Olive Wood Jerusalem Cross Box

Local artisans in the Holy Land have spent several generations honing their skills and creating wondrous works of art from the branches of native olive trees.

Sales from the Holy Land work to reduce poverty and unemployment among Palestinian artisans affected by the separation wall between Israel and the West Bank. Your purchase is essential to making raw materials affordable, and developing artisan skills and international markets for their products.

For generations, artisans in the Bethlehem area have crafted items for Christian pilgrims visiting holy sites in the West Bank and Israel, areas once filled with family workshops crafting olive wood and mother-of-pearl carvings. Challenges brought about by about by occupation, political unrest, and the resulting decline in tourism began to take its toll in the 1970s, and both unemployment and limited resources had a dramatic effect on Palestinian artisans. Artisans work in the occupied territories on the West Bank of the Jordan River, with cooperatives located in the cities of Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, and Bethlehem.

1.4" tall; This beautiful Olive Wood Box is hand-carved in Bethlehem, the Holy Land. The box is hinged with a gold-toned clasp. Red velvet is lined on the inside. The symbolic Jerusalem Cross is engraved on the front with the Bethlehem engraved underneath. This box can be used for putting a rosary or for keeping jewelry. The natural swirl and contrast of the olive wood grain will draw your mind. A great gift idea.