It occupied an extensive site, stretching about 30 dunams (7.4 acres) on the crest of a hill, rising some 430 metres (1,410 ft) above sea level, and commanding a good prospect of the surrounding region.

[8][9] A Jewish inscription, possibly dating from the Bar Kokhba revolt, has been found in a hiding complex at the site; it mentions a "Shelamzion daughter of...".

[15][16] French orientalist and archaeologist, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, visited the site in 1874 where he noticed a well situated nearby, called Bîr Hârûn, surmounted with a rude structure, near which were troughs hollowed out in large stone blocks.

[17] In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Umm Burj as: "A ruined village, with a central tower; apparently not ancient; caves and cisterns round it, and a well".

In the years 1995–2012, archaeological fieldwork was conducted by a team of archaeologists at Khirbet Umm Burj on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), among whom were Boaz Zissu and Amir Golan, et al., where they uncovered at the site two Byzantine churches, and a Jewish inscription incised on a doorjamb of an underground room in a hiding tunnel system.