Overview

Bibliography

Located near modern Latrun at the eastern end of the Ayalon valley, Emmaus is first mentioned in 1 Maccabees and then in a number of Roman period texts. The most famous reference to Emmaus, of course, is in Luke 24:13, where the resurrected Jesus appeared to two disciples on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Although it is certain that this site was Emmaus in many of the ancient sources, it is not certain that it is the Emmaus referenced by the gospel. Some scholars suggest Abu Ghosh or el-Qubeibeh, further east. In any case, in the later Roman period, the emperor Elagabalus granted Emmaus the status of a city, calling it Nicopolis. The city flourished into the early Umayyad period, when the city was abandoned due to the outbreak of plague. The city was reinhabited and became a center of the Templar Knights during the Crusader period.

The remains of Emmaus-Nicapolis are in three areas. To the south is a Roman period tomb, with a Byzantine tomb cut into the rock above it. In the center of the site is the superimposition of four buildings: a Roman period villa (few visible remains), a large fifth-century Byzantine church with later sixth century reconstruction and remodeling, and finally a twelfth century Templar church. In the north is a Late Roman bath, surrounded by a later Muslim cemetery

The church buildings were excavated by L. H. Vincent and F. M. Abel in 1924-1927 for the Ecole Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem. The bath was excavated by M. Gichon in 1977-1978 and 1981-1982.

The archaeological strata uncovered at the site, as illustrated in the site plan, date to the following periods:

	Crusader Period
	Late Byzantine Period
	Early Byzantine Period
	Roman Period