The Bible calls St Elias the Tishbite in reference to his birthplace Tishbe or Tishba, a small village which lay in the Gilead Heights, near the present Ajloon in Jordan.
We do not know the year of his birth. But it is certain that he lived in the first half of the 9th century BC, and was a contemporary of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
He had long hair and wore sheepskin. He lived in the desert and mountainous areas of Palestine.
His mission was a difficult and important one: to reestablish the worship of God, Creator of the Universe, after King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had abandoned it for the cult of the pagan deities Baal and Astarte, respectively the god and goddess of fertility in Phoenicia. Their cult was widely spread in the whole area which we now call Near East. Elijah is known as Mar Elias al-Hayy, the Living, because he was taken up to heaven in a flaming chariot (2 Kings 2). For more details about St. Elias, please read his full story in the Bible.
