Twelve Tribes of Israel redirects here. For the Rastafari Mansion (branch), see Twelve Tribes of Israel (Rastafari). The Israelites (בני ישראל, Standard: Bnai Yisraʾel; Tiberian: Bnai Yiśrāʾēl; ISO 259-3 (Arabic: بني اسرائيل Bani Israil): Bnai Yiśraʾel, translated as Children of Israel or Sons of Israel) were a Semitic Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East, who inhabited part of Canaan during the tribal and monarchic periods (15th to 6th centuries BCE). Mosaic of the 12 Tribes of Israel. From a synagogue wall in Jerusalem. The biblical term Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes or Children of Israel, means both the direct descendants of the patriarch Jacob as well as the historical populations of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah.[2] In the post-exilic period, beginning in the 5th century BCE, the two known remnants of the Israelite tribes came to be referred to as Jews and Samaritans, inhabiting the territories of Judea and Galilee, and Samaria respectively.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 13:01:46 +0000