Jewelry Boxes on Display in Old Havana

Palestinian nacre (mother-of-pearl) jewelry boxes, given by former Cuban President Fidel Castro, are on display at the Arab House in Havana on 22 May 2008.

A 'Babel' of temples, prayer rooms and domestic altars of Catholics, Evangelicals, Greek or Russian Orthodoxs, Jews, Muslims, Yorubas and Congos coexist in a strip of 4 square km of Old Havana.

Something like these jewelry boxes, being found in a collection in Cuba is actually not surprising, while I do not know exactly how these boxes came to be in Cuba.

Nevertheless, it is well known, that dignitaries throughout history have always thought that the beauty and craftsmanship that was only found in Palestine was considered a great prize to own and to give as gifts; it was considered a great honor to receive such a gift.

Many items from tapestries, to pillow covers, even camels or Christians symbols made out of olive wood, can be found under the same instance as these boxes.

As for the camel, I happen to own one, I found it in a store in the United States and what was interesting is I bought it for little money, because the own did not know what it was or where it had came from. When I explained, what the camel was and where it came from, they where overwhelmed.