Palestinian handicrafts

Palestinian handicrafts are handicrafts produced by Palestinian people. A wide variety of handicrafts, many of which have been produced by Arabs in Palestine for hundreds of years, continue to be produced today. Palestinian handicrafts include embroidery work, pottery-making, soap-making, glass-making, weaving, and olive-wood and Mother of Pearl carvings, among others.Jacobs et al., 1998, p. 72.] Ghada Karmi, 2005, p. 18.] Some Palestinian cities in the West Bank, particularly Bethlehem, Hebron and Nablus have gained renown for specializing in the production of a particular handicraft, with the sale and export of such items forming a key part of each cities' economy.

Embroidery and weaving

An exclusively female artistic tradition,Pollock and Bernback et al., 2004, p. 76.] embroidery has been a key feature of traditional Palestinian costumes for hundreds of years. Two main types of embroidery are "tatreez" (cross-stitch embroidery) and "tahriri" (couching-stitch embroidery).

The production of cloth for traditional Palestinian costumes and for export throughout the Arab world was a key industry of the destroyed village of Majdal. Majdalawi weaving, as the technique is known, is woven by a male weaver on a single treadle loom, using black and indigo cotton threads combined with fuchsia and turquoise silk threads. While the village no longer exists today, the craft of Majdalawi weaving continues as part of a cultural preservation project run by the Atfaluna Crafts organization and the Arts and Crafts Village in Gaza City.cite web|title=Craft Traditions of Palestine|publisher=Sunbula|url=http://www.sunbula.org/crafttrad.shtml|accessdate=2008-04-18]

Bedouin weaving is traditionally carried out by women to create household items suited for the life in the desert. The thread is spun from sheep's wool, colored with natural dyes, and woven into a fabric using a ground loom and the strong fabric produced is used for tents, rugs, pillows, and other domestic items.

Glass-making

A key Hebron industry, glass has been produced in the city since the Roman rule in Palestine.

Olive-wood carving

According to the Bethlehem municpality, olive-wood carving is thought to have begun in Bethlehem in the 4th century CE, following the construction of the Church of the Nativity. At the time, Christian monks taught how to make craft to the city's residents. Though its exact origins are obscure, one of the earliest olive-wood handicrafts were rosary beads carved from olive pits. [http://www.bethlehem-city.org/English/City/Heritage/HnadCraft.php Handicrafts: Olive-wood] Bethlehem Municipality.]

Olive-wood is ideal for craft-making being resistant to decay and receptive to a number of surfacing treatments. The wood is usually carved using simple hand tools. Today, rough cutting is carried out using machines programmed with a design model, though fine work, such as work with facial structures, must be chiseled by hand.

Olive-wood carvings are largely purchased by tourists and are important to Bethlehem's economic industry. A number of artists in the city continue to make over a thousand different crafts, such as boxes, picture frames, covers for historical and old books, candle holders, rosaries, urns, vases and Christmas ornaments. Biblical scenes depicting Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the three Magi are also integrated into their work.

Mother of pearl carvings

Pottery

Palestinian pottery shows a remarkable continuity throughout the ages. Modern Palestinian pots, bowls, jugs and cups, particularly those produced prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948, are similar in shape, fabric and decoration to their ancient equivalents.Needler, 1949, p. 75.] Cooking pots, jugs, mugs and plates that are still hand-made and fired in open, charcoal-fuelled kilns as in ancient times in historic villages like al-Jib (Gibeon), Beitin (Bethel) and Sinjil.cite web|title=PACE's Exhibit of Traditional Palestinian Handicrafts|publisher=PACE|accessdate=2007-07-13|url=http://www.pace.ps/handi/handi.html]

oap-making

Nabulsi soap is a type of castile soap produced only in Nablus in the West Bank.cite web|title=Palestinian Industries|url=http://www.piefza.org/a_pal_industries.htm|publisher=Piefza.com|accessdate=2008-03-28] An olive oil-based soap, it is made up of three primary ingredients: virgin olive oil, water, and a sodium compound.cite web|title=Nablus' olive oil so
author=Michael Phillips|publisher=Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU)|date=March 11 2008|accessdate=2008-03-27|url=http://imeu.net/news/article008132.shtml] Nabulsi workers who make the soap are proud of its unique smell, which they see as a signifier of the quality and purity of its ingredients.cite web|title=Nablus So
publisher=Suburban Emergency Management Project|date=September 20 2006|accessdate=2008-03-27|url=http://www.semp.us/publications/biot_reader.php?BiotID=402]

Long reputed to be a fine product, since as early as the 10th century, Nabulsi soap has been exported across the Arab world and even to Europe. Though the number of soap factories has plummeted from a peak of thirty in the 19th century to only two today, efforts to preserve this important part of Palestinian and Nabulsi cultural heritage continue.

References

Bibliography

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