In May 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village. He estimated it had 400 inhabitants. He further noted a wali, dedicated to a Sheik Yusuf, with sections of ancient white-grey marble columns. Further five -six sections of marble column were observed around the well. Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Barbara had a total of 113 houses and a population of 372, though the population count included men only. Hartmann found that Barbara had 112 houses.