Located in the Judean Hills south of Hebron and north of Beersheba, it falls under the jurisdiction of Har Hevron Regional Council.

It refers to a biblical village said to stand on the borderlands of the desert, in the highlands of Judah, which is mentioned in Joshua 15:55, identified in modern times with Khirbet Ma'in, about 3 km to the west.

[citation needed] In 2001, Israeli settlers established the outpost Havat Ma'on (also named Hill 833 or Tel Abu Jundiya) on the other side of the main road,[6] appropriating privately owned Palestinian land.

[8] The children were protected from harassment first by a group from Christian Peacemaker Team and then the Israeli army, which however has a record of turning up late.

[9] In 2010, United Nations OCHA reported frequent attacks by settlers from the Ma'on outpost on schoolchildren who used the road.

[10] In 2011, Christian Peacemaker Teams reported 5 attacks by settlers from the outpost Havat Ma'on on internationals and Palestinians within 30 days.

[citation needed] According to The New York Times, the settlers of Ma'on "luxuriates in water piped in by the Israeli authorities" while the nearby Palestinian locality of Tuba "struggles to collect rainwater".