where are jews originally from

Jews are originally from the ancient Near Eastern region, specifically the land historically known as Israel and Judah, which corresponds roughly to the area of modern Israel, Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Lebanon. Historically, the Jewish people trace their origins to the Israelites, a confederation of Iron Age Semitic-speaking tribes that lived in Canaan. The Hebrew Bible presents patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (later named Israel) as the ancestral figures, with their descendants forming the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Israelites later migrated to Egypt, where they lived and were enslaved until the Exodus, after which they returned to Canaan to establish kingdoms including Israel and Judah. The Kingdom of Judah is where the term Jews derives from, and this land is considered their original ancestral homeland. Over millennia, Jewish identity was shaped by these early histories, religious traditions, and later diasporas following conquests and exiles in the region.