A map by Pierre Jacotin from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 shows both places, named as Cheik Daoud and Cheik Denou.

Both villages are mentioned in the writings of Western travellers to Ottoman Palestine in the 19th century.
Andrew Alexander Bonar and Robert Murray M'Cheyne who visited in the mid-19th century describe Sheikh Daud as one of many small villages scattered over a "beautiful plain", located just off the road, that was "once a Christian village."
V. Guérin, who visited the place later that same century, described Danun as a hamlet grouped around the tomb of Shaykh Danun.
Of the shrine (wali) in neighbouring Shaykh Dawud, he writes that it was surmounted by two domes, one larger than the other and estimated the population of that hamlet to be about 50.
One house in the village is described as larger and better built than the others and said to belong to a powerful sheikh.

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) writes of Shaykh Danun that it was a "small village, built of stone and mud, contains about 50 Muslims, on the edge of a plain, with stream of water near."
Shaykh Dawud is similarly described, but with 70 Muslims, and "surrounded by olives and arable land."

A population list from about 1887 showed that  Sheikh Daud had about 320 inhabitants, all Muslim.
A map by Pierre Jacotin from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 shows both places, named as Cheik Daoud and Cheik Denou.
Both villages are mentioned in the writings of Western travellers to Ottoman Palestine in the 19th century. Andrew Alexander Bonar and Robert Murray M'Cheyne who visited in the mid-19th century describe Sheikh Daud as one of many small villages scattered over a "beautiful plain", located just off the road, that was "once a Christian village." V. Guérin, who visited the place later that same century, described Danun as a hamlet grouped around the tomb of Shaykh Danun. Of the shrine (wali) in neighbouring Shaykh Dawud, he writes that it was surmounted by two domes, one larger than the other and estimated the population of that hamlet to be about 50. One house in the village is described as larger and better built than the others and said to belong to a powerful sheikh.
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) writes of Shaykh Danun that it was a "small village, built of stone and mud, contains about 50 Muslims, on the edge of a plain, with stream of water near." Shaykh Dawud is similarly described, but with 70 Muslims, and "surrounded by olives and arable land."
A population list from about 1887 showed that  Sheikh Daud had about 320 inhabitants, all Muslim.
Sheikh Danun