Saving 13th-century Emmaus Church, Leipzig, Germany

Emmaus/Colonia/Motza/Ammassa/Ammaous/Beit Mizzeh
Colonia, between Abu Ghosh and Jerusalem on the Kiryat Yearim Ridge Route is another possibility. At a distance of 35 stadia (four miles) from Jerusalem, it was referred to as Motza in the Old Testament, the Talmud and the writings of Josephus Flavius. One mile to the north is a ruin called Beit Mizzeh, identified as the biblical Motza. Listed among the Benjamite cities of Joshua 18:26, it was referred to in the Talmud as a place where people would come to cut young willow-branches as a part of the celebration of Sukkot (Mishnah, Sukkah 4.5: 178). According to Josephus, Amassa (ancient Latin manuscripts) or Ammaous (medieval Greek manuscripts) was about 3.5 Roman miles (30 stadia) or 7 miles (60 stadia) from Jerusalem. A group of 800 soldiers settled there after the First Jewish Revolt. It is believed that the Latin Amassa and the Greek Ammaous are derived from the Hebrew name Motza. Motza was identified as the biblical Emmaus by Birch, and later Savi.