[5] Umm Al Amad was apparently built in the Persian or Hellenistic period, although some scholars have argued for earlier.

[8] In 1881, the British PEF Survey of Palestine described the site as "extensive ruins" and noted "traces of aqueducts origin water to birkets".

[11] Ali Badawi, the long-time chief archaeologist for Southern Lebanon of the Directorate-General of Antiquities at the Ministry of Culture, said: There are the remains of the city known as Oum Al-Amed, dating back to the 2nd century B.C., if not earlier.

The site still contains the remnants of two important temples, as well as other buildings, dating back to the 2nd and 3rd century B.C., and represents the last of Phoenician culture under the rule of the Greeks.

Several steles bearing Phoenician inscriptions were discovered on the site, and an important sundial stone.