Israel We I had been in Israel for two weeks. We were in our church tour bus,

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Israel

We I had been in Israel for two weeks. We were in our church tour bus, late at night, driving through the mountainous desert. The night was black no moon and only a few stars. The only light was the headlights of the bus. The road was winding and rugged, leaving little room for our bus, and the gasps of the passengers were audible as each curve seemed to go off into space. We were all sitting on the edge of our seats. I wondered if our trip was to end in disaster. I imagined us falling to the desert floor below.

With a jerk, our bus stopped. On the side of the road was a family of Bedouins desert dwellers. We had often seen them as we traveled the countryside. Most Bedouin camps we had seen consisted of five to ten tents. Each tent houses a nuclear family and perhaps an unmarried uncle or sister. The tents have two sections one for the men and one for the women. The tents can be moved within two hours. Bedouins move often every couple of weeks. Their need for pasture and water for their livestock (camels, sheep, and goats) necessitates the moves. Living in the highlands during the hottest part of the year, and the lowlands during the winter, theirs is a life of constant movement. During our trip we had all talked about what a difficult life it must be. Yet, these people had lived in this manner for centuries.

Our guide and driver exited the bus and talked to the Bedouins and soon returned, urging us to leave the bus and come with the Bedouins, who had brought various merchandise for us camel blankets, goat's milk, and an assortment of Bedouin clothing. What struck me was the jewelry. It is one of the few art forms of the Bedouins. I was amazed at how beautiful the jewelry was a stark contrast to the bleakness of the desert. By Western standards, the jewelry was gaudy multiple chains, bells, pendants, and coins decorated with strands of filigree and inlaid with colored stones. A particular salesman had a kaffa connected piece of jewelry with rings for each finger, a piece for the back of the hand, and a bracelet. Earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces, nose rings the variety of pieces was astounding. Some were truly works of art, while others were crude. The designs were thousands of years old. Bedouins discourage individuality and creativity, so a new design is rare.

Here, in the dark of night, on a deserted road, was a jewelry store in fact, a general store! I was most interested in the jewelry: first, because I love jewelry and second, because I knew that in this culture, the women owned the jewelry. In Bedouin culture, most people cannot read or write, so the men entertain as well as tell stories and recite poems that impart their history as well as entertain. But the women own the jewelry. The bride receives her first pieces as a part of her dowry. Ownership shows she is a woman of property. As her family gains wealth, that wealth is reflected in livestock and her jewelry.