Yanun the village is distinct from Khirbet Yanun, nearby ruins to the
north-east of the village. Yanun corresponds to the
Janon of Eusebius
and Jerome, a village in Acrabatene east of Neapolis, which, according to Edward
Robinson, these two Church fathers confused with the ancient town of Janohah of
Naphtali, which belonged to the Tribe of Ephraim. Several caves dot the area,
which the local school headmaster claims were dwelt in by the Canaanites.
There is a shrine, formerly used by villagers as a mosque, believed to be of
the prophet Nun on a hillock called Nabinun three hundred metres east of Lower
