Emmaus: Where Christ Appeared

In the author’s view, the best candidate among sites potentially identified as Emmaus of the New Testament is the one called Emmaus-Nicopolis, located 17 miles west of Jerusalem. The city had a sizable population consisting of Jews, Samaritans, and Romans, and it features a Byzantine church with mosaics of both 5th and 6th-c. date. From the earlier phase is a fragmentary “Nile Mosaic” situated in the church’s north aisle and depicting contrasting scenes of animal combats (such as a leopard devouring a gazelle) and birds nestled peacefully among papyrus plants (p. 49-50, fig. on 48 and 49). A 6th-c. mosaic in the building’s narthex represents a chalice or crater overflowing with water, from which two birds drink. There also appear other animals, such as a fish, a lamb, and a bull, and an inscription reading Kyrie Eleison; one also sees the name Titus written in the genitive.