The Depository · Browse · Middle East
The Depository documents 12 techniques in Israel; by risk level: 1 endangered, 5 vulnerable, 3 stable, 3 thriving. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.
The transformation of a ram's or other kosher animal's horn into a shofar, the ceremonial trumpet blown during Jewish High Holiday services, particularly Rosh Hashanah, when one hundred blasts punctuate the synagogue liturgy as a call to…
The hand-weaving of the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, on traditional looms in Jerusalem's Old City, a craft with roots reaching back to antiquity in the Holy Land, where Jewish artisans historically dominated the weaving and dyeing…
The cold-pressing of olive oil across Israel's Galilee and Golan Heights, alongside the traditional preservation of labane, an Arab spread cheese most traditionally formed into small spheres and kept in olive oil for extended shelf life in…
The cutting and polishing of diamonds in Israel, an industry that preceded the establishment of the State of Israel itself, first proposed in 1908 as a potential incubator project for Jerusalem's newly founded Bezalel Art Academy, though…
The preparation of klaf, specially processed kosher-animal parchment, and its subsequent use by a sofer (scribe) to hand-write Torah scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzah scrolls in traditional Hebrew calligraphy, a craft governed by…
Ready-to-wear fashion built on the embroidery of Israel's immigrant and regional communities, documented above all through the Maskit label, founded by Ruth Dayan, directly described as a lifelong social activist, who died at her Tel Aviv…
The hand-forming, glazing, and painting of ceramics and decorative tiles in a distinct Armenian style, made by artisans of Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter and directly documented as one of the city's most iconic crafts.
The cutting of paper into intricate decorative designs, a popular Jewish folk art practiced for hundreds of years.
The hand-weaving of rugs from wool sheared from local sheep, produced by Bedouin women of the Negev desert on homemade looms, sustained today through the Lakiya Negev Weaving Project, a community-based initiative documented in the book…
The hand-dipping and shaping of beeswax and paraffin candles into swirling layers of color, braided forms, and symbolic motifs, a craft the mystical city of Tzfat (Safed) has been associated with for decades, directly inspired by the…
All miscellaneous & heritage-adjacent craft techniques worldwide →
The assembly of the gargush, a traditional hood-shaped headdress worn by Yemenite Jewish women for many generations, together with the wider bridal ensemble it anchors, most elaborately realized in the tishbuk lulu ('crown of pearls') of…
The twisting of impossibly thin, pure silver threads into intricate filigree jewelry -- amulets, beads, bracelets, rings, and necklaces -- a technique for which Yemenite Jews became internationally famed, developed over centuries in Yemen,…