The city was destroyed in the year 645 AD, and Elijah the eunuch and Isak of Tifri and Apius were martyred in Bahnasa at the time of the brutal persecutions of Emperor Diocletian in Bahnasa.
Al-Maqrizi (1441 AD) referred to the Church of the Virgin Mary in Bahnasa, and mentioned that it is said that there were 360 churches in Bahnasa and only one of them remains. Others also referred to an ancient tree in Bahnasa that has a connection with the Holy Family.
Ali Pasha Mubarak mentioned Al-Bahnasa in the new conciliation plans, and he said that the city at the time of the Arab conquest had high walls, fortified by ramparts and buildings, invincible towers and pillars, and it had four gates to the four directions, and each gate had three towers. The northern gate was called “Bab Kondos”, the southern gate “Bab Al-Gabal”, the western gate “Bab Toma” and the name of the eastern gate is unknown. It had also churches and palaces, but when the Arab conquest took place, its features changed and many of its monuments disappeared. Its location is now the village of Sandfa (Bani Mazar), which is one of the important places that the Holy Family passed through.
