the etymology of the name balaam is uncertain, but as a soothsayer who went on to lead the israelites into idolatry with the ba'al of peor, there is a possibility that the name is a rendering of ba'al () with the suffix  (a'am) denoting one who is with ba'al. in this inscriptionwhich was found in an area consistent with the location of the kingdom of moabthe prophecies attributed to balaam by the moabites are recalled, whichbesides featuring apocalyptic visions from the godsinclude fragments of his knowledge of the underworld. the moabites were said to worship canaanite dieties such as sumerian/ canaanite baal/ moloch-  moses was said to have ordered the deaths of an entire biblical city that fell to baal-peor worship (numbers 25.3, numbers 25.5)  the inscriptions also suggest that he was a sorcerer of great renown in the ancient levant, which would account for balak's request that he travel from mesopotamia to moab to divert the approaching israelites from his lands: for only he had the reputation, it seems, of being powerful enough to stop an entire nation in its tracks (rev 2.14)
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