The village was near the Lebanese border in an area that sloped toward the al-Hula Plain, to the south. It was about 1 km east of the highway leading to Safad and Tiberias, at the intersection of secondary roads that linked it to several neighboring villages. The etymology of the first part of the name, al-Zuq, is not known for sure; it may have been derived from the Syriac zuk, meaning "town." The second part, al-Fawqani ("upper" in Arabic) distinguished it from the "lower" village of al-Zuq al-Tahtani to the south. The outline of the village was circular, with its houses built along the roads that radiated outward from its center. Several springs flowed northwest of it, and a water-powered mill was built on the south side. The villagers grew olive trees on the slopes to the north and west of the village, and fruit trees on the western side. In 1944 a total of 1,286 dunums was allocated to cereals; 503 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Columns in secondary use, wall fragments, and an olive press all bear witness to earlier occupation at the site of al-Zuq al-Fawqani. Within a 2-km radius of the site were several tells and khirbas, which testify to the attractiveness of the site for settlement in the past
