Jerome's life of St. Hilarion mentions a great temple of Aphrodite in Elusa in the 4th century. Hilarion is supposed to have introduced Christianity to Elusa in the fourth century.Early in the following century, a Bishop of Elusa, after redeeming the son of Nilus of Sinai, who had been carried off from Mount Sinai by the Arabs, ordained both him and his father. Other bishops known are Theodulus, 431; Aretas, 451; Peter, 518; and Zenobius, 536.