Sacred souvenir: the Holy Sepulchre models in

the British Museum*

Made in Bethlehem by Arab Christians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these
models were sold to pilgrims and exported throughout western Europe. They were acquired by
the faithful as aids for devotion and by collectors such as Sir Hans Sloane, who had a model of
the Holy Sepulchre in his collection as well as a much rarer model of the Church of the Nativity
in Bethlehem. Previously thought to have been made solely of olive wood, with mother-of-
pearl and ivory used for the decorative and structural details, closer scientific examination has
revealed the use of pistachio wood in addition to olive, and bone probably camel bone
rather than ivory for architectural features.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Known as the Church of the Resurrection to eastern Orthodox Christians, the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre was originally built by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great in ad 326 to
mark the sites in Jerusalem where the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus were
believed to have taken place. For centuries the church was the focal point of Christian
pilgrimage from Europe and the Middle East, and is still visited by large numbers of pilgrims
and tourists from across the world [1, 2]. In the period when Jerusalem was under Ottoman
rule, the pilgrimage to the Holy Places in Jerusalem seems to have been understood by many
eastern Christians as in some sense their equivalent of the great Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

Devotion to the Holy Sepulchre is still particularly strong among Orthodox Christians from
eastern Europe and the Middle East, whereas its profile has declined among Roman Catholics
and Protestants.

The focal point of the church is the Aedicule, a structure within the building that marks the site
of the Holy Sepulchre, the tomb of Christ and, therefore, of the Resurrection. It is located
within the Rotunda, a round structure whose columns are the sole surviving elements from the
original Constantinian church.

The Franciscans also played an important role in the manufacture and Europe-wide circulation
of the models of the church discussed here.

Holy Sepulchre models

Models of the Holy Sepulchre made largely from olive wood and decorated with mother-of-
pearl were produced in and around Bethlehem in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
They were made for sale to pilgrims to the Holy Land and for export, the trade being facilitated
by the Franciscans, whose role as Custodians of the Holy Land and their pan-European network
made them the ideal intermediaries [5]. Intricately made in such a way that the roof and

*
Williams, J., Kevin, P., Cartwright, C., & Norris, J. (2014). Sacred souvenir: the Holy Sepulchre models in
the British Museum. Technical Research Bulletin, 8, 29-38.
1. Biddle, M., The Tomb of Christ, Sutton Publishing, Stroud (1999).
2. Morris, C., The Sepulchre of Christ and the Medieval West: from the beginning to 1600, Oxford
University Press, Oxford (2005).
5. Piccirillo, M., La Nuova Gerusalemme: artigianato Palestinese al servizio dei Luoghi Santi, Edizioni
Custodia di Terra Santa, Bergamo (2007).
constituent parts can be removed to reveal the floor plan and interior details of the church and
the complex arrangement of its various shrines, the models were widely collected, both as
devotional aids and as curiosities.

Although not all the wooden elements could be sampled for identification, it is clear that most
of the wood used in the construction of the models is olive (Olea europaea) (Figure 6), with
just some of the small connecting pieces (often not visible on the exterior) made from mastic
tree/pistachio wood of the species Pistacia lentiscus, Figure 7. For each type of wood,
comparisons with reference collection specimens and publications revealed the diagnostic
features of Olea europaea wood [11] or Pistacia lentiscus wood [12] listed in the appendix.

It continues to be utilized by wood carvers in Bethlehem, which is not surprising as olive wood
meets the five criteria that are considered by many to influence the choice of wood:
availability, appearance, ritual/spiritual significance (the olive tree being a symbol of peace,
beauty and longevity [13]), physical properties and appropriate size. Both olive and pistachio
woods are slow-growing and, as can be seen from the features described in the anatomical
summaries in the appendix, are hard, dense woods. Olive wood displays a contrasting
undulating pattern with greenish/brown and yellow streaks that is highly prized by
woodworkers.

