Situated on the M5 Highway between Homs and Damascus, nearby localities include al-Qusayr and Rableh to the northwest, Shamsin and Jandar to the north, Dardaghan to the northeast, Sadad to the southeast and Bureij to the south.

Due to the small population in the area around Hesa, the cohort was later moved out and replaced by 30 Assyrian households subject to army recruitment.

Along with the allied garrison at Ma'arat al-Numan, Hisyah played an important role in the pacification of the region between Damascus and Aleppo.

An agha and 150 nominal cavalry troops were stationed there in order to protect regional towns from Bedouin raids,[6] principally launched by clans belonging to the Anizah tribe.

[7] A few years prior to Porter's visit, the former agha and 18 of his soldiers were killed in an ambush by the local Walid Ali Bedouin tribe.