According to the ARIJ, land from the neighboring Palestinian villages of Sinjil, Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, and Abwein were confiscated to build the settlement.

[2] The valley may be named for the frankincense grown there in Biblical days for the incense used in the Tabernacle of near-by Shiloh.

A fort or monastery was constructed on the site's eastern slopes during the Late Roman or Byzantine period.

Another archaeological site, Khirbet Ghuraba, possibly the ancient Garob, is located across the wadi to the south.

[4] The archeologists suggested identifying the site with Lakitia, mentioned in Lamentations Rabbah as one of the three stations set up by Hadrian to catch fugitives after the Bar Kokhba revolt.