E. Robinson reports passing Deir al-Dubban in 1838, on his way to examine caverns nearby.Robinson, 1841, vol 2. pp. 352, 353 He noted it as a Muslim village, located in the Gaza district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 119 Although inconclusive, Robinson, by taking Eusebius' location of the biblical Gath as being five Roman miles north of Eleutheropolis (Beit Gubrin) towards Diospolis (Lod), thought that Deir al-Dubban may have been the site of Gath-Rimmon.Robinson (1856), p. 67
