Bilqas is named after the Roman Emperor Bilqas, whose name is derived from a Roman word. Bilqas city was originally one of the emperor’s many farms that were scattered all over the Roman Empire. When the Ptolemies ruled Egypt after the era of Alexander, they gave Greek names to the cities and important landmarks.  In an attempt to uncover the roots of the name Dioboles, it was found that the regions of Bras and Saffron contained many old Christian monasteries. These included El-Maghtas Monastery, El-Maimana Monastery, St. Demiana Monastery and El-Askar Monastery.