2800-Year-Old Inscription Affirms Bible Character, Balaam Whose Donkey Talked To

 Professor Tom Meyer from Shasta Bible College and

Graduate School in California, US, told Express.co.uk:

"Balaam is probably best remembered for the Biblical

account of his donkey speaking to him in a human voice to

stop his insane action of cursing God’s chosen people

Israel.

"Unsuccessful in his attempts to curse Israel, Balaam

became synonymous with rebellion and apostate religion in

later Jewish history.

"But 600 years after Balaam lived, he posthumously

retained his fame and following. "In fact, he probably

became more popular after he died."

In 1967, archaeologists in Jordan discovered a non-Hebrew

temple that has been dated between 840 BC and 760 BC.

The temple was found at Succoth or tel Deir’alla, the first

Bronze Age city excavated in Jordan. And within the temple

is an intriguing inscription that mentions Balaam by name.

Professor Meyer said: "Inside the temple archaeologists

discovered next to collapsed plaster walls a jigsaw puzzle

of a find.

"The fragmented remains of plaster were eventually

reconstructed to reveal an Aramaic inscription that once

decorated the walls of the temple.

"The discovery, which turns out to be the oldest example of

Aramaic literature in the world, was dedicated to none

other than the 'seer of the gods, Balaam, son of Beor.'"

The inscription was painted in red and black inks on

fragments of the temples plastered wall. In total, 119

pieces of the plaster have been recovered.

Part of the Aramaic inscription reads: "The misfortunes of

the Book of Balaam, son of Beor. "A divine seer was he.

The gods came to him at night …"

The longer text, or at least the surviving fragments of it,

describe Balaam's vision of divine destruction by the gods.

Professor Meyer believes the pagan temple may have been

a school of prophets that began in the tradition of Balaam’s

prophecies.

In a similar way, he said, other Old Testament prophets

such as Elijah and Samuel developed a following.

This theory is shared by Eliezer Segal at the University of

Calgary in Canada, who wrote: "The text in question, which

was probably composed around 700 BCE, was written in

Aramaic (or Ammonite) on plaster slabs that might have

formed part of a sanctuary or cultic monument.

"From it we learn of the existence, some six hundred years

after Balaam's lifetime, of a religious movement that

continued to revere Balaam as its great prophet and

spiritual mentor.

The temple remained in use until about the eighth century

when it was brought down by an earthquake.

Professor Meyer said: "The inscription was perhaps a way

of commemorating one of Balaam’s famous (extra-Biblical)

prophecies.

"In the inscription, he curses the gods who brought famine

and death and also petitions the fertility gods who could

restore life and order to the region.

"The Balaam inscription is one of over 100 examples

wherein archaeologists have found the name of a person

mentioned in the Bible on an object buried in the earth.

"Such discoveries demonstrate that the people mentioned

in the Bible were historical per

sons, even such notorious

characters as Balaam the diviner."