When I travel I always look for elephants to add to my collection. I have purchased elephants on all six inhabited continents, and would have bought one in Antarctica if I could have found one :-). They didn’t have any elephants for sale on the cruise ship.

When I was on my tour of Israel last month, I was on the lookout for a nice elephant to add to my collection.

I finally found one in Bethlehem. I know that Bethlehem has a ancient tradition of olive wood carving, so I bypassed the overpriced imported elephants from China and instead found a nice olive wood elephant.

I love the color and details of the olive wood. You can see the intricate grain of the wood and the different colors add to the character of the piece.The opposite side of the elephant does not have as much color, but it is interesting to see the different character of the smoother olive wood. I will most likely display the elephant with the first side showing.

Olive wood carving was introduced to the Bethlehem region back in the 4th century when they were ruled by the Byzantines. The local inhabitants were taught how to carve olive wood by monks from the Greek Orthodox church. Carving of olive wood became an occupation that was handed down from generation to generation and many of the carvers from today are descended from those who first learned almost 1700 years ago. Since they are in Bethlehem, many of the items are of a religious nature. All types of items from crosses, candle stick holders, book covers and nativity scenes are available. They have several different grades of carving based on the intricacy of the carving and the quality of the wood. The high grade pieces can sell for very large amounts of money.

Some of the carvings are very large and have separate pieces that come together as a complete set. This is especially true for nativity scenes.Here is an example of an olive wood nativity scene. The pieces are all delicately carved and the workmanship is phenomenal, as is the price :-). This was the medium sized scene. There was also a larger scene in the store where we were shopping. The larger set was almost as large as a child’s play house.

What type of olive wood piece would you buy? What do you collect when you travel?

Steven