in 1863 the french explorer victor guérin visited and found the village to have barely 300 inhabitants. the only ancient remains was a ruined arch near the well, which he thought was possibly dated to the roman period. an ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 32 houses and a population of 90 in "schu’a", though the population count included men, only. it was described as being in the hebron district, just east of sar'a.