Before or during the Crusades (late 11th–13th centuries) they made their abode in the mountainous region called after them, the Jabal Amil, in present-day Southern Lebanon.
[1] Irfan Shahîd contrasts the traditional view placing the Amila's emergence in Syria during the 3rd century, holding that the tribe formed a part of Nabataean confederacy along with Judham and Balqayn, and that their presence in the region goes back to Biblical times.
[3] From their then-settlement in southern Palestine (which they still occupied even during the Muslim conquest of the Levant), for centuries the Banu Amila acted as foederati (tribal confederates) of the Byzantines, helping guard the empire's frontiers against threats from the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian-allied Lakhmids.
They were noted for their strong commitment to the empire in the 6th century and acknowledged Ghassanid supremacy among the Arab foederati.
[4] The tribe was among the Arab foederati, who, alongside the Byzantine Empire, opposed the initial Muslim incursions into the Levant.