The cave may have been part of the inner sanctuary of the Temple of Augustus built in front of the cave around 20 b.c.e. Long before that, the cave was part of a larger cave that collapsed.

Banias: Located at the foot of Mt. Hermon in the Golan Heights. The word Banias is a corruption of the word Panias (Arabic has no p sound), the name of the area dedicated to the Greek god Pan (4th century b.c.e.). Pan supposedly was half goat-half human – a god of nature, herdsmen, music, homosexuals and nymphs. Then the area became Roman - part of King Herod’s domain. From the New Testament – Banias is the place where Jesus designated Peter as the, “Rock.” Banias was conquered by Muslims in the 7th century and then by Crusaders in the 12th century.