EMMAUS  , the name of two places in

Palestine . 1 . A village mentioned by Luke (xxiv . 13), without any indication of direction, as being 6o stadia (almost 7 m.), or according to some MSS.' 16o stadia, from Jerusalem . Its identification is a matter of mere guesswork: it has been sought at (a) Emmaus-Nicopolis (see 2 below), distant 176 stadia from Jerusalem; (b) Kuryet el-' Enab, distant 66 stadia, on the carriage road to Jaffa; (c) Kulonieh, distant 36 stadia, on the same road; (d) el-Kubeibeh, distant 63 stadia, on the Roman road to Lydda; (e) 'Urtas, distant 6o stadia; and (f) Khurbet el-Khamasa, distant 86 stadia, on the Roman road to Eleutheropolis . Of these, el-Kubeibeh or 'Urtas seems the most probable, though many favour Kulonieh because of its nearness to Bet Mizza, in which name there is similarity with Emmaus, and because of a reading (30 stadia) in Josephus . 2 . Emmaus-Nicopolis, now 'Amwas, a town on the maritime plain, and a place of importance during the Maccabaean and Jewish wars . Near it Judas Maccabaeus defeated Gorgias in 164 B.C., and Vespasian established a fortified camp in A.D . 69 . It was afterwards rebuilt and named Nicopolis, and became an episcopal see . It was also noted for a healing spring .