although the groups within it remained extremely diverse. The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke bear a striking resemblance to each other, so much so that their contents can easily be set side by side in parallel columns . The fact that they share so much material verbatim and yet also exhibit important differences has led to several hypotheses explaining their interdependence,

665-804: A few Jordanian and Egyptian units, was overrun and destroyed in June 1967 on the orders of Yitzhak Rabin due to its strategic location, which enabled the route to Jerusalem to be controlled. At the time, Moshe Dayan told the Cabinet he hoped Israel could get up to 300,000 Palestinians to leave: and night operations and "nipping" were used to get them to "take the hint". Villagers from Imwas, together with those of Yalo and Beit Nuba , numbering some 8,000, were ordered by megaphone to abandon their homes and march towards Ramallah , 32 kilometres away. Ten elderly villagers refused to leave and were never heard of again, and were presumed to have been shot or to have been buried under

798-459: A fortified camp there in AD   68 to house the fifth ("Macedonian") 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, the presence of the last group being attested by the remains of a Samaritan synagogue . In AD   130 or 131,

931-579: A large city and a bishopric . A substantial church complex was erected on the spot where tradition maintained the apparition of the risen Christ had occurred, a site which then became a place of pilgrimage , and whose ruins are still extant. At the time of the Islamic conquest of Palestine , the main encampment of the Arab army was established in Emmaus, when a plague ( ța'ūn ) struck, carrying off many of Companions of

1064-459: A phenomenon termed the synoptic problem . Up until the 19th century the gospel of Mark was traditionally placed second, and sometimes fourth, in the Christian canon, as an abridgement of Matthew . The Church has consequently derived its view of Jesus primarily from Matthew, secondarily from John , and only distantly from Mark. However, in the 19th century, Mark came to be viewed by many scholars as

1197-750: A place inhabited or used for prayer by Muslims. It was referred to as Qubaibat for the first time at the end of that same century by the writer Abu Shama , who writes in his Book of the Two Gardens about a Muslim prince falling into the hands of the Crusaders at this spot. The Franciscans built a church here in 1902, on the ruins of a Crusader basilica. During the Second World War, British authorities held Franciscans of Italian and German nationality at Emmaus-Qubeibeh. While there, Bellarmino Bagatti conducted excavations from 1940 to 1944 which revealed artifacts from

1330-467: A possible setting, as it was the location of Cyrene and there is a long-held Arabic tradition of Mark's residence there. The consensus among modern scholars is that the gospels are a subset of the ancient genre of bios , or ancient biography . Ancient biographies were concerned with providing examples for readers to emulate while preserving and promoting the subject's reputation and memory, and also included morals and rhetoric in their works. Like all

1463-630: A regional administrative centre ( toparchy ) in the Ayalon Valley. According to one theory, Emmaus of the Hasmonean and early Roman periods was located at Horvat 'Eqed . Josephus Flavius mentions Emmaus in his writings several times. He speaks about the destruction of Emmaus by the Romans in the year 4   BC . The importance of the city was recognized by the Emperor Vespasian , who established

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1596-552: A sub-district within the larger district of Jund Filastin . The geographer al-Maqdisi (c. 945-1000) recalls that ʿImwas had been the capital of its province, while noting, "that the population [was] removed therefrom to be nearer to the sea, and more in the plain, on account of the wells ." By 1009, the church in Imwas had been destroyed by Yaruk, the governor of Ramla , after the Fatimid caliph of Egypt , al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah , ordered

1729-473: A total of 3,600 akçe . Part of the revenue went to a waqf . Edward Robinson visited Imwas during his mid-19th century travels in Ottoman Syria and Palestine . He describes it as "a poor hamlet consisting of a few mean houses." He also mentions that there are two fountains of living water and that the one lying just beside the village must be that mentioned by Sozomen in the 5th century, Theophanes in

1862-666: A township in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States, draws its name from the Biblical references to Emmaus. [REDACTED] Media related to Emmaus at Wikimedia Commons 31°50′21″N 34°59′22″E  /  31.8393°N 34.9895°E  / 31.8393; 34.9895 Imwas Imwas or Emmaus ( Arabic : عِمواس , romanized :  ʿImwās ), known in classical times as Nicopolis ( Ancient Greek : Νικόπολις , lit.   'City of Victory'),

1995-501: A variety of pre-existing sources, such as the conflict stories which appear in Mark 2:1-3:6, apocalyptic discourse such as Mark 13:1–37, miracle stories, parables, a passion narrative, and collections of sayings, although not the hypothesized Q source . While Werner Kelber in his media contrast model argued that the transition from oral sources to the written Gospel of Mark represented a major break in transmission, going as far to claim that

2128-456: 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

2261-420: Is a new recognition of the author as an artist and theologian using a range of literary devices to convey his conception of Jesus as the authoritative yet suffering Son of God. The idea of Marcan priority first gained widespread acceptance during the 19th century. From this position, it was generally assumed that Mark's provenance meant that it was the most reliable of the four gospels as a source for facts about

2394-671: 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 . 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

2527-568: Is described as being 60 stadia (10.4 to 12 km depending on what definition of stadion is used) from Jerusalem. One of the disciples is named Cleopas (verse 18), while his companion remains unnamed: That very day two of them were going to a village (one hundred and) 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

2660-502: Is located at about 65 stadia from Jerusalem. A Roman fort subsequently named Castellum Emmaus (from the Latin root castra, meaning encampment) was discovered at the site in 1099 by the Crusaders. However, there is no source from the Roman, Byzantine or Early Muslim periods naming it as "Emmaus" for the time of Jesus. Whether Josephus (who puts Emmaus at a distance of thirty stadia from Jerusalem)

