The Twelve Tribes of Israel refer to the sons of the Jewish Patriarch Jacob and are important for the tribal lineages of those who constituted the nation of Israel. In the ancient world, all ethnic groups developed stories of their ancestors in what are known as foundation myths as bloodlines were important in maintaining ancestral lineage and provided status as identity markers.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1822/the-twelve-tribes-of-israel/.