[4] 'Ain Mallaha is the local Arabic name for a spring that served as the water source for the village inhabitants throughout the ages.

[5] The first permanent village settlement of pre-agricultural times in Palestine, Kathleen Kenyon describes the material remains found there as Natufian, consisting of 50 circular, semi-subterranean, one-room huts, paved with flat slabs and surrounded by stone walls up to 1.2 meters (3.9 ft) high.

[10] Ibn al-Qalanisi describes a battle that took place at Mallaha in June 1157 between the Arab and Turkish forces of Nur ad-Din Zangi and those of the Crusaders under King Baldwin III.

[11][12] Qalanisi writes that Nur ad-Din sent his troops to Mallaha immediately after learning via pigeon post that the Franks had set up an encampment there.

The battle, as described by Qalanisi, was bloody and quick, resulting in decisive victory for the Muslim forces, who are reported to have lost only two men,[11] with the king narrowly escaping with a bodyguard.

"[10] Just SE of Mallaha (at grid 2071/2737), excavations have revealed structures, probably dating to thirteenth or fourteenth century, that is after the area fell to Mamluk sultan Baybars.

"[16] In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Ain el Mellahah[17] as a "very large perennial spring, flowing in a long stream from the base of the mountain; at once turns a mill, and forms almost a small river.