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 succeed 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]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Attara had a population of 164 Muslims,^[9] increasing in the 1931 census to 193 Muslims, in 51 houses.^[10]

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]

Jordanian era

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Al-Attara came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 388 inhabitants in Al-Attara.^[15]

Post-1967

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Al-Attara has been under Israeli occupation.