[10] There are ruins of a Byzantine-era church in the town, proving that it was inhabited prior to the Muslim conquest of Palestine by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century.

[18][19] According to information received by Clermont-Ganneau in 1874, the village was settled by Arab families from Khirbet 'Almit, a mile to the northeast.

[10][20] In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "village of moderate size, the houses of stone; it stands on a ridge commanding a fine view to the north and east.

[31] At the time of the conquest Anata was one of the most expansive towns in the West Bank, extending from Jerusalem to the wadis near Jericho.

[36] The families are Shiha, Abd al-Latif, Ibrahim, Alayan, Hilwa, Salama, Hamdan, Abu Haniya Musah and al-Kiswani.

The latter sanctuary is a cave dedicated to a "Rumia" which according to Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau, "looks as if it had been connected by the folklore with the name Jeremiah, the initial 'je' being removed by aphaeresis as so frequently happens in Arabic."

He is believed to be the same as the saint named es-Sallam ibn a-Sid el-Amir Muhammad Qaraja e-Rifa'i, who served as the governor of Syria.

According to one tradition, he arrived in Palestine from Morocco and acquired lands in 'Anata, subsequently becoming the village's founding father, with all its residents considered his descendants.

Upon arriving at the governor's palace in Syria, he requested a piece of land in Jerusalem where he could live and eventually die.

'Abd es-Sallam engaged in religious studies there and at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and from that time onward, his descendants multiplied in this village.

In one tale, it is recounted that a descendant of the seikh engaged in a conflict with an individual from Hizma who, in a fit of anger, cursed both the man and the sheikh.

Remarkably, the saint appeared that very night before the man from Hizma, rendering him paralyzed and ultimately leading to his death a few days later.