Situated at the eastern approaches of the Syrian Desert, the town is located between al-Qaryatayn to the south, Sadad to the southwest, Shinshar to the west, Fatim al-Amuq and al-Sayyid to the northwest, al-Mukharram to the north and Palmyra to the east.

[2] During the Byzantine Empire era in Syria, Furqlus was known as "Betproclis" or "Betroclus," which were Greek transliterations of its original Semitic name "Beth Forklos.

"[5] The late 5th-century Byzantine document Notitia Dignitatum listed Betroclus as one of the two sites in Syria where regular Arab army units were stationed as part of the defense of the Phoenicia province.

[13] According to Western traveler John Kelman, the Bedouin seized the fruits of the town's harvest and "emptied the houses ... of every piece of brass that they contained."

The town's returning residents had to pay extra sums for the state protection which markedly reduced the rate of Bedouin incursions, although they continued steadily nonetheless.

Instead of the common flat roof homes present in most of Ottoman Syria, the beehive houses were topped by tall white domes that rose to sharp angles at their pinnacles and were intended to protect the residences from rain damage.