Qinnasrin was once Chalcis, the seat of a minor Roman client kingdom under three tetrarchs of the Herodian dynasty. Under the Umayyad Caliphate, the town was repeatedly attacked and sacked by the Byzantines during the Arab-Byzantine wars, in 966, 998 and 1030. It was destroyed by the Seljuq Turks near the end of the 11th century. After it survived only as an arsenal and caravansarai before being finally deserted. Its ruins lie under the modern Syrian village of Hadir.