2793-454: Is possible to walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus and back in one day. The ancient Jewish sources ( 1 Maccabees , Josephus Flavius, Talmud and Midrash) mention only one village called Emmaus in the area of Jerusalem: Emmaus of Ajalon Valley. For example, in the "Jewish War" (4, 8, 1) Josephus Flavius mentions that Vespasian placed the 5th Macedonian Legion in Emmaus. This has been confirmed by archaeologists who have discovered inscribed tombstones of

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2926-757: 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 (חמת). 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.: Greek : Άμμαούμ, Άμμαούς, Έμμαούμ, Έμμαούς , Hebrew : אמאוס, אמאום, עמאוס, עמאום, עמוס, מאום, אמהום Emmaus may derive from

3059-466: Is that which stands on the hill some 500 metres to the south of the village. It appears on the P.E.Fund Map under the name of Sheikh Mo'alla, a name which is interpreted in the name lists by "lofty." I have heard the name pronounced Ma'alleh , and also Mu'al , or Mo'al; but these are merely shorter or less accurate forms; the complete name, as I have on several occasions noted, is Sheikh Mu'al iben Jabal . Although they do not know anything about its origin,

3192-539: The 1948 Arab-Israeli war , Imwas fell under Jordanian rule . Its population at the time was predominantly Muslim although there was a Palestinian Christian minority. Captured by the Israeli Defense Forces during the Six-Day War on June 7, 1967 along with the neighbouring villages of Yalo and Bayt Nuba , the villagers of Imwas were expelled and the village destroyed on the orders of Yitzhak Rabin . Today

3325-531: The Beth-Horon Ridge Route and 1,600 feet (490 m) 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

3458-689: 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   BC . 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

3591-515: The First Crusade to Imwas from Ramla in 1099, notes the abundance of water and fodder available at the site. Throughout the 12th century, Imwas continued to be identified as the Biblical Emmaus by Eastern Orthodox Christians . For example, in 1106-7, Abbot Daniel writes of Imwas: "Once there was a large village here, and a church was built here, but now all is destroyed by the pagans and

3724-698: The First Jewish Revolt . The ancient Latin manuscripts use "Amassa", while the medieval Greek manuscripts use "Ammaous". The newly created Roman "colonia" soon made the old name disappear: even the Jewish works of the 3rd-5th centuries, the Mishnah , the Babylonian and the Jerusalem Talmud , talk about "Qeloniya", an Aramaic distortion of "colonia". This name survived into modern times in Arabic as " Qalunya ". This

3857-575: The First Jewish–Roman War (66–74 AD)—a war that led to the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. This would place the composition of Mark either immediately after the destruction or during the years immediately prior. The dating around 70 AD is not dependent on the naturalistic argument that Jesus could not have made an accurate prophecy; scholars like Michael Barber and Amy-Jill Levine argue

3990-563: The Historical Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple. Whether the Gospels were composed before or after 70 AD, according to Bas van Os, the lifetime of various eyewitnesses that includes Jesus's own family through the end of the First Century is very likely statistically. Markus Bockmuehl finds this structure of lifetime memory in various early Christian traditions. The author used

4123-625: The Midrash Rabba on Ecclesiastes (7:15). According to Sozomen (fl.   400–450), it was renamed by the Romans "in consequence of the conquest of Jerusalem and the victory over the Jews ." Emmaus is mentioned in the Gospel of Luke as the village where Jesus appeared to his disciples after his crucifixion and resurrection. Luke 24:13–35 indicates that Jesus appears after his resurrection to two disciples who are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, which

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4256-523: The PEF 's Survey of Western Palestine described Imwas as an adobe village, of moderate size. In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities , Imwas had a population of 824, all Muslim. This had increased by the time of the 1931 census to 1,029, 2 Christians and 1,027 Muslim, in 224 houses. In the 1945 statistics the population of Imwas was 1,450, all Muslims, while

4389-511: The Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century , a military camp was established at ʿImwas, which formed part of the newly created administrative district of Jund al-Urdunn . This jund or military camp, among others established in Tiberias and Homs , was made up of Arab soldiers, who were soon to become citizens of the newly conquered areas. The soldiers brought their wives and concubines to

4522-474: 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 (1 Macc 9:50). 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

4655-470: The ancient Hebrew ḥammat , a thermal spring. According to a tradition held by local fellahin in the 19th century, the village's name is related to an epidemic that killed the ancient Jewish inhabitants of the village, but they were miraculously brought back to life after Neby Uzair 's visited the place and prayed to God to revive the victims. The fellahin described the pestilience as amm-mou-asa , which according to Clermont-Ganneau , roughly means "it

4788-479: The battle of Latrun for the control of this strategic zone which blockaded the road to Jerusalem. As part of the outcome of the war the Palestinian village of Imwas , which lay on the site of Emmaus Nicopolis, fell within the West Bank territory under Jordanian rule. In 1967, after the Six-Day War the residents of Imwas Israeli forces expelled the population and the village was razed by bulldozers, leaving

4921-413: The earliest of the four gospels , and as a source used by both Matthew and Luke . It is widely accepted that this was the first gospel ( Marcan Priority ) and was used as a source by both Matthew and Luke, who agree with each other in their sequence of stories and events only when they also agree with Mark. The hypothesis of Marcan priority continues to be held by the majority of scholars today, and there

5054-457: The fellahin have an extraordinary reverence for this sanctuary; they declare that it is often the scene of a supernatural apparition; that of an old man, with a long white beard, mounted on a green mare, and holding in his right hand a pike [karbeh) wherewith he slays his enemies. This is the Sheikh , of whom they stand in holy awe. This legend, and the name of the personage, puzzled me greatly, and it

