Within its area is an archaeological site containing the remains of Beitar, an ancient Jewish village and the last stronghold of the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire.

[9] Battir was inhabited during the Byzantine and Islamic periods, and in the Ottoman and British Mandate censuses its population was recorded as primarily Muslim.

It had a population of 24 households and two bachelors, all Muslims, and paid taxes on wheat, summer crops or fruit trees, and goats or beehives; a total of 4,800 Akçe.

[26] In the 20th century, Battir's development was linked to its location alongside the railroad to Jerusalem, which provided access to the marketplace as well as income from passengers who disembarked to refresh themselves en route.

[34] The armistice line was drawn between the railroad and the main part of the village, with Battir ending up just meters from Jordan's border with Israel on the Jordanian side.

[43] In 2024, Israel approved a new settlement on the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which Peace Now denounced as a threat to Battir's "ancient terraces and sophisticated irrigation systems, evidence of thousands of years of human activity".

"Valley of the Soldier"), which runs southwest through the Judean hills to the coastal plain.The village's historical core is characterized by its dense structure, surrounded by agricultural terraces.

[45] The PEF's Survey of Western Palestine in 1883 described the city's natural defenses, saying its houses stand upon rock terraces, having a rocky scarp below; thus from the north the place is very strong, whilst on the south a narrow neck between two ravine heads connects the hill with the main ridge.

[36][46][47] The irrigation system runs through a steep valley near the Green Line where a section of the Ottoman-era Hejaz Railway was laid.

"[46] According to anthropologist Giovanni Sontana of UNESCO, "There are few, if any, places left in the immediate region where such a traditional method of agriculture remains, not only intact, but as a functioning part of the village.

[35][36] The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), which approved the fence's original route in 2005, changed its mind and wrote in a 13-page policy paper that Battir's terraces were also an Israeli heritage site and should be carefully safeguarded,[48] stating that agricultural terraces around Battir attesting to millennia-old methods of farming in the region will be irreversibly harmed by the fence, no matter how narrow its route.

[37] This affidavit was one of four expert opinions that contended the fence would decimate the unique farming system, and in early May 2013, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that the Defense Ministry must explain “why should the route of the separation barrier in the Battir village area not be nullified or changed, and alternately why should the barrier not be reconfigured.” The Defense Ministry had to submit a new plan for securing the border that will not destroy Battir by July 2, 2013.

[49] In 2011 UNESCO awarded Battir a $15,000 prize for "Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes" due to its care for its ancient terraces and irrigation system.

[35] In May 2012, the Palestinian National Authority sent a delegation to UNESCO headquarters in Paris to discuss the possibility of adding Battir to its World Heritage List.

The PNA's deputy minister of tourism, Hamadan Taha, said that the organization wants to "maintain it as a Palestinian and humanitarian heritage," making special note of its historic terraces and irrigation systems.

[53][54][55][56] This elongated eggplant features a light purple hue and seedless, soft white flesh,[57] and is a key ingredient in Palestinian dishes such as Maqluba.