In 1875, Victor Guérin observed the village of "Oumm Djouneh", sitting on a hill east of the river Jordan. In 1881, the PEF's "Survey of Western Palestine" (SWP) described the place, cited as "Umm Junieh", as a stone and adobe village, on the east side of the river Jordan, on the top of the eastern bank of the river. It contained about 250 Muslim inhabitants. All the plain around was arable soil; no trees. A mill was worked at the village. A population list from about 1887 showed that "Umm Juny" had about 330 inhabitants, all Muslim.