As it is unclear when exactly Joel lived, it is difficult to place his writing into a historical context, however, he does refer to his temple as being in the valley of acacias, also called the valley of Shittim, which identifies his Lord as Ba'al Hammon, the Canaanite fertility god. The Temple of Hammon, at the ruins of Tell el-Hammam in Jordan, reportedly sent tribute to Solomon when he was the king, and the town around the city existed from roughly 980 to 332 BC. As Joel mentioned the Valley of Jehoshaphat, it is accepted he lived after the time of King Jehoshaphat, King of Judah between approximately 870 and 849 BC. At the time, the region northeast of the Dead Sea, where the valley of acacias is located, was under the dominion of the Kingdom of Samaria. Joel also refers to Zion and Jerusalem, which implies a strong connection to the Kingdom of Judah.