<P> From that time, the Tribe of Manasseh has been counted as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, though some groups claim descent from the tribe . </P> <P> The Bible records that following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes . According to biblical scholar Kenneth Kitchen, this conquest should be dated slightly after 1200 BCE . The consensus of modern scholars is that the conquest of Joshua as described in the Book of Joshua never occurred . </P> <P> At its height, the territory Manasseh occupied spanned the Jordan River, forming two "half - tribes", one on each side; the eastern half - tribe was almost entirely discontiguous with the western half - tribe, only slightly touching at one corner - the south west of the eastern half - tribe and north east of the western half - tribe . </P> <P> The western half - tribe occupied the land to the immediate north of Ephraim, in the centre of western Canaan, between the Jordan and the coast, with the Tribe of Issachar to the north, the north west corner being at Mount Carmel; the eastern half - tribe was the northernmost Israelite group on the east of the Jordan, occupying the land north of the tribe of Gad, extending from the Mahanaim in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, and including within it the whole of Bashan . These territories abounded in water, a precious commodity in Canaan, and thus constituted one of the most valuable parts of the country; additionally, Manasseh's geographic situation enabled it to defend two important mountain passes - Esdraelon on the west of the Jordan and Hauran on the east . </P>

Why was it called the half tribe of manasseh
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