Manasseh was the firstborn of Joseph and still had rights in that respect
even though Ephraim had exceeded him in the blessing of Jacob. Gilead was
the name both of an important grouping in the Tribe of Manasseh and also of
a whole geographical area. Gilead and Bashan were border regions and
therefore it was important that fightersbe placed there. Machir (i.e. his
descendants) was a MAN OF WAR.   Bashanin Mesopotamia was referred to as
Basil. The word basillater came to be used by the Greeks to signify royalty
though it is admitted that the word is not of Greek origin. The Royal
Scythians mentioned by Herodotos (Skythoi Basiloi) may actually have been
Scythians from Bashan. Herodotos wrote a valuable history but he seems to
have gotten things muddled here and there. He mentions  soldiers of
Sennacherib being killed by a plague of mice before Pelusium.

The Bible says an angel smote the army of Sennacherib when it was besieging
Jerusalem.

   [2-Kings 19:35] AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT NIGHT, THAT THE ANGEL OF THE
LORD WENT OUT, AND SMOTE IN THE CAMP OF THE ASSYRIANS AN HUNDRED FOURSCORE
AND FIVE THOUSAND: AND   WHEN THEY AROSE EARLY IN THE MORNING, BEHOLD, THEY
WERE ALL DEAD CORPSES.
What is the explanation for the contradiction between Herodotos and the
Bible? It turns out that the Egyptian hieroglyphic sign for plague was a
picture of a mouse. Herodotos must have seen an Egyptian inscription (in
Pelusium?) describing the calamity that befall Sennacherib. Herodotos
misinterpreted what he read, He assumed the event had taken place before
Pelusium on the border of Israel and Egypt  and that the sign for plague
meant plague of mice! (Daat Mikra).

Josephus, Antiquities 10;1
  <<Now concerning this Sennacherib, Herodotus also says, in the second
book of his histories, how "this king came against the Egyptian king, who
was the priest of Vulcan; and that as he was besieging Pelusium, he broke
up the siege on the following occasion: This Egyptian priest prayed to God,
and God heard his prayer, and sent a judgment upon the Arabian king." But
in this Herodotus was mistaken, when he called this king not king of the
Assyrians, but of the Arabians; for he saith that "a multitude of mice
gnawed to pieces in one night both the bows and the rest of the armor of
the Assyrians, and that it was on that account that the king, when he had
no bows left, drew off his army from Pelusium." And Herodotus does indeed
give us this history.>>

These clan names became the names of tribal groups amongst the Ancient
Celtic sand Anglo-Saxonand related peoples who settled in Britain and the
west and later colonized North America.

Two points are noticeable here:
    * The women of Manasseh were assertive and recognized as having an
opinion to be considered.
    * There was a tendency (that for a period became almost binding until
it was annulled) for the members of a tribes to marry only within their tribe.

Manasseh had ten portions west of the Jordan as well as the lands of Gilead
and Bashan east of the Jordan.

<<ENTAPPUAH>>: In Hebrew Ayin Tapuachthe Spring of Tapuach. Tapuach means
apple, i.e. Applesprings.

Cities of Ephraim amongst Manasseh.
Note it may have been that physically in the end more of Ephraim actually
dwelt amongst Manasseh than elsewhere nevertheless
the characteristics of the group in that area were determined by Manasseh.
The same applies today.

Manasseh had cities in the territories of Issachar, and Asher.

 In Hebrew Yoel to dwell, i.e. it was pleasing to them to
dwell. Manasseh was at fault for making things desirable for the Canaanites to remain.

Ephraim and Manasseh together were the children of Joseph. Here they spoke
with one voice and considered their inheritances to comprise one portion.

The land was colder then and covered with forests. Trees reduce the
temperature, increase precipitation and water retentions and protect the top soil.