Strategically located at a crossroads on the western bank of the Euphrates and considered the key to Syria from Iraq, control of the town was highly contested by the Muslim powers and Bedouin tribes of the region. It grew to become one of the major Muslim towns of the Euphrates valley and was an administrative center.

An earthquake destroyed Rahbat Malik ibn Tawk in 1157, after which it was granted by the Zengid