Tribe of Asher

The Tribe of Asher (Hebrew: אשר from אָשַׁר 'ashar "to go straight, walk, go on, advance, make progress") is one of the Hebrew tribes of Israel, the tribe descended from Asher the eighth son of Jacob and Zilpah. Asher, his four sons and a daughter, settled in Egypt.

And Leah said, "Happy am I! For women have called me happy." So she called his name Asher. —Gen 30:13

The tribe may be the same as the Weshesh mentioned in Egyptian accounts (the W of Weshesh is a modern invention for ease of pronunciation, the Egyptian records containing mention of the group refer to Uashesh). The Weshesh were part of a tribal confederation known as the Sea Peoples, which also included Peleset (the Philistines), Danua (possibly Dan), Tjekker (thought to mean of Acco, and thus may refer to Manasseh), Shekelesh (thought to mean men of Sheker, and thus may refer to Issachar).

Records only state that the Sea People attacked Egypt, and other nations, but not where hey came from or where they went to. As such there has been much speculation, with some thinking they either invaded, or returned home to, coastal Canaan, and subsequently their federation for some unknown reason split, with some tribes joining the Israelite federation.

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