The first settlement on this site, Tell Um Amer, was established during the Roman era in Wadi Gaza close to the seashore. It appears on the Madaba map under the name Tabatha and was inhabited from the Byzantine to the early Islamic period (400 to 670 AD). Tell Um Amer was the birthplace of Saint Hilarion, who had received an excellent education in Alexandria, and had gone to Antonius in the desert for further instruction. He founded a monastery in the third century and is considered to be the founder of monastic life in Palestine. The monastery was destroyed in 614 AD.
The site contains the ruins of the monastery of Saint Hilarion (who was born in 291 AD). It consists of two churches, a burial site, a baptism hall, a public cemetery, an audience hall, and several dining rooms. The floors of the monastery were made of limestone, marble tiles, and colored mosaics that depict plant and animal scenes. The floors also include a Greek inscription decorated with circular motifs. In addition, the monastery was equipped with large baths that could adequately serve the pilgrims and merchants travelling from Egypt to the Fertile Crescent through Via Maris.