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Bethlehem's
Traditional Holy Land Handicrafts and Old
Bethlehem Home
Olive Wood Souvenirs
(Source:PALESTINIAN HANDICRAFT: OLIVE WOOD &
MOTHER OF PEARL OF BETHLEHEM, Beit Sahour Holy Land Co-operative
Society, 1997)
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The handicrafts trade has evolved as a cultural
tradition of the Palestinian people over many
centuries. This indigenous art form has since
become an industry of great importance to the
local people of the Holy Land who rely on it for
a livlihood, and to Christian pilgrims from all
around the world whose holy pilgrimage can be
memorialized for a life time in cherished olive
wood or mother-of-pearl souvenir.
In recent years the handicrafts trade has
suffered much hardship due to social, economic
and political pressures, because of a sharp
reduction in tourism and export marketing, and
also as a result of diminishing numbers of
craftsmen who leave their traditional trade and
families that emigrate to alleviate difficult
conditions in their homeland. We hope that the
publication of this catalog will be an
encouragement to people still dependent upon the
handicraft industry and an instrument to help
the community reach a higher level of marketing
for their beautiful products.
Olive wood is a local raw material from which
mainly religious articles are made, using the
pruned and discarded parts of young olive trees
after th olive picking season, and the sprouts
from the trunks of ‘old, unproductive trees. The
towns of Beit Sahour Beit Jala and Bethlehem
have each specialized in specific olive wood
items, most with religious significance, such as
crosses, nativity sets and statues. But also
recent production has included no-religious
articles- camels, horses and donkeys. Olive wood
art is an ancient art form that can be traced
back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Historical
documents provided by the Christian pilgrims of
that time tell of the beauty of the olive wood
rosaries an crucifixes and of their popularity
among pilgrims.
The beautiful mother-of-pearl is a tradition
that is traced back also to the early 17th
century and evolved as an art along with olive
wood when Franciscan monks came to the Holy Land
and trained the local Christian population in
the carving of olive wood and mother-of-pearl
rosaries, crucifixes and reproductions of the
Cave o Nativity and the Holy Sepulchre.
Mother-of-pearl artisan shops are found only in
Beit Sahour and Bethlehem, important centers for
Christian pilgrims.
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