Emmaus; ʻImwas (Nicopolis) - church (?)
Church Name, type, function
Site Name:
Emmaus; ʻImwas (Nicopolis)
Identification:
The town of Emmaus mentioned in Maccabees (I Macc. 3:40, 57; 4:3), in the Mishna (M Kerithoth 3:7) and in Josephus where it is mentioned as the capital of a toparchy in Judea (War 3:55). In the third century CE it was refounded as Nicopolis. Eusebius (On. 90:16) and Jeromee (Ep. 108, 8) identified Emmaus with the site of Jesus' appearance to Cleopas (Luke 24:13). A basilica church is depicted on the Madaba Map under the name of the city.
Church name:
church (?)
Functional Type:
Parochial
Church type:
Basilical - Free standing basilica
Location
Coordinates, ITM system:
199.14
638.45
Coordinates, ICS system:
149.13
1,138.40
Geographical region:
Judean Hills
Topographical location:
On the lower part of the hill over which the city extended.
Distance from Roman roads:
On the southern road between Diospolis (Lod) and Jerusalem.
Provincial affiliation:
Palaestina I
Bishopric:
Nikopolis
Source of knowledge
Literary sources:
Literary sources
Epigraphy:
Epigraphy
Archaeological remains
Surveyed site
Surveyors:
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
Guerin | 1860s |
Conder and Kitchener | 1860s |
Clermont-Ganneau | 1880s |
Schick | 1880s |
Bagatti | 1960s |
Excavated site
Excavators:
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
Guillemot | 1875 |
Vincent and Abel | 1924, 25, 27, 30 |
Piccerillo and Louhivuori | 1993-2002 |
History:
Since Bagatti's opinion that the only Byzantine church at the site during the Byzantine period was the northern church, the inscriptions attributed in the scholarly literature (and therefore in the Epigraphy section here) to the southern church, should be attributed to the annexes of the northern church.
Bibliograpy:
293-308 | |
80-87 | |
80-87 | |
158-163, Fig. 37. | |
12-14 | |
180-183 | |
17-19 | |
62, no. 77. | |
165-166. |
General description
State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:
Vincent and Abel (1932) suggested the existance of a large tri-apsidal basilica (46.4 X 24.4 m), underlying the Crusaders church. Mosaic floor with animals and birds within rhombs which they dated to the 3rd c., led them to conclude that this was a large pre-constantinian basilica. Crowfoot, Bagatti and Lassus had questioned the date, while Bagatti, later (1971, 162), casted doubt on the very existance of the south church, on several grounds: On the east, the apses disply a different masonry workmanship than that of the western facade; the large hole in the central apse, 1.8m in diameter and 1.8m deep, has no ecclesiastical function; this might have been a Roman fountain. The colorful mosaics, dated by him to the 6th c., seem to have belonged to rooms annexed to the northern church. Accordingly, the reconstructed plan of this church, reproduced by Ovadiah and by Magen and Kagan (and given here), should be dismissed. The description below refer to this hypothetical plan, since it is addressed as Emmaus South Church in the scholarly literature.
Description
Illustrative material:
Façade and entries:
Three entrances in the western wall. Two more entrances in the vicinity of the lateral apses, one in the northern wall and one in the southern, opposite each other.
Lateral walls:
The walls of the basilica preserved up to a height of two to three courses above ground level. The walls are 0.92 m thick. The northern and southern walls have seven windows each. The windows are arranged opposite each other spaced two columns apart.
Nave:
The nave measures approx. 40 m long and 12 m wide. It is separated from the aisles by two rows of thirteen columns standing on stylobates. Distance between columns is 2.72 m.
Aisles:
The aisles are approx. 40 m long and 5.5 m wide, terminating in their east parts by internal apses.
Bema, chancel screen and apse:
No chancel plan has been found. The basilica has three apses, the central external and the two lateral internal. In the central apse there are a remains of a synthronon and an altar table. The central apse is 5.5 m deep and ca. 9.5 m wide.
Small finds
Detailed description
Structure
Orientation:
Facing to southeast
Materials applied (walls):
Limestone
Atrium:
No
Water cistern:
No
Narthex:
No
Aisles:
2
Number of nave columns in a row:
| Total |
|---|
13 |
Capital types:
Corinthian
East end:
External apse, polygonal
Church Head/Chevet:
tri-apsidal (central external, lateral internal)
Central Apse Category:
apsidal
Altar remains:
base plate
Altar location:
Inside the apse
Ambo:
No
Apse shape:
Hemispherical
Synthronon:
Yes
Synthronon remains:
grades
Synthronon location:
Against the apse
Lateral Apses Function
Location:
N & S
Northern apse description and function:
The northern apse is 2.4 m deep and 4 m wide.
Southern apse description and function:
Similar to the northern apse.
Architectural Evolution
| General outline | Dating material | Iconoclastic evidence | Phase no. | Century | Within century |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Large tri-apsidal basilical church with a synthronon in the central apse. The church was built in part over a Roman villa. | End of fifth or beginning of sixth centuries. | Phase 1 | 5th c. | Late | |
Abandonment | Unknown |
A church of smaller dimensions was built over the Byzantine-period church during the Crusader period.