From about 1400 to 1200 B.C., Semitic tribes settled in several waves in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea (Canaan).
These small groups gradually moved from nomadic life to settled agriculture.
The fertile plains were initially dominated by the militarily, economically, and culturally superior Canaanite city-states.
Egyptian sources mention nomadic groups entering Canaan in the 14th century B.C. These were likely the first migrants, the so-called Leah tribes. They encountered other Semitic-speaking peoples in Canaan who worshiped the Canaanite god El. From this contact emerged the name "Israel", meaning "El (God) fights."
Around 1200 B.C., the Rachel tribes arrived, bringing with them the worship of the mountain and volcano god Yahweh from Sinai, along with the (historically rooted) memory of a flight from Egypt, the Exodus.
At the center of this origin story was the escape of nomadic laborers from Egyptian control.
The historical figure Moses played a key role in this event.
The Rachel and Leah tribes, together with smaller Zilpah and Bilhah tribes, eventually merged under the collective name Israel. They united religiously and culturally, with the Rachel tribes’ Yahweh cult becoming dominant.
Originally, each tribe had its own traditions, which later merged into a shared national history. This process strengthened a collective identity and created a fictional genealogy, linking the tribes to common ancestors — the “patriarchs” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
These patriarchs were symbolically connected as one family, with Jacob (Israel) considered their forefather. In times of danger, the tribes acted together as a family alliance.