5187-403: The historical Jesus . However, the conceit that Mark could be used to reconstruct the historical Jesus suffered two severe blows in the early 20th century. Firstly, in 1901 William Wrede put forward an argument that the " Messianic Secret " motif within Mark had actually been a creation of the early church instead of a reflection of the historical Jesus. In 1919, Karl Ludwig Schmidt argued that

5320-811: The "uniquely Matthean" materials as ahistorical, declaring that the Historical Jesus "is not buried beneath Matthew but stares at us from its surface". Matthew Thiessen wholeheartedly agrees as well, finding no fault in Barber's work. Detailed content of Mark 1. Galilean ministry John the Baptist (1:1–8) Baptism of Jesus (1:9–11) Temptation of Jesus (1:12–13) Return to Galilee (1:14) Good News (1:15) First disciples (1:16–20) Capernaum's synagogue (1:21–28) Peter's mother-in-law (1:29–31) Exorcising at sunset (1:32–34) A leper (1:35–45) A paralytic (2:1–2:12) Calling of Matthew (2:13–17) Fasting and wineskins (2:18–22) Lord of

5453-511: The 'Plague of 'Amwas' that he died and was buried at 'Amwas itself. However, the mistake of the legend on this point must be a very ancient one, for as early as the twelfth century, Aly el Herewy has the following passage : " One sees at 'Amwas the tombs of a great number of companions of the prophets and of tabis who died of the Plague. Among them (sic) is mentioned 'Abd er Rahman ibn {sic) Mu'adh ben Jabal and his children. ... Imwas came under

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5586-466: The 12th century has led to some confusion among modern historians when apprehending historical documents from this time. Generally speaking, however, Abu Ghosh was referred to by the Latin Biblical name for Emmaus, Castellum Emmaus , whereas Imwas was referred to simply as Emmaus. In 1141, Robert of Sinjil leased the "land of Emmaus", which included Imwas and six other villages, to Raymond of Le Puy ,

5719-519: The 1967 success in the following way, by writing of: 'terms of disappointment, terms of a long and painful account, which has now been settled to the last cent. Houses suddenly left. Intact. With their potted geraniums, their grapevines climbing up the balconies. The smell-of wood-burning ovens still in the air. Elderly people who have nothing more to lose, slowly straggling along.,' In August of that year, villagers were told that they return could pick up their stored harvests with trucks. The residents of

5852-513: The 19th century, including Edward Robinson (1838–1852), M.-V. Guérin (1868), Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau (1874), and J.-B. Guillemot (1880–1887). Significantly, a local mystic named Saint Mariam of Jesus Crucified , a nun of the Carmelite monastery of Bethlehem , had a revelation while in ecstatic prayer in 1878 in which Jesus appeared to indicate Amwas was the Gospel Emmaus. "She came to

5985-404: The 6th, and by Willibald in the 8th. The ruins of the "ancient church" are described by Robinson as lying just south of the built-up area of the village at that time. In 1863 Victor Guérin visited and identified it as ancient Emmaus Nicopolis . Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau also visited Imwas in the late 19th century and describes a local tradition centered around a bathhouse dating to

6118-548: 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 (today, Ayyalon), later called Emmaus Nicopolis . Many sites have been suggested for the biblical Emmaus, among them Emmaus Nicopolis (c. 160 stadia from Jerusalem), Kiryat Anavim (66 stadia from Jerusalem on the carriage road to Jaffa ), Coloniya (c. 36 stadia on

6251-870: The Byzantine-crusader church, called in Arabic, al-Kenisah, intact in their cemetery. The Catholic congregation, the Community of the Beatitudes , renovated the site in 1967–1970 and opened the French Center for the Study of the Prehistory of the Land of Israel next to it where they were allowed to settle in 1993. Subsequently, Canada Park was created in 1973, financed by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) of Canada, and included

6384-460: The Christian interpretation of prophecy, which is believed to foretell the fate of the messiah as suffering servant . Most critical scholars reject the early church tradition linking the gospel to John Mark , who was a companion of Saint Peter , and it is generally agreed that it was written anonymously for a gentile audience, probably in Rome, sometime shortly before or after the destruction of

6517-454: The Crusader church which were built against the central Byzantine apse (12th century). In the area of Emmaus, several Hebrew , Samaritan , Greek and Latin inscriptions carved on stones have been found. Most manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke which came down to us indicate the distance of 60 stadia (c. 11 km) between Jerusalem and Emmaus. However, there are several manuscripts which state

6650-401: The Emperor Vespasian , who established a fortified camp there in 68 CE to house Legio V Macedonica , populating it with 800 veterans. In 131 CE, the city was destroyed by an earthquake. It was rebuilt and renamed Nicopolis ("City of Victory") by Elagabalus in 221 CE, becoming the chief polis in a region that bore its name. Robinson writes that the town was rebuilt "by the exertions of

6783-460: The Hasmonean era were discovered, along with a Roman bathhouse from the 3rd century CE, Jewish burial caves from the 1st century CE, Roman-Byzantine hydraulic installations, oil presses and tombs. Other findings were coins, oil lamps, vessels, jewellery. The eastern (rear) three- apsidal wall of the Byzantine church was cleared, with an external baptistery and polychrome mosaics, as well as walls of

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6916-474: The Hebrew ḥammat ( Hebrew : חמת ) meaning "hot spring", although this remains uncertain. It is generally referred to in Hebrew sources as Ḥamtah or Ḥamtān . A spring of Emmaus ( Greek : Ἐμμαοῦς πηγή ), or alternatively a 'spring of salvation' ( Greek : πηγή σωτήριος ) is attested in Greek sources. Unlike other Biblical or Mishnaic sites with the name "Ḥamah" and where the traditional Hebrew spelling חמה ‎ has been preserved in classical texts throughout

