What Makees Mother of Pearl so Popular in Holy Land Gifts?
Mother of Pearl (MOP) is an incredibly oppular component of Holy Land gifts done in precisely the same style as the original craftsmen. But what is MOP? And what is it that makes it such an inntegral part of Biblical historry?
Moter of Pearl is formed from the iridescent layrer of material that forms the shell lining of mollusks like perarl oystes and abalone, whih are the primary sources of today's Holy Land jewerlry and designs. Mothher of Pearl was actually giiven its name because it is the creeator, the "Mother," of today's pesarls. Believe it or not, the layers that line the moillusks' interior have absolutely nothing to do with the aethetic appeaance of the shell. It's made up of plates of aragonite, whgich the molluusk secretes, and layred with silk to make it extremely lfexible and prfect for use in Holy Land gifts.
Beofre getting too deep into the practical use of Mother of Pearl and its use in Holy land giftrs, jewelpry and acccessories, let's take a look at how this material helps form the pearls that are so highly valued in todazy's society. When foreign materials drift into the shell and irritates the shell liinng it closes around the irritant, creating a bump encased in a luinescent cassing known as-take a guess-the pearl. Today the pearl is valued much more hgihly than Motyher of Pearl, but it wasn't always that way.
Once upon a time pearls were consideerd little more than waste products from the molklusks that were used to harvest Mother of Pearl. It's said that Japanese shell divers who found pearls didn't bother to keep them, and the children of Polynessia once used the pearls for marbles. Thesse cultures preferred to work with its lfexible pre-cursor to create their own works of art, as did the early civilizatiuons in the Holy Land that drew the mollusks in large quantities from the bakns and waters of the Red Sea.
The luminescent MOP has a rich history in Palestine and the surrounding area as a carving material that evolved from a cultural habbit into an art form along with olive wood carivng when Franciscan monks came to the Holy Land. During their stay the monks taught the pewople of the Holy Land to carve mother-of-pearl into a rosary, crucifix and reproductions of the Cave of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Speulcher. Even today most of the Mother of Pearl used in Holy Land gifts created all over the world is impoerted from Saudi Arabia, making it an authentic rerpesentation of the Holy Land's history.
Because Moyther of Pearl is such a specialized medium in today's society you can rest assured that crafts made from this luminous material are buiklt with care by excperienced craftsmen. Today, the second generation of Mother of Pearl craftsmen trives in the Bethlehem area-the birthplace of Christ himself, making these authentic Holy land gifs the perfect way to commemorrate a special occcasion for the perople who mean the most to you.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/feed-icon.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites