Biblical site believed to have been found

JERUSALEM — Scholars claim to have found the original site of the city of Emmaus, a place mentioned in Luke 24 as the destination of two travelers who on their way there encountered the resurrected Christ.

German historian Carsten Peter Thiede told United Press International that Emmaus was a “wealthy suburb” about seven miles west of Jerusalem. Thiede and Israeli scholar Egon Lass head up a joint project sponsored by the Ben Gurion University at Beer Sheba and the Independent Theological Seminary (STH) of Basel.

The scholars conclude that the biblical Emmaus is also known as Ammaous, described by the Jewish historian Josephus. According to Thiede and Lass, this Emmaus was a second home to many wealthy people who lived and worked in Jerusalem.