tribes of Israel

Mosaic depicting the twelve tribes and their Hebrew names, with symbolic images. Asher: a tree Dan: Scales of justice Judah: Kinnor, cithara, and crown, symbolising King David Reuben: Mandrake (Genesis 30:14) Joseph: Palm tree and sheaves of wheat, likely references to the dreams he received as a child (Genesis 37:7) Naphtali: gazelle (Genesis 49:21) Issachar: Sun, moon and stars (1 Chronicles 12:32) Simeon: towers and walls of the city of Shechem Benjamin: jug, ladle, and fork Gad: tents, symbolizing their itinerancy as cattle-herders Zebulun: ship, due to their bordering the Sea of Galilee and Mediterranean Levi: Priestly breastplate, symbolizing the Kohanim

The Twelve Tribes of Israel (Hebrew: שִׁבְטֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל, romanized: Šiḇṭê Yiśrāʾēl, lit. 'Staffs of Israel') are described in the Hebrew Bible as being the descendants of Jacob, a Hebrew patriarch who was a son of Isaac and thereby a grandson of Abraham. Jacob, later known as Israel, had a total of twelve sons, from whom each tribe's ancestry and namesake is derived: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Collectively known as the Israelites, they inhabited a part of Canaan—the Land of Israel—during the Iron Age. Their history, society, culture, and politics feature heavily in the Abrahamic religions, especially Judaism.