Deir Alla is placed between the villages of Kreymeh and Karameh along the main Jordan Valley road. Some of the biblical scholars identified Tell Deir ‘Allā with biblical Succoth (Genesis 33:17, Joshua 13:27, Judges 8:5, I Kings 7:46). The 11 tablets have been translated to proove that Tell el-Deir Alla is in fact Balaam's home town of "Pethor". The first village was built during the Middle Bronze Age II,ca.1700 BC and was inhabited until the Hellenistic period ca 400 BC. Tell Deir Alla was destroyed by the fire followed the earthquake.
Sources:
- Chapter 6 Study of the excavated remains: Tell Deir Alla, in: Unravelling the fabric: Textile production in Iron Age Transjordan [S.l.]: s.n 2013
- Edward Lipiński, On the Skirts of Canaan in the Iron Age: Historical and Topographical Researches, Peeters Publishers, 2006, pp.288-293
- H. J. Franken, Deir Alla, tell (archaeology), Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 2, D-G, 1992.
- idem: Excavations at Deir ‘Alla, Season 1964. Preliminary Report.Vetus TestamentumXIV (3), 1964
- idem: Excavations at Deir ‘Alla, Season 1964. Preliminary Report.Vetus TestamentumXIV (4), 1964
- Niels C. F. Groot, All the work of artisans: reconstructing society at Tell Deir 'Alla through the study of ceramic traditions: Studies of Late Bronze Age Faience vessels and Iron IIc-III ceramics from Tell Deir 'Alla, Jordan, 2011
- Zeidan A. Kafafi, The Archaeological Context of the Tell Deir ‘Allā Tablets - https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/15866/08%20ASLU%2019%20Chapter%208.pdf?sequence=14