7049-769: The Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader periods. Inspired by Bagatti's work, Virgilio Canio Corbo also undertook some experimental explorations. Abu Ghosh is located in the middle of the Kiryat Yearim Ridge Route between Nicopolis and Jerusalem, nine miles (83 stadia) from the capital. A former Minorite convent with a Gothic church was turned into a stable. Robinson dated it to the Crusader period and declared it "more perfectly preserved than any other ancient church in Palestine." Excavations carried out in 1944 supported

7182-480: The Hospitallers had an established a commandery in Imwas. There is also archaeological and documentary evidence that suggests that the local Eastern Christian population continued to live in Imwas during this time, and likely attended services alongside the Crusaders at the parish church dedicated to St. George which was constructed in the village by the latter on the site of the ruins of the earlier churches. Imwas

7315-522: The Latrun area fellahin were themselves not responsible for Jordanian shelling from that area during the Six Day War. The decision to destroy the houses was explained to soldiers operating there as necessary in order to "punish the nest of murderers" and stop housing infrastructure from being used in future for terrorist bases. Central Command orders issued to soldiers at the time described the 1948 failure, and

7448-549: The Legion's soldiers in the area of Emmaus. (The village of Motza, located 30 stadia (c. 4 mi or 6 km) away from Jerusalem, is mentioned in medieval Greek manuscripts of the "Jewish war" of Josephus Flavius (7,6,6) under the name of Ammaus, apparently as a result of copyists' mistake). The ancient Christian tradition of the Church fathers , as well as pilgrims to the Holy Land during

7581-408: The Palestinian villages in Canada Park. After petitioning the Israeli High Court , permission was granted. However, subsequently the signs have been stolen or vandalized. On June 23, 2007, Zochrot joined the refugees of the village Imwas for a tour of the remains of their village. Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour made Imwas the subject of one of his paintings. The work, named for the village,

7714-415: The Prophet . This first encounter of the Arab armies with the chronic plagues of Syria was later referred to as the 'plague of 'Amawās', a and the event marked the decline of Emmaus Nicopolis. A well on the site still bears an inscription reading "the well of the plague" ( bi'r aț-ța'ūn ). During the Crusader period , the Christian presence resumed at Emmaus, and the Byzantine church was restored. However,

7847-539: The Roman Empire by the combined name Emmaus Nicopolis or Emmaus-Nicopolis . 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 . Due to its strategic position, Emmaus played an important administrative, military and economic role in history. The first mention of Emmaus occurs in

7980-406: The Roman emperor Elagabalus on behalf of Emmaus, then a small Palestinian village ( κώμη ). 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 . During the Byzantine period Nicopolis became

8113-429: The Roman era. The upper part of the structure, which protruded above the ground, was known to locals as "Sheikh Obaid" and was considered to be the burial place of Abu Ubayd who succumbed to the plague in 639. The site served as both a religious sanctuary and cemetery until the town's depopulation in 1967 . In 1875, the Carmelites of Bethlehem acquired the site containing the ruins of the church of Imwas. The debris

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8246-405: The Roman-Byzantine period, unanimously recognized Nicopolis as the Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke ( Origen (presumably), Eusebius of Caesarea, St. Jerome, Hesychius of Jerusalem , Theophanes the Confessor , Sozomen , Theodosius, etc.). Another possibility is the village of al-Qubeiba , west of Nabi Samwil on the Beit Horon road northwest of Jerusalem. The town, meaning "little domes" in Arabic,

8379-441: The Sabbath (2:23–28) Man with withered hand (3:1–6) Withdrawing to the sea (3:7–3:12) Commissioning the Twelve (3:13–19) Blind mute (3:20–26) Strong man (3:27) Eternal sin (3:28–30) Jesus' true relatives (3:31–35) Parable of the Sower (4:1–9,13-20) Purpose of parables (4:10–12,33-34) Lamp under a bushel (4:21–23) Mote and Beam (4:24–25) Growing seed and Mustard seed (4:26–32) Calming

8512-457: The Second Temple in 70 AD. An early Christian tradition deriving from Papias of Hierapolis (c.60–c.130 AD) attributes authorship of the gospel to Mark, a companion and interpreter of Peter , but most scholars believe that it was written anonymously, and that the name of Mark was attached later to link it to an authoritative figure. It is usually dated through the eschatological discourse in Mark 13, which scholars interpret as pointing to

8645-411: The Semitic name of Emmaus Nicopolis was ʿAmmaôs or ʿEmmaus , both beginning with an ʿāyin (ʿ). Following Clermont-Ganneau , Moshe Sharon argued that the Arabic name more faithfully approximates the town's original ancient name when compared against the name as transcribed in the Talmud , where it begins with an alef (ʾ). Kitchener and Conder suggested the name Emmaus is derived from

8778-433: The ages, Emmaus differs insofar that the traditional Hebrew spelling for this place in most classical sources is אמאוס ‎ or עמאוס ‎. During the late Second Temple period, Emmaus was renamed Nicopolis (" City of Victory "), 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

8911-406: The area of the former village lies within Canada Park , which was established by the Jewish National Fund in 1973. The name of the modern village was pronounced ʿImwās by its inhabitants. Arabic literary sources indicate the name was formerly pronounced ʿAmwās and ʿAmawās , the latter being form transcribed by the Syrian geographer Yakut (1179–1229). In the time of Jerome ,

9044-460: The area, which it created and still maintains. It descrfibes the area as:- "one of the largest parks in Israel, covering an area of 7,500 acres in the biblical Ayalon Valley. At peak season, some 30,000 individuals visit the site each day,. enjoying its many play and recreational facilities and installations." Since 2003, the Israeli NGO Zochrot ('Remember' in Hebrew) has lobbied the Jewish National Fund for permission to post signs designating

