Watch How Our Carvings Are Made
Every piece you receive from Bethlehem Handicrafts is hand carved by Christian craftsmen in our family workshop in Bethlehem. The videos below show the same hands, the same workshop, and the same olive wood that becomes the Nativity, cross, or rosary you order from our store.
Inside the Bannoura Family Workshop
For generations, the Bannoura family has practiced the craft of olive wood carving in Bethlehem. The wood comes from groves around the city, the same groves that have surrounded Bethlehem since biblical times. Each piece begins as raw wood and becomes a sacred object through hundreds of small decisions by the carver's hands.
Watch our craftsmen at work, and you will see why every piece we ship is one of a kind.
The Carving Process
The Hands That Shape Each Piece
From Raw Wood to Finished Sacred Art
The Bethlehem Workshop
Olive Wood Carving Techniques
The Tradition Continues
The Olive Wood
The wood you see in these videos is the same wood used in every piece we ship. It comes from olive trees that have grown for centuries in the hills around Bethlehem. Each piece of wood is hand selected from pruned branches, then dried for at least one year before our carvers shape it. Larger pieces are aged for years.
Olive wood is one of the densest and most beautiful woods in the world. Its grain tells the story of every season the tree lived through, and its color deepens with age and care.
Why Each Piece Is One of a Kind
Because every piece is hand carved, no two pieces are exactly alike. Small variations in size, grain, and finish are part of the character of the wood. These are not defects, they are the signature of authentic Bethlehem olive wood.
Shop What You Just Watched
Every piece in our store was made by these same hands, in this same workshop, from this same olive wood. Browse our full collection or shop by category:
Need a Custom Piece?
If you have a specific saint, scene, or commemorative piece in mind, our workshop can carve it for you. Learn more about custom orders or email info@bethlehemhandicrafts.com.
Why Your Purchase Matters
The Christian community in Bethlehem has shrunk to less than 10 percent of the population. Many families have left the Holy Land entirely. Every piece you purchase from Bethlehem Handicrafts directly supports a Christian family that is staying, keeping a generational craft alive, and providing for their children in the city where Jesus was born.
Thank you for being part of our story.