 British traveler James Silk Buckingham describes az-Zeeb in 1816 as a small town built on a hill near the sea with few palm trees rising above its houses.During the period of Egyptian rule in Palestine, the sheikh (chief) of az-Zeeb, Said al-Sabi, joined the 1834 peasants' rebellion against governor Ibrahim Pasha.He was arrested and exiled to Egypt by the authorities in the summer of that year because of his participation.