9177-414: The biblical Emmaus. Emmaus Nicopolis appears on Roman geographical maps. The Peutinger Table situates it about 31 km (19 mi) west of Jerusalem, while the Ptolemy map shows it at a distance of 32 km (20 mi) from the city. The Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke seems to lie some 12.1 km (7.5 mi) from Jerusalem, though a textual minor variant, conserved in Codex Sinaiticus , gives

9310-410: The biblical Hebrew name Motza: Motza – ha-Motza ("ha" is the Hebrew equivalent of the definite article "the") – ha-Mosa – Amosa – Amaous – Emmaus. His excavation summaries were removed from the website of the Basel college he was teaching at, but a book and at least one article he published on the topic are available. He contended that neither Nicopolis, Abu Ghosh, or Al-Qubeiba can be considered because

9443-411: The burial of his body, and the discovery of his empty tomb . It portrays Jesus as a teacher, an exorcist , a healer, and a miracle worker , though it does not mention a miraculous birth or divine pre-existence . Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man . He is called the Son of God but keeps his messianic nature secret ; even his disciples fail to understand him. All this is in keeping with

9576-537: The camps, some of whom, according to Philip K. Hitti , were no doubt captured native women. The governmental framework of the Byzantine rule was preserved, though a commander-in-chief/governor-general was appointed from among the new conquerors to head the government, combining executive, judicial and military roles in his person. In 639, the Plague of Amwas began and spread from there, killing some 20,000 people, including

9709-573: The carriage road to Jaffa), el-Kubeibeh (63 stadia, on the Roman road to Lydda ), Artas (60 stadia from Jerusalem) and Khurbet al-Khamasa (86 stadia on the Roman road to Eleutheropolis ). 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. The first modern site identification of Emmaus

9842-407: 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

9975-460: The city, called Άμμoὺς , was burned to the ground by Publius Quinctilius Varus after the death of Herod the Great in 4 BCE. Imwas has been identified as the site of ancient Emmaus, where according to the Gospel of Luke (24:13-35), Jesus appeared to a group of his disciples, including Cleopas , after his death and resurrection. Reduced to a small market town, its importance was recognized by

10108-449: The commander-in-chief Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah and his successor, Yazid. The Rashid Caliph Umar appointed Yazid's younger brother Mu'awiya to the position of commander-in-chief in 640, and he served as the governor of Syria for 20 years before becoming the Umayyad caliph . Studies on the impact of the plague note that it was responsible for a massive depopulation of the countryside, with

10241-403: The consequence that the new Arab rulers, particularly under the subsequent Umayyad Caliphate, were prompted to intervene more directly in the affairs of these areas than they had intended. Until as late as the 19th century, a well in the village was known locally as "The Plague Well" ( بئر الطاعون ), its name suggesting a derivation from these events. In 723, Saint Willibald visited Imwas. He

10374-521: The dead. From the outset, Christians depended heavily on Jewish literature , supporting their convictions through the Jewish scriptures. Those convictions involved a nucleus of key concepts: the messiah, the son of God and the son of man , the suffering servant , the Day of the Lord , and the kingdom of God . Uniting these ideas was the common thread of apocalyptic expectation: Both Jews and Christians believed that

10507-481: The demolition rubble. This exodus from the Latrun zone, during which 4 villagers died, presented a public relations problem. According to one oral account by a refugee, one week after the expulsion, villagers heard over Israeli radio that they would be allowed to return to the enclave in peace. Those in the West Bank who tried to get back found the villages surrounded by tanks, and heard that a military order had rescinded

10640-407: The destruction of Christian sites, affecting some 30,000 churches in the territory under his rule. Carsten Peter Thiede describes this destruction and other acts of suppression against Christian worship as one of the main impetuses behind the First Crusade , in which, "Saving Christian sites and guaranteeing access to them was paramount." William of Tyre , describing the arrival of the armies of

10773-574: The distance as 160 stadia (31 km). These include the uncial manuscripts א ( Codex Sinaiticus ), Θ, Ν, Κ, Π, 079 and cursive ( minuscule ) manuscripts 158, 175, 223, 237, 420, as well as ancient lectionaries and translations into Latin (some manuscripts of the Vetus Latina, high-quality manuscripts of the Vulgate ), in Aramaic, Georgian and Armenian languages. The version of 60 stadia has been adopted for

10906-514: 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 ( Hebrew : אמאום , lit.   'Emmaum') it

11039-541: The earlier decision, and could only stand by and watch as their houses were razed. The order, in violation of Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention , came from Yitzhak Rabin . In his memoirs Dayan recalled that "(Houses were destroyed) not in battle, but as punishment . . in order to chase away the inhabitants." In response to the public relations problem, Dayan eventually agreed to allow those from Qalqiliya , Habla and Zeta to return to their homes if it

11172-463: The early 2nd century AD. Discoveries at the site include ritual baths , a hiding system used during the revolt, as well as various artifacts like Bar Kokhba coinage and weaponry. According to one theory, Emmaus was originally located at Horvat 'Eqed during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods, and was later abandoned in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. The name Emmaus later transferred to

11305-418: The end of history was at hand, that God would very soon come to punish their enemies and establish his own rule, and that they were at the centre of his plans. Christians read the Jewish scripture as a figure or type of Jesus Christ, so that the goal of Christian literature became an experience of the living Christ. The new movement spread around the eastern Mediterranean and to Rome and further west, and assumed

11438-405: The filmmaker makes a 3D model of the town using expertise and interviews with people who survived the exodus. [REDACTED] Media related to Imwas at Wikimedia Commons Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to his death,

