Pethor

The hometown of Balaam (Numbers 22:5). Pethor is in Upper Mesopotamia where the Sajur and the Euphrates rivers join. Deuteronomy 23:4 says that Balaam, the son of Beor, came from Pethor of Mesopotamia.

The inscriptions of King Shalmaneser III, who ruled from 859–824 BC, identify Pethor with Pi-it/ti-ru as a site on the Sajur River. The Hittite inscriptions (Syrians or Arameans) knew the city as Pethor. The area was first ruled by the Assyrians, and then later by the Arameans. Later, Shalmaneser recaptured it and resettled it with Assyrians.