The wood from the olive tree is quite oily, which allows the woodworker to achieve a highly
polished surface. Furniture makers frequently choose olive wood for its durability, attractive
decorative patterning and pleasant, sweet, long-lasting odour. In addition, it is naturally
moderately resistant to insect attack. Olive wood is usually available in short lengths or small
pieces, since it is common practice to employ pruned branches in order not to sacrifice the
tree and hence the olive crop for the sake of its timber alone. Consequently, olive wood is
not usually commercially available as lumber. Furthermore, it is not easily converted into small
boards of the type used in the models, as it is difficult to season without distortion through
shrinkage (typically 7.0% radially and 11.4% tangentially [14]) and frequently suffers
movement in use.

Pistachio is also difficult to convert and often splits during seasoning. Pistachio wood is green,
red, white and brown (tan to dark brown) in colour and shows striking patterns of contrasting
bands, providing a highly figured wood. This mottled colouring provides an attractive,
decorative wood that is used mostly for small artefacts or as an inlay.

Mother-of-pearl and bone

It seems most probable that bone was chosen over ivory because it is readily available and,
unlike ivory, would not need to be imported at considerable cost.

these were found camel bone, commonly used for making souvenirs [16].

11. Baas, P., Esser, P.M., van der Westen, M.E.T. and Zandee, M., Wood anatomy of the Oleaceae,
IAWA Bulletin 9 (1988) 103182.
12. Fahn, A., Werker, E. and Baas, P., Wood anatomy and identification of trees and shrubs from Israel
and adjacent regions, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem (1986).
13. Nozedar, A., Ultimate AZ guide from alchemy to the zodiac: the element encyclopaedia of secret
signs and symbols, Harper Collins, London (2008) 405.
14. Olive, in The Wood Database, www.wood-database.com/lumberidentification/hardwoods/olive/
(accessed 28 March 2014).
16. Lama, G., Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation, Bethlehem, personal communication (25 March
2013).
Construction

The iridescent motherof-pearl would initially be cut (as flat as possible) into workable pieces or
blanks that took best advantage of any natural pattern and lustre. Any curvature in the pieces
would have been ground off on a stone or stone wheel, resulting in blanks that would typically
be between 1.5 and 3 mm thick.

Indeed, inlaying furniture is a very old craft and examples survive from ancient Egypt. The
highstatus burial tomb of the Eighteenth Dynasty (c.15751310 bc) pharaoh Tutankhamun
contained many fine examples,
Unlike marquetry, which is an assemblage of veneers (wood or otherwise) applied over the
surface of an object, inlaying involves letting in or inserting pieces into spaces that were pre-
cut into the wooden substrate. The resulting inlays are then flush with the surface of the
wood.

A mixture of black-pigmented natural resin and/or glue would then have been applied into
these recesses, and the thin piece of mother-of-pearl pressed into position in the resin. Some
mother-of-pearl pieces were further embellished by engraving or incising with decorative lines.
Correct leveling of the mother-of-pearl and resin was important to give a flush finished surface
that would minimize the need for any final sanding, which was particularly important where
the mother-of- pearl was incised, as sanding could result in damage and loss of detail.

specific socio-historical context in the town of their production Bethlehem. Although the
Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is the most frequently depicted shrine in this genre of model
making, the models were made in the smaller, nearby town of Bethlehem. Importantly,
elaborate models such as those in the British Museum represent only the pinnacle of a much
wider cottage industry in Bethlehem, whose staple income was provided by the sale of more
basic items such as crosses, rosaries, crowns and small boxes.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the industry was nearing its peak, creating
considerable wealth in Bethlehem and with it a burgeoning middle class. This in turn caused
merchants from the town to begin a complex series of migrations in search of new export
markets, laying the foundations for broader patterns of Palestinian emigration and long-term
settlement all over the world [20].

To understand how the production of these devotional objects became centred in Bethlehem,
it is necessary to appreciate the towns unique connection to the Franciscan mission in the
Holy Land. Unlike any other town in the Franciscan Custodia di Terra Santa, which included
Syria, Egypt and Cyprus, the majority of Bethlehems population had been converted to the
Roman Catholic Church before the mideighteenth century. This meant that, although
Bethlehems total population never exceeded 4000 before 1900, it had long contained more
Roman Catholics than any other town in the eastern Mediterranean, including the great
regional centres such as Jerusalem, Damascus and Aleppo [21]. The intimate relationship the
Franciscans enjoyed with the population of Bethlehem meant that they were able to
commission the towns artisans to work on a new type of scale-model making that emerged in
the late sixteenth century. Crucial to this process was the Franciscan friar Bernardino Amico
who served the Custodia between 1593 and 1597 [5; pp. 2829, 22]. Trained as an architect in

