Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Imwas" in English language version.
Today 'Am'was (the native name) is a Mussulman village about eighteen miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Jaffa. There are still visible ruins of a beautiful basilica built in the fourth or the fifth century, and repaired by the Crusaders. Near 'Am'was, at El-Atroun, the Trappists founded a priory in 1890. In the opinion of many 'Am'was is the Emmaus of the Gospel (Luke 24:13-35), where Christ manifested Himself to two of His Disciples. Such is, indeed, the tradition of the Church of Jerusalem, attested as early as the fourth century by Eusebius of Cæsarea, Titus of Bostra, and St. Jerome, a tradition confirmed by all pilgrims, at least to the time of the Crusades; it may even date back to the third century to Julius Africanus and Origen. It is also supported by many Biblical commentaries, some of which are as old as the fourth or the fifth century; in these the Emmaus of the Gospel is said to have stood at 160 stadia from Jerusalem, the modern 'Am'was being at 176 stadia. In spite of its antiquity, this tradition does not seem to be well founded. Most manuscripts and versions place Emmaus at only sixty stadia from Jerusalem, and they are more numerous and generally more ancient than those of the former group. It seems, therefore, very probable that the number 160 is a correction of Origen and his school to make the Gospel text agree with the Palestinian tradition of their time. Moreover, the distance of 160 stadia would imply about six hours' walk, which is inadmissible, for the Disciples had only gone out to the country and could return to Jerusalem before the gates were shut (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:33). Finally, the Emmaus of the Gospel is said to be a village, while 'Am'was was the flourishing capital of a 'toparchy'. Josephus (Ant. Jud., VII, vi, 6) mentions at sixty stadia from Jerusalem a village called Ammaus, where Vespasian and Titus stationed 800 veterans. This is evidently the Emmaus of the Gospel. But it must have been destroyed at the time of the revolt of Bar-Cocheba (A.D. 132-35) under Hadrian, and its site was unknown as early as the third century. Origen and his friends merely placed the Gospel Emmaus at Nicopolis, the only Emmaus known at their time. The identifications of Koubeibeh, Abou Gosh, Koulonieh, Beit Mizzeh, etc. with Emmaus, as proposed by some modern scholars, are inadmissible.