11571-721: The first was located too far from Jerusalem, while the two others were not called Emmaus at the time of Jesus. Josephus Flavius writes in Antiquities of the Jews about a city called Emmaus in the context of the Maccabean Revolt , which corresponds well with the large city later called Emmaus Nicopolis, located at over 170 Roman stadia from Jerusalem, while in The Jewish War he brings up another Emmaus, just 30 Roman stadia from Jerusalem, where Vespasian settled 800 Roman legionnaires after

11704-636: The flow of pilgrims to Emmaus resumed. In 1930, the Carmelite Order built a monastery, the House of Peace , on the tract of land purchased in 1878. In November 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine attributed the area to the Arab State. Prior to the outbreak of hostilities in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , ʻImwâs had a population of 1,100 Arabs. Israelis and Jordanians fought during

11837-478: 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

11970-400: The house of Cleopas, was still intact; he also recalls and describes the miraculous water source mentioned by Sozomen. Hygeburg of Heidenheim, Bavaria , a nun who visited Palestine in the 8th century, mentions both the church and the fountain in Imwas in her work on The Life of St. Willibald. By the 9th century , the administrative districts had been redrawn and Imwas was the capital of

12103-516: The identification with Fontenoid, a site the Crusaders held for a while to be Emmaus before accepting Nicopolis as the "real" Emmaus. Colonia , between Abu Ghosh and Jerusalem on the Kiryat Yearim Ridge Route, is another possibility. At a distance of c. 8 km from Jerusalem, it was referred to as Mozah in the Old Testament ( Joshua 18:26 ). Listed among the Benjamite cities of Joshua 18:26 , it

12236-718: The latter tried to stifle the former, James DG Dunn argues that such distinctions are greatly exaggerated and that Mark largely preserved the Jesus tradition back to his lifetime. Rafael Rodriguez too is critical of Kelber's divide. The Gospel of Mark was written in Greek, for a gentile audience, and probably in Rome , although Galilee , Antioch (third-largest city in the Roman Empire , located in northern Syria), and southern Syria have also been suggested. Theologian and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams proposed that Libya as

12369-402: The links between episodes in Mark were a literary invention of the author, meaning that the text could not be used as evidence in attempts to reconstruct the chronology of Jesus' mission The latter half of the 20th century saw a consensus emerge among scholars that the author of Mark had primarily intended to announce a message rather than to report history. Nonetheless, Mark is generally seen as

12502-523: The master of the Hospitallers for 500 bezants a year. The same year, William , the Patriarch of Jerusalem granted half of the tithes from six surrounding villages to the Hospitallers, one of these villages was nearby Khulda . In February 1151 or 1152 the Hospitallers were still leasing, but the terms of the lease were modified. An 1186 reference to a "bailiff of Emmaus" named Bartholomew suggests that

12635-564: The memory of the apparition of the risen Jesus at Emmaus also started to be celebrated in three other places in the Holy Land: Motza (c. 4 mi or 6 km west of Jerusalem), Qubeibe (c. 7 mi or 11 km northwest of Jerusalem), and Abu Ghosh (c. 7 mi or 11 km west of Jerusalem). The Arab village of Imwas was identified once again as the biblical Emmaus and the Roman-Byzantine Nicopolis by scholars in

12768-448: The most reliable of the four gospels in its overall description of Jesus' life and ministry. Michael Patrick Barber has challenged the prevailing view, arguing that "Matthew's overall portrait presents us with a historically plausible picture..." of the Historical Jesus . Dale Allison had already argued that the Gospel of Matthew is more accurate than Mark in several regards, but was finally convinced by Barber's work to no longer regard

12901-514: The place where Mu'adh ben Jabal died and was buried, Ukhuana ...... I have established the exact position of Ukhuana , and its identity with the Cauan of the Crusaders, in my Etudes d'Archeologie Orientale , Vol. II, p. 123.) .....We may presume that originally this monument was merely commemorative, and that local tradition has at last wrongly ended in regarding it as the real tomb of this celebrated personage, inferring from his having succumbed to

13034-718: The plantation of a forest on the rubble of Imwas. The site became a favourite picnic ground for Israelis and the Latrun salient an area of Israeli commemoration of its War of Independence . Archaeological excavations in Imwas started in the late 19th century and continue nowadays: Clermont-Ganneau (1874), J.-B. Guillemot (1883–1887), Dominican Fathers L.-H. Vincent & F.-M. Abel (1924–1930), Y. Hirschfeld (1975), M. Gichon (1978), Mikko Louhivuori, M. Piccirillo, V. Michel, K.-H. Fleckenstein (since 1994). During excavations in Canada Park ( Ayalon forest) ruins of Emmaus fortifications from

13167-437: The printed editions of the Gospel of Luke since the 16th century. The main argument against the version of 160 stadia claims that it is impossible to walk such a distance in one day. In keeping with the principle of Lectio difficilior, lectio verior , the most difficult version is presumed to be genuine, since ancient copyists of the Bible were inclined to change the text in order to facilitate understanding, but not vice versa. It

13300-467: The road to Jerusalem. Arab Liberation Army forces were there from April to the middle of May until the arrival of the Arab Legion . Israeli forces attacked the position several times but failed to gain control during the Battle of Latrun . After the 1949 Armistice Agreements , Imwas came under Jordanian control . The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,955 inhabitants in Imwas. The town, defended by

13433-541: The rule of the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century and by the end of that century, the church built by the Crusaders had been converted into a mosque , which itself stood for almost a century before falling into ruin. In the 1596 tax record its population was reported as 24 Muslim families. They paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues";