20. Norris, J., Exporting the Holy Land: artisans and merchant migrants in Ottoman-era Bethlehem, Journal of Middle
East Migration Studies 2 (2013) 1440.
21. Heyberger, B., Les chrtiens du Proche-Orient au temps de la rforme catholique; Syrie, Liban, Palestine,
XVIIIe sicles, cole franaise de Rome, Rome (1994).
Italy, Amico was among the first people to record the exact dimensions of the major churches
and shrines in the Jerusalem area in the form of reproducible scale plans.

Amico decided to commission a group of Bethlehem artisans to produce a series of replica

models based on his drawings. While the identities of those who worked on Amicos models
will probably never be known, it is clear they contributed towards an increase in demand for
all types of Holy Land souvenirs in Europe.3 By the early eighteenth century the sources
describe a thriving cottage industry whose exports were controlled almost exclusively by the
Franciscans. The replica models would fetch high prices among a growing collectors market or
were given as gifts to dignitaries and potential donors. But the staple sales remained the
thousands of smaller items that were bought from local craftsmen, boxed in warehouses in
Bethlehem and Jerusalem before being shipped to shops and churches across Catholic Europe
and beyond.

Sales figures and shipping routes for these exports are now difficult to reconstruct, but historic
sources provide occasional glimpses of the scale of the enterprise. For example, in 1769
Fredrik Hasselquist, a student of Linnaeus at Uppsala in Sweden, described his sojourn with the
Franciscans in Bethlehem: The procurator [the financial officer of the Franciscan convent in
Bethlehem] informed me that 15000 piasterswort [of religious souvenirs] were held in the
Jerusalem convent which seemed almost unbelievable. They are sent to all the Catholic
countries of Europe but above all to Spain and Portugal [23]. In a similar vein, the Italian
writer Giovanni Mariti, who lived in Palestine for two years, stated in his 1776 description of
Bethlehem: No other trade is known than that of making wooden crowns and crosses,
ornamented with mother of pearl The European merchants of Acre are the ones who
purchase the majority of those works, which are packed into boxes and transported to Venice
from where they are sent to Germany [24].

Nowadays, not all of this material is locally produced and the old artisanal families find
themselves increasingly squeezed out of the market, although traces of the towns rich
heritage in religious craftwork can still be found. Recently, initiatives such as the Salesian
Technical School are seeking to revitalise the art of olive wood and mother-of-pearl carving in
Bethlehem, training young apprentices and raising

23. Hasselquist, F., Voyages dans le Levant, dans les annes 1749, 50, 51 et 52: contenant des observations sur
lhistoire naturelle, la mdecine, lagriculture et le commerce, et particulirement sur lhistoire naturelle de la
Terre Sainte, Delalain, Paris (1769) 217.
24. Mariti, G., Viaggi per lisola di Cipro e per la Sora e Palestina, fatti dallanno 1760 al 1768, Jacopo Giusti, Lucca
(1776) 31.
Button waste and religious souvenirs in the Holy Land, during the 19th and early 20th
centuries**

Between 1888 and 1916 there were factories producing candles, matches, soap and sesame
oil, there were metal workshops and factories which assembled machinery and pumps; and
there were factories producing noodles, ice seltzer, candy, olive oil, leather, alkali, wine
cosmetics and ink (Karl, 1990:253-258). With all this detailed knowledge, there is no record of
a button factory or an inlay workshop in jaffa.

How, then, to explain the over 300 mother of pearl remains in Jaffa? I believe that the key for
explaining the presence of these shells is the Jaffa harbor, where most of the assemblage was
found.

