[5] Pottery vessels that dated to the Late Roman and Byzantine periods were excavated from an ancient quarry at Sur Baher.

They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat barley, vineyards and fruit trees, goats and beehives; a total of 12,983 akçe.

[21] In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Sur Baher had an all Muslim population of 993 persons.

[29] Sur Baher's population together with Umm Tuba and Arab el Subeira amounted to 4,012 in the same census.

[32] In 1970, Israel expropriated land around the village used for livestock grazing and harvesting olive and citrus groves from its owners.

[33] According to Isabel Kershner, a fifth of Sur Baher's land was expropriated for East Talpiot, available land in the village became insufficient to meet the growing needs of the population, and it was difficult for Sur Baher residents to obtain building permits from the Jerusalem Municipality.

[34] In 2000, the Israeli government and Jerusalem municipality approved building plans for two new high schools and a youth center.

In September 2005, the Jerusalem municipality, in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces, cleared a Jordanian minefield in Sur Baher.

[35] Since 2013, even non-Israeli Palestinian residents of Sur Baher are entitled to the services of Bituah Leumi (the Israeli National Insurance Institute) and the associated state health care.

[36] In response to the demolition on July 22, 2019, of up to 16 residential buildings in the neighbourhood of Wadi al-Hummus in the village of Sur Baher, Amnesty condemned the action stating: "These demolitions are a flagrant violation of international law and part of a systematic pattern by the Israeli authorities to forcibly displace Palestinians in the occupied territories; such actions amount to war crimes.