At the end of the XIII century. BC. Palestine became the promised land for the Jewish tribes ousted from Upper Mesopotamia along with other Semitic tribes of the Amorites-Sutii. To the nomadic tribes who came from the desert, Palestine really could seem like a paradise, although in fact it is a country of contrasts. There are deserts, and fertile valleys, and highlands, and swamps, and mountains with snowy peaks. The land of Canaan (as the ancient Jews called Palestine), into which the god Yahweh ordered Abraham, the legendary ancestor of all Jewish, Aramaic and Arab tribes, to go, turned out to be a busy crossroads. Important trade routes passed through it, connecting the civilizations of antiquity. The desire to gain benefits associated with the ability to control the trade of a vast region pushed the powers of the Ancient East together in an effort to establish dominance over Palestine. It was a constant battlefield, along its paths there was an incessant movement not only of trade caravans, but also of the troops of the warring parties. At a certain stage in the development of the Jewish people, this circumstance predetermined much in its historical fate.
The history of the Hebrew people is reflected in the Bible - a unique collection of mythological and religious traditions and treatises, historical chronicles and romantic stories. But it is impossible to restore how events developed during the appearance of Jewish tribes in Palestine from the texts of the Bible. According to the Bible, before coming to Palestine, the Israelites, descendants of Abraham's grandson, Jacob (his middle name is Israel), settled in Egypt. There they fell into slavery. God Yahweh heard the groans of the oppressed people and called on Moses, a Jew from the “tribe” (tribe) of Levi, to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. On Mount Sinai, Yahweh appeared to Moses and gave him ten commandments - prohibitions and commands that regulate human behavior before God. A covenant was made between the people of Israel and God. The people promised to do the will of God, for which Yahweh gave them the land of Canaan. Violation of the "covenant" threatened with cruel punishments, up to the complete extermination of the people. Moses was not destined to set foot on the land of Canaan. The Bible names Joshua as the leader of the Jewish tribes that appeared in Palestine. Scientists consider the biblical story about the stay of the Jews in Egypt and the exodus from it a myth that is not confirmed by historical sources. Moses and Joshua are the same, obviously, mythical heroes, like the hero Samson, who, as it is told in the Bible, beat the enemy army with one donkey's jaw.
