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Todd Bolen/BiblePlaces.com

ECHO OF THE PAST. As seen on the Madaba Map, Modi’in (enclosed in yellow) lies to the west of Jerusalem, to the north of Nicopolis (green), and to the east of Lod-Diospolis (light blue). Geographically, Umm el-‘Umdan fits the location of Modi’in. Linguistically, there are parallels between the Hebrew name Modi’in and the Arabic name ‘Umdan. The two names share the same four consonants in the same order but for one letter transposed. Thus, the later Arabic name ‘Umdan may be an echo of the original Hebrew name Modi’in.