Data concerining major commodities imported and explored though Jaffas harbor, including
their country of origin are know from consular reports (Dickson, 1893, 1903, 1904, 1905;
Blech, 1908). Most of these reports are too general to be of use in this present study, but Kark
(1990:278 based on Talman, 1978) brings a full, detailed German consulate report from 1884.
The imports included: sugar, coffee beans, nice, potatoes, onions, kerosene, flour, coal, iron,
salt, tobacco, snuff, wood, manufactured goods, leather, alcoholic beverages, roof tiles, bricks,
shell (40,000 complete shells from Arabia and 72,000 broken shells from Austria) spices, tea,
herring, sardines, wood, cotton, textiles, thread, soap caustic soda and ash, tar, linseed oil,
lead, ammunition, printed matter, mirrors, glass, nuts, dates, dried fruit, pumpkin seed, beans
and peas tin sheeting, furniture, pottery, paint, candles, zinc sheeting, barbed wire, sacking,
barrels for olive oil, malt, amber, photographic materials, microscopes, rope, cigars, string
paper goods, tissue paper, sewing, machines, steam engine parts, firewood, glue and copper.

I contend these broken shell from Austria might be associated with the archaeological finds
representing button waste. During the 19th century, Austria was a center for the shell button
industry, and Austria button factories utilized shells of freshwater bivalves, almost to the point
of their extinction (Luscomb and Ofenbck, 2009). A list of the button factories in Saxony over
the last 100 years is also available Von Herrn (2001:339-355) but with no information as to
species consumed, production processes and fate of the waste. I could not find information on
the use of marine shell in these factories.

The 1884 consular report, together with the 1933 Palestine Gazatte and the 1932 Official
Gazzette, may explain the presence of button shell waste in the Jaffa harbor.

In the Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine (10.10.1930, p.828) in which there is a
customs agreement listing all manufacturers by trade, a certain Abu Aitah and certain Michel,
from Bethlehem, are listed as manufacturers of mother of pearl.

Further, in the Palestine Gazatte 1071 (9.1.1941, p.31-32 under Registration of patherships)
partnership is documented between a certain Michael Saleh Cauavat of Bethlehem, a certain

**
Ktalav, I. (10 de Diciembre de 2015). Button waste and religious souvenirs in the Holy Land, during
the 19th and early 20th centuries. Quaternary International, 390, 133-145.
Bishara Saleh Cauavati of Jerusalem and several other partners from Bethlehem, as importers
and exporters and importers of mother of pearl. (File N 3679).

These two documents bear evidence of importers, manufacturers and exporters of mother of
pearl, in Bethlehem and in Jerusalem. There are of course also earlier references. Baedeker
(1894:156) mentions in his handbook for travelers to Palestine and Syria favorite souvenir are
rosaries, crosses and other ornaments in mother of pearl (chiefly manufactured at
Bethlehem)

The historic record. As described by Kark (1976: 186-195), throughout the 19th century, crafts
in Jerusalem included also religious souvenirs. By the end of the 19th century, the religious
souvenir industry in Bethlehem alone employed 330 workers in 68 workshops, and in
Jerusalem it employed another 150 workers in 20 workshops. A factory for mother of pearl
works was constructed in Jerusalem by Nathan Strauss in 1912, but it closed in 1924 because
of World War I.

This mother of pearl industry, in as well as in Bethlehem, imported raw material from the Red
Sea, Indian and Australia. As documented by Thomson (1881 p.549), a Missionary that spent
40 years in Palestine and Syria: The mother-of-pearl an the coral come originally from the Red
Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the quantity employed in these manufactures is quite
surprising. Nearly every family in Bethlehem is engaged in some branch of this business, and
many tons of those coarse relics and trinkets are annually carried to Jaffa, and shipped to
Greece, Russia, and elsewhere. This souvenir industry, from Europe (Avizur, 1972, 1976, 1994;
Schur, 1998: 41-42). By the end of the 19th century, profits from souvenir exports reached
100,000 francs per year (Avizur, 1972:273), and in 1911 it reached $150,000-160,000 (Schur,
1998: 42-44, Kark, 1989:123). Profits dropped considerably during the First World War, but
during the British Mandate they recovered, and peaked in 1929. In 1930 the amount of
workers in the industry dropped considerably, due to industrialization of the production
process (Avizur, 1994: 221).

In producing shell buttons, only a quarter of the shell was used in blank production, and the
rest was discarded. Consequently, shell button production resulted in much shell waste.