The Book of Balaam

In 1967, archaeologists at the site of Tell Deir Alla uncovered two piles of crumpled plaster from around 800 BC on which were written portions of a book by Balaam--the same Balaam known until that time only in Numbers. Balaam was not, of course, a prophet of Israel. He appears in Numbers to be more of a prophet-for-hire. That he was a known and respected prophet in the ancient world--if only through legend--now seems confirmed through the combined witness of both biblical and extra-biblical evidence. A portion of the Aramaic text is translated below:

[THIS IS] THE BOOK OF [BA]LAAM, [SON OF BEO]R, A SEER OF THE GODS. And to that (man) came the gods at night. [And they spoke to] him according to the utterance of El. And they spoke to [Balaa]m, son of Beor, thus: ... [...] And Balaam arose in the morning. [...] ... [...] ... And he was not [able to eat.] [And he fast]ed, while weeping grievously. And his people came to him. And the[y said] to Balaam, son of Beor: Why do you fast? [And wh]y do you weep? And he said to them: Sit down! I shall tell you what the Shadd[ayin are ...ing.] Now come, see, what the gods are about to do! The go[d]s gathered, while the Shadday deities met in assembly, and said to Sha[mash:] Thou mayest break the bolts of heaven, in thy clouds let there be gloominess and no brilliance...
--The Book of Balaam, 1-22, from Weippert's The Balaam Text from Deir Alla and the Study of the Old Testament