In the late Ottoman and early Mandatory periods, Dura was the only permanent settlement in the southeastern ridge of the central highlands.

Starting as a village and evolving into a town, it sprawled across large territories, becoming a center for influential families, collectively referred to as Abu-Darham.

The house at the estate's center contained a bath and consisted of rooms surrounded by an open courtyard and fronted by colonnades.

[13] Mukaddasi, writing around 985 CE, noted that Palestine was famous for its vineyards and a type of raisin called Dūrī, said to be from Dura.

The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including on wheat, barley, olives, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives; a total of 10,000 akçe.

[18] During the late Ottoman and early Mandatory periods, Dura stood as the sole permanent settlement in the southeastern ridge of the central highlands.

Beginning as a village and evolving into a town, it expanded across extensive territories, becoming a battleground for influential families, collectively known as Abu-Darham, particularly the al-'Amr, Namura, Dudeen, and Hajji hamulas.

'Abd al-Rahman al-'Amr, a prominent ruler, sought refuge among the Bedouin Tiaha tribe following his escape from a prison in Jerusalem after he revolted in the 1850s.

This connection helped deter Bedouin incursions and facilitated peaceful territorial expansions for Dura.

Close to the town is a celebrated wely in which lies a colossal sarcophagus, containing, it is said, the body of Noah.

[22][23] In 1877 Lieutenant Kitchener had some boys publicly flogged in Dura following an incident when stones were thrown at a member of the Palestine Exploration Fund survey party.

[24] In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Dura as "A large and nourishing village on the flat slope of a hill, with open ground on the east for about a mile.

[32] Dura village lands covered in this period an estimated 240 square kilometres (93 sq mi), which included 99 ruined settlement sites.

In 1999, Israeli PM Ehud Barak proposed constructing a bridge linking Beit Hanoun and Dura, in order to connect the West Bank with the Gaza Strip.

[37] The Dura Municipal Rehabilitation Center assists Palestinian Authority residents with special needs and developmental disabilities.

[40][41][42] The Israeli settlement of Adora, Har Hevron is located 4 kilometers north of the town in the Judaean Mountains[43] and has 515 inhabitants.

About 6,000 people make up this clan,[49] and they also live in nearby offshoot villages of Dura, including al-Kum, Beit Maqdum, Humsa and Ikrisa.