ADOMMIM (Hebr. Ma'aleh-Adummim “ascent of the red ones,” that is, “red ascent”). — A locality that marked the northern boundary of the tribe of Judah with that of Benjamin (Jos. 15:7; 18:18).
It is identified with Tal'at ed-Damm (“ascent of blood”), on the right bank of Wadi el-Qeli, almost halfway between Jerusalem and Jericho. Its name derives from the reddish color of the marl, which extends especially
to the left; but since the winding nature of the road lent itself, in antiquity (Lc. 10:30) as in our own day, to acts of brigandage, popular imagination saw in the reddish patches the blood of murdered travelers. Such is the interpretation recalled by s. Girolamo (Onom. 25; Epist. 102, 12: PL 22, 887 ff.), and such also is the meaning of the current Arabic name. A tradition places the inn of the Good Samaritan in that vicinity (Lc. 10:34).
Gaetano M. Perrella