It is written in a peculiar Northwest Semitic dialect, and has provoked much debate among scholars and had a strong impact on the study of Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions.

[3][4] The excavation revealed a multiple-chamber structure that had been destroyed by an earthquake during the Persian period, on the wall of which was written a story relating visions of Bal'am, son of Be'or, a "seer of the gods" (BL M BR B R Š ḤZH LHN), the same name as Balaam, son of Be'or, in Numbers 22–24 and in other passages of the Bible.

The Deir Alla inscription's depiction of Bala'am differs from that in the Book of Numbers.

[7][8] The inscriptions were written with a broad nibbed pen with ink, an extremely early example.

"[18] In the 1960s, in addition to hundreds of vessels like bowls and jars, seven clay tablets were found with an unknown script.

[19] Cannabis has been found as hemp here and at another Iron Age cultic site, Tel Arad in the Negev, as burned incense or drug.