Mother-of-pearl carving in Bethlehem Red Sea. Today, however, Australia, California, New Zealand and Brazil are the main exporters. The first exhibition in the west of mother-of-pearl artifacts from Palestine was at The World Fair in New York in 1852. Two brothers, Giries and Ibrahim Mansur, exhibited their work and were a great success. Present day products, include crosses, earrings, brooches and picture frames. Mother-of-pearl carving in Bethlehem Mother-of-Pearl carving, a traditional handicraft in Bethlehem, is said to have been brought to the city by Franciscan friars from Italy in the 15th century. Bethlehem's position as an important Christian city has for centuries attracted a
Hymn of the Pearl Hymn of the Pearl The Hymn of the Pearl (also Hymn of the Soul, Hymn of the Robe of Glory or Hymn of Judas Thomas the Apostle) is a passage of the apocryphal "Acts of Thomas". In that work, originally written in Syriac, the Apostle Thomas sings the hymn while praying for himself and fellow prisoners. Some scholars believe the hymn antedates the Acts, as it only appears in one Syriac manuscript and one Greek manuscript of the Acts of Thomas. The author of the Hymn is unknown, though there is a belief that it was composed by the Syriac