Caesarea was called Paneas /pəˈniːəs/ (Πανειάς Pāneiás), later Caesarea Paneas, from the Hellenistic period after its association with the god Pan, a name that mutated to Banias /ˈbɑːnjəs/, the name by which the site is known today. (This article deals with the history of Banias between the Hellenistic and early Islamic periods. For other periods, see Banias.)