In 1596 Al-Murassas was a farm paying taxes to the Ottoman authorities.[5]
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt mentions passing the village (which he called Meraszrasz) during his travels in the early 19th century.[6]
In 1838, el-Murussus was noted as part of the Jenin District.[7][8]
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Shafa al-Shamali.[9]
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described the it as "A small village on high ground, entirely built of mud, and standing amid plough-land. The water supply appears to come from the valley beneath (Wady Yebla)."[10]
The village had a population of 460 in the 1945 statistics; 450 Muslims and 10 Christians,[2] while the total land area was 14,477 dunams.[3] Of this, Arabs used 16 dunums for plantations and irrigable land, 9,897 for cereals,[13] while 16 dunums were classified built–up (urban) land.[14]
1948, aftermath
On June 6, 1948, a platoon from the Israeli Barak brigade raided Danna, Al-Bira, Kafra, Yubla, Jabbul, and Al-Murassas. They would first fire "a few two-inch mortar rounds into its centre", then move in. Al-Murassas was found to be empty.[15] The destruction of Al-Murassas was later criticised by a veteran local Israeli leader, who thought that the villagers would have been willing to cooperate with the Yishuv and "allocate part of their lands for our settlements".[16]
In 1992 the village site was described: "The village site is part of an agricultural area that is exploited by the settlements of Sde Nachum and Beyt ha-Shitta. The only structures on the area are telephone poles and a small shed. A small tell on the site, surrounded by plowed fields, is littered with rubble."[18]