Old Palestine

There was a vibrant culture in the region of the Palestine Mandate before the seizure of land and creation of the Israeli state. Urban and rural, modern and ancient existed side by side. The population was a mixture of three religious groups, Jewish, Christian and Muslim (for example, Bethlehem and Ramallah were both predominately Christian before 1948 and the influx of refugees from the west).

What I have selected to show here are some pictures of Palestinian embroidery and a Palestinian folk tale that could be Jewish, Christian or Muslim.

Lot and the Devil

When Lot sinned, he asked his uncle Abraham, “What must I do so that my transgressions may be forgiven me?” Abraham gave him a staff and said, “Plant this in the ground and water it with water from the River Jordan. But as you fetch water, should you meet anyone who asks you to quench his thirst, give him freely of what you carry and throw away what is left. Then return to the river for fresh water to give your plant. When it blossoms and bears leaves, you will know that God has forgiven you.”

Now, this was no ordinary stick. One of the angels who visited Abraham and ate in his tent had carried it. Then Sarah found it and tossed it on the fire, but as it began to burn it had filled the air with such perfume that she had plucked it out of the flames and hidden it away. Now Abraham gave it to Lot.

Lot did as he was told and planted it, then took a water skin down to the River Jordan. But the devil, knowing that Lot sought forgiveness for his sins, devised a way to hinder him. Disguising himself as a traveler, he waited by the side of the road and begged for a drink. Lot was filled with pity and poured him as much water as he needed. Then he returned to the Jordan for more. Again the devil waylaid him and asked for water. Lot gave him what he had and retraced his steps again. So the devil continued until Lot was weary and his legs weak from walking. God now took pity on him and blinded the devil to prevent him from finding Lot. At last Lot was able to water the staff, and straightway it burst into leaf and blossomed. And Lot felt easy in his heart, for he knew that God had shown him mercy.

From: Arab Faultless, translated and edited by Inea Bushnaq, Pantheon Books, New York, 1986.

Palestinian embroidery

I’ve used a close-up of a Hebron area veil for the head graphic for this section of the web site. Below I have two traditional style dresses. Less ornate (but still embroidered) dresses were used for everyday wear by women. The same style of dress, but more heavily embroidered would be used as a wedding or festival dress. These illustrations are taken from Arabesque, decorative needlework from the holy land by Ziva Amir, published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1977.

There are number of web sites offering for sale modern Palestinian embroidery on contemporary style clothes (www.mashrabiya.com/index.htm) or history and illustrations of traditional style embroidery (palestinianembroider.tripod.com/).