13566-567: The site of Emmaus Nicopolis, where the city was located in the Roman and Byzantine periods. One of the oldest extant versions of the Gospel of Luke, preserved in the Codex Bezae , reads "Oulammaus" instead of Emmaus. In Septuagint , the Greek translation of the Old Testament scriptures, Oulammaus was the place where Jacob was visited by God in his dream, while sleeping on a rock. However, Oulammaus

13699-569: The story of Jesus, the other dealing with the concerns of the author's own day. Thus the proclamation of Jesus in Mark 1:14 and the following verses, for example, mixes the terms Jesus would have used as a 1st-century Jew ("kingdom of God") and those of the early church ("believe", "gospel"). Christianity began within Judaism , with a Christian "church" (or ἐκκλησία , ekklesia , meaning 'assembly') that arose shortly after Jesus's death when some of his followers claimed to have witnessed him risen from

13832-415: The stranger to join them for the evening meal. When he breaks the bread, "their eyes [are] 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 ( Mark 16:12–16:13 ), although the disciples' destination is not stated. This passage

13965-418: The synoptic gospels, the purpose of writing was to strengthen the faith of those who already believed, as opposed to serving as a tractate for missionary conversion. Christian churches were small communities of believers, often based on households (an autocratic patriarch plus extended family, slaves, freedmen, and other clients), and the evangelists often wrote on two levels: one the "historical" presentation of

14098-410: The three villages then formed a committee to negotiate their return. The villagers' request that Israel allow their leaders, who had fled to Amman , to return and negotiate on their behalf, was turned down by Dayan. Israel offered monetary compensation for the destruction of homes and the expropriation of lands. One committee leader, the father of Abu Gaush replied: "We will not accept all the money in

14231-534: The time, and his excavation site at Motza which unearthed the Jewish village that predated the Roman veterans colony, and came up with a figure of 46 stadia. That would put it squarely in the middle between Luke's and Josephus' stated distances, which Thiede considers a good approximation for the time. Thiede's excavation produced Jewish artifacts of the time preceding the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, giving substance to his claim to have found Luke's Emmaus, which had necessarily to be settled by Jews. With no other Emmaus in

14364-509: The top of a knoll where, amid grass and thorns, there were some freestones leveled. Transported and moved, she turned toward her sisters [in religion], and said to them in a loud voice: 'This is truly the place where our Lord ate with His disciples.'" On the basis of this revelation, the holy place of Emmaus was acquired by the Carmelite order from the Muslims in 1878, excavations were carried out, and

14497-432: The total land area was 5,151 dunams , according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 606 dunams were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 3,612 for cereals, while 148 dunams were classified as built-up areas. By 1948, the population had dwindled to 1,100 Arabs. During the 1948 Palestine War , the village held strategic importance due to its location on the Latrun salient, affording control over

14630-413: The town and the building of a shrine-church therein, when he writes that the Lord "consecrated the house of Cleopas as a church." In the 5th century , a second tradition associated with Emmaus emerges in the writings of Sozomen , who mentions a fountain outside the city where Jesus and his disciples bathed their feet , thus imbuing it with curative powers. After the conquest of Palestine by forces of

14763-505: The vicinity of Jerusalem, Motza was thus the only credible candidate. Horvat 'Eqed, situated on a hilltop 2 km east of Emmaus Nicopolis, is a recent candidate for the site of ancient Emmaus. This archaeological site features significant fortifications dating back to the second century BC, potentially attributed to the Seleucid general Bacchides and reinforced during the Bar Kokhba revolt , in

14896-442: The village of Emmaus is empty. It was near the road beyond the mountains on the right hand as you go from Jerusalem to Jaffa ." John Phocas (c. 1185) also located Emmaus in the same position. Conversely, Western sources in the late 12th century identified Biblical Emmaus with another village closer to Jerusalem: Qaryat al-'Inab or Abu Ghosh . Denys Pringle and Peter E. Leach attribute the reasons for this shift as stemming from

15029-403: 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

15162-573: The world for one dunam in Imwas, and we will not accept one dunum in heaven for one dunam in Inwas!" According to his son, he was told by his Israeli interlocutors that he had three choices: to share the fate of Sheikh Abdul Hameed Al Sayeh, the first Palestinian to be exiled by Israel after the beginning of the 1967 occupation, after he spoke up for the inalienable right of return of Palestinians; or he could choose to go to prison, or, finally, he could suck on something sweet and keep quiet; In all cases no one

15295-470: The writer Julius Africanus." In 222 CE, a basilica was erected there, which was rebuilt first by the Byzantines and later by the Crusaders. In the 4th century , the city served as an episcopal see . Remains of a Samaritan synagogue point the presence of a Samaritan community in Imwas in the late Roman period. Described by Eusebius in his Onomasticon , Jerome is also thought to have referred to

15428-522: Was a Palestinian village located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southeast of the city of Ramla and 26 kilometres (16 mi) from Jerusalem in the Latrun salient of the West Bank . It is traditionally (possibly from as early as the 3rd century, but probably incorrectly) identified with the biblical Emmaus . Its population was expelled and its buildings razed by Israeli forces during the Naksa of 1967. After

15561-464: Was agreed in turn to block the return of the inhabitants of the Latrun villages. Israel newspapers of the day depicted the flight as voluntary. Israel further justified the decision by claiming that its residents had taken part in the Siege of Jerusalem two decades earlier, and that they had been present in an attack by Egyptian commandos on Lod just days before the village was taken. Dayan stated that

15694-530: Was allowed to return. One descendant of the expelled villagers said her father told her they were threatened with prison if they did not agree to compensation An Imwas Human Society now campaigns for the expelled villagers' rights and publicizes what they call the war crimes committed in the Latrun Enclave. In 1973 the Jewish National Fund in Canada raised $ 5 million to establish a picnic park for Israelis in

