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Emwas
Emwas is first mentioned in the historical records in 161 BC during the Maccabian revolt.After conquering it,the Romans fortified the city because it controlled the routes to Jerusalem from he plain.In 43 BC, Cassius,he assassin of Julius Caesar,sold the inhabitants of he city into slavery for not paying taxes and in the anarchy following the death of Herod in 4 BC Emwas became the center of an insurrection and was burned.
Christians lived in Emwas from a very early date.The first we know of is the scholar Julius Africans who was sent by the city with a delegation to he emperor Elagabalus in AD 221 to request the construction of Emwas with he rights of a Roman city and a new name, Nicopolis.All the requests were granted.Believing that Emwas was the place of Jesus'meal with his disciples, the Byzantines built a large church here in he 5th century AD.During the early Islamic era a plague wiped out Emwas,and,according to Arab writers who reverted to he original name,he plague started here and spread throughout the Middle East.Abu Ubaida Amer Ibn al Jarah,he commander of the Arab armies who conquered Palestine during the time of Caliph Omar (629-638 AD),died in the plague and was buried here in 639 AD.The Mamluks built a shrine on his grave.The Crusader monks (the Templars)built a church in Emwas between 1150 -1170 AD within he much bigger Byzantine church and reused its central apse.The Crusaders'attraction to Emwas was not only for religious reasons:hey built a fortress here in 1133 to guard the southern and eastern routes to Jerusalem.
In 1967,Israel destroyed the Palestinian village of Emwas and two other neighboring Palestinian villages, Yalo and Beit Nuba,forcing their residents to flee, facing a destiny no different than that of the hundreds of housands of Palestinian refugees who were forced to leave their homes and live in refugee camps.In later years,a park was established over he ruins of hose villages and was called Canada Park.In addition to the picnic tables,drinking water,and toilets,the park contains a Hellenistic city,several wine presses,a sophisticated Roman aqueduct system,a Crusader castle,and some other unusual Roman tombs.Other historical ruins of Emwas are now the property of the monastery of Latroun.