The twelve tribes of Israel, or the twelve tribes of Judah, are described in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Jacob, who was called Israel, had twelve sons, and each of his sons founded one of the twelve tribes of Israel after the Exodus: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph and Benjamin. Jacob's sons had four different mothers: Leah and Rachel, both
Read more.... of whom were Jacob's wives, and Bilhah and Zilpah, Leah and Rachel's maidservants. The land in Israel was apportioned among the twelve tribes some time later, in the days of Joshua, Moses' successor. According to the Book of Joshua, God directed Joshua to "put the people in possession of the land," and they therefore divide the land among the twelve tribes. However, as the Tribe of Levi was a tribe of priests, they did not receive land, though they did receive several cities in Israel to control. The land was still divided among twelve tribes, though, as Joseph's tribe was split into two tribes for his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. The twelve tribes during the period of land distribution were Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Benjamin, Ephraim (Joseph's son) and Manasseh (Joseph's son). The Levites are still called a tribe even though they did not receive any land. Due to war, deportation and migration, several of the tribes disappeared from the Biblical record when the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in 720 BCE. (The Kingdom of Judah was not destroyed.) These are often called the "Ten Lost Tribes," which includes all of the northern kingdoms that had founded the Kingdom of Israel, although the exact tribes that were lost in that period are disputed. There are many different theories as to the locations of those lost tribes, and many religious groups claim some common heritage with them. More reference links: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/tribes.html http://www.biblestudy101.org/Lists/12tribes.html