According to the
Old Testament and, specifically, the
Book of Numbers, Peor is a
mountain located East of
Jordan near
Heshbon. During their "40 years of wilderness wanderings" the
Hebrews resided here and the men, naturally, had sexual relations with the local
Moabite women. This being the
Old Testament, the actions quickly
occasioned some sort of old-school plague, hellfire and devil-worship in the form of
Baal-peor--a local version of
Baal.
In the middle ages Baal-peor came to be known as "Belphegor" and would appear in the beguiling form of a young woman.
Peor became suddenly significant when Balak, a Moab king, hired a Mesopotamian diviner (Balaam) to curse the Israelites-to-be and rid them from his lands. God, however, had other plans and intervened by sending an angel to stop Balaam's ass from making the trip.
Long story short: Israelites win again. Check out Numbers 22-23 for confusing semantics and long-winded details...