According to SWP: "This place is mentioned in the Onomasticon (s. v. Atharoth) as a city of Ephraim, north of Sebaste, and 4 miles from it. The distance is exact."[5]
In 1140, Ussama, a Moslem traveller, mentioned Al-Attara together with nearby Silat ad-Dhahr.[4]
In 1178, it was attacked by Bedouin, but withstood the attack.[4]
Ottoman era
Al-Attara, like all of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. About 10% of the pottery sherds found in the village date back to this period.[4] In the 1596 Ottoman tax registers, Al-Attara was listed as an entirely Muslim village called 'Attara, and had a population of 12 families and 2 bachelors. It was located in the nahiya of Jabal Sami in the liwa of Nablus. The inhabitants paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, and goats and/or beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a tax on people from the Nablus area, a total of 5,000 akçe.[6]
A fortress, dating from the 16th—17th century, is visible in the centre of the village.[4]
In 1870, Victor Guérin noted it as a poor village, but one which had succeeded an ancient place.[7]
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of al-Sha'rawiyya al-Gharbiyya.[8]
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Al-Attara as "A small stone village on a spur of mountain, with a few olives and a well on the west."[5]
In the 1945 statistics, the population of Al-Attara was 250 Muslims,[11] with 3,844 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[12] Of this, 88 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,784 were used for cereals,[13] while 5 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[14]
