Diocese of Emmaus

[5] In 131 CE, Christian scholar and writer Julius Africanus of Jerusalem, headed an embassy to Rome and had an interview with the Roman emperor Elagabalus on behalf of Emmaus.

"[8] The bishopric of Emmaus was mentioned by St. Jerome,[9] Hesychius of Jerusalem,[10] Theophanes the Confessor,[11] Sozomen,[12] and Theodosius.

[14] This Diocese, however, must not have been of significance, being represented at only one of the first four councils[15] nor mentioned by Michel Le Quien[16] but was in the Notitiae Ecclesiastica.

The church was one of 30,000 Christian buildings destroyed in 1009AD by al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Fatimid caliph of Egypt.

In the 12th century William of Tyre, described the abundance of water and fodder in the area around the town, and Daniel Kievsky wrote of the site, "but now all is destroyed by the pagans and the village of Emmaus is empty."