Mother-of-pearl carving in Bethlehem

Mother-of-pearl carving is a traditional handicraft in Bethlehem, and is said to have been brought to the city by Franciscan friars from Italy in the 15th century.

[1] Bethlehem's position as an important Christian city has for centuries attracted a constant stream of pilgrims.

This generated much local work and income, also for women, including making mother-of-pearl souvenirs.

According to Weir, Bethlehem women's employment in the mother-of-pearl industry goes back at least to the seventeenth century.

[3] The first exhibition in the west of mother-of-pearl artifacts from Palestine was at The World Fair in New York in 1852.

Model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , made in Bethlehem , probably late 1600s. In the British Museum
Workers in mother-of-pearl in Bethlehem. Photo taken 1900–1920 by American Colony, Jerusalem .
Mother-of-pearl work from Bethlehem, as seen in a shop in Ramallah , 2012