Archaeologists in Israel say they may have discovered the true location of Emmaus, the biblical town where Jesus first appeared to two of his followers after being crucified and resurrected.
Haaretz reports that researchers found the massive 2,200-year-old walls of a Hellenistic fortification believed to have been built by the Seleucid general who defeated Judah the Maccabee, the Jewish leader spoken of in the Hanukkah story.
Since 2017, a Franco-Israeli team has been excavating a hill overlooking Jerusalem known as Kiriath Yearim, an area believed to be where the Ark of the Covenant was kept for 20 years before being taken to Jerusalem by King David.
Tel Aviv University archaeologist Israel Finkelstein and Thomas Römer, a professor of biblical studies at the College de France, argue that the hill of Kiriath Yearim and the adjacent town of Abu Ghosh should be identified as Emmaus.
“The importance of this site, its dominant position over Jerusalem, was felt again and again through time: in the eighth century B.C.E., and then again in the Hellenistic period and then again after the First Jewish Revolt and the sack of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.,” Finkelstein told Haaretz.
Judah the Maccabee, a priest who led a Jewish revolt against the Seleucid empire, was defeated and killed here in 160 BC by the Seleucid army led by general Bacchides. Bacchides fortified the towns surrounding Jerusalem with large walls, including the biblical town of Emmaus. Finkelstein and Römer believe they may have found the walls built to fortify Emmaus.
Their discovery has huge significance for Christians worldwide.
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