15827-593: Was by the explorer Edward Robinson , who equated it with the Palestinian Arab village of Imwas ( Arabic : عِمواس ), 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 (18.6 miles) from Jerusalem via the Kiryat Yearim Ridge Route, 161 stadia (19.6 miles) via

15960-505: 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 ("city") 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 ( Ancient Greek : Νικόπολις , Nikópolis )

16093-647: Was extended generally and was an affliction". Clermont-Ganneau thought this local etymology was "evidently artificial". Emmaus is also mentioned in the first Book of the Maccabees as the site where Judas Maccabeus defeated the Syrian Seleucid general Gorgias in the 2nd century BCE and subsequently fortified by General Bacchides in 160 BCE. It replaced Gezer as the head of a toparchy in 47 BCE. Edward Robinson relates that its inhabitants were enslaved by Gaius Cassius Longinus while Josephus relates that

16226-541: Was identified by some scholars as the biblical Mozah, until recent excavations placed Mozah at Khirbet Mizza (without "Beit"), as the ruins of Qalunya/Colonia are called in Arabic. Excavations in 2001-2003 headed by Professor Carsten Peter Thiede were cut short by his sudden death in 2004. Thiede was a strong proponent of Motza as the real Emmaus. He offered that the Latin Amassa and the Greek Ammaous are derived from

16359-435: Was indeed always a village, not a city like Emmaus Nicopolis, and thus fits the description by Luke (κωμη "village") much better than the latter. The difference in distance to Jerusalem between Luke's and Josephus' Emmaus, 60 vs. 30 stadia, is still much smaller than the one to Nicopolis, which lays fully 176 stadia down the Roman road from Jerusalem. Thiede recalculated the actual distance between Jerusalem's western city gate at

16492-619: Was likely abandoned by Crusaders in 1187 and unlike the neighboring villages of Beit Nuba, Yalo , Yazur and Latrun , it is not mentioned in chronicles describing the Third Crusade of 1191-2, and it is unclear whether it was reoccupied by the Hospitallers between 1229 and 1244. The village was re-established just north of where the church had been located. Maqam Sheikh Mu'alla had an endowment text (now lost), dating it to 687 AH/1289-1290 CE. Clermont-Ganneau described it: The most important, and most conspicuous Mussulman sanctuary in 'Amwas

16625-409: Was not a real place name but a translation mistake. The original name in Hebrew was "Luz". This mistake was later corrected, but was still there at the time when the Gospel was written around AD 100. Thus, a theory has been put forward, that the story in the Gospel was merely symbolic, drawing a parallel between Jacob being visited by God and the disciples being visited by Jesus. Emmaus, Pennsylvania ,

16758-459: Was not without some trouble that I discovered the answer to the riddle. It is directly derived from the historical memory of the famous Plague of 'Amwas, in connection with the Plague-well. The Arab* historians tell us, as I have already explained, that the epidemic originated at 'Amwas, whence it took the name by which it is known in their chronicles. Among the most illustrious victims of the disease

16891-465: Was one of a series of four on destroyed Palestinian villages that he produced in 1988; the others being Yalo , Bayt Dajan and Yibna . The destruction of Imwas and the other Latrun villages of Yalo and Beit Nuba is mentioned by Palestinian novelist Emile Habibi in his famous novel The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist . Emwas, restoring memories is a recent documentary film in which

17024-522: Was one of the companions of Mahomet , Abu 'Abd er Rahman Muadh ben Jabal , who was entrusted by 'Omar with the organisation of the conquered country. This personage died beyond Jordan, and was buried there. (As for the exact place in which he was buried, a topographical question connected with that of the place where Jesus was baptized, see my Recucil d'Archeologie Orientale , Vol. I, p. 344, et sqq. I may add that instead of Deir Fakhur , many Mohammedan writers, for example Beladhory and Yakut , call

17157-519: Was referred to in the Talmud as a place where people would come to cut young willow branches as a part of the celebration of Sukkot ( Mishnah , Sukkah 4.5: 178). Motza was identified as the Emmaus of Luke in 1881 by William F. Birch (1840–1916) of the Palestine Exploration Fund , and again in 1893 by Paulo Savi. One mile to the north of modern Motza is a ruin called Khirbet Beit Mizza , which

17290-472: Was referring to this place is now uncertain. However, the Gospel of Luke speaks of 60 stadia ( Luke 24:13 ), a distance very close to the actual 65 stadia to Qubeibeh. In the 12th century, the Crusaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem called the site "Small Mahomeria", in order to distinguish it from the " Large Mahomeria " near Ramallah . Sounding similar to "Mahommed", the term was used in medieval times to describe

17423-427: Was removed in 1887-8, and excavations were conducted intermittently from November 1924 to September 1930 by the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem . In 1884, Dr. C. Schick discovered a baptistry with a well-preserved font dating to the 4th century. The square building housed an apse and a shallow cruciform basin where it is thought that those undergoing baptismal rites would stand. In 1883,

17556-528: Was the name of Emmaus ( Hebrew : אמאוס ; Ancient Greek : Ἀμμαοῦς , Ammaoûs ; Arabic : عِمواس , Imwas ) 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

17689-461: Was the son of West Saxon Saint Richard the Pilgrim and Saint Wuna of Wessex , brother of Saint Winnibald and Walpurga . Later Willibald's uncle (his mother's brother), Saint Boniface , recruited his nephews in Rome to assist him in evangelizing the still-pagan Germans . Willibald eventually became the first bishop of Eichstätt . In his writings, he notes that the church, which he thought lay over

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