Author: Francis Sleibi

George Nasra “Turathuna” Summer Camp 2019

The Library Team of George Nasra Turathuna Center organizes an annual youth summer camp. This year, it was from the 17th to the 28th of June 2019. Fourteen boys and girls from different schools participated with ages between 12 and 16 years old. The course/workshop this year focused on painting on glass, with Mrs. Tania […]

The Gates of Jerusalem By Dr. Omar Abed Rabbo, PhD

This scholarly article – in Arabic –  entitled “Gates of Jerusalem” written  and published in  “Jordan Journal for History and Archaeology” by Dr. Omar Abed Rabbo,  will be  presented in the e-turathuna section of the University Library. We are happy and proud to present Dr. Omar’s erudite work and grateful to him for sharing it to our […]

An Interview with Mr. George M. Al-Ama

Spring Term 2018 “Welcome back” to e-turathuna as we commence Spring Term 2018. We started the academic year 2017-2018 featuring a new genre – “the interview” –in an interactive encounter with Palestinians whose lives are marked with a “passion for turath.”  Fall Term featured Ms. Maha Saca, a Bethlehemite and a generous donor of Bethlehem […]

“The Shepherds’ Field”

Welcome once again to the Library’s e-turathuna! With Christmas approaching, we are featuring a holy site that is closely knitted to the events that unfolded that joyful eve when the whole world awaited the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ the Lord. “GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO!”  is the theme echoed during this historical evening with […]

Featuring Jabra Ibrahim Jabra

Jabra Ibrahim Jabra is Bethlehem’s homegrown writer, artist and painter. Turathuna Centre at Bethlehem University has a collection of his books on a special shelf just dedicated for him. Some of his representative paintings were showcased by Turathuna Centre for Palestinian Heritage during the 40th Jubilee year of the foundation of Bethlehem University. More Facts about Jabra Ibrahim […]

The Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is a magnificent monument and an added great treasure in world architecture. The area on which it was built is one of the holiest places on earth for Muslims, Christians and Jews alike. Known in Arabic as Masjd al-Aqsa (the farthest mosque), it occupies the centre of a […]

THE MONASTERY OF “MAR SABA”

Over 100 monasteries flourished in the Judean desert to the east of Bethlehem during the fourth through sixth centuries. The monastic movement became quite successful so that more than a hundred of monasteries as a way of life blossomed in the desert. Monasteries are places where monks sometimes shared their whole life together and in […]

Battir: A Palestinian Village

Battir is a Palestinian village south west of Jerusalem. It is surrounded by traditionally irrigated, beautiful terraces, filled with eggplants, peppers and olive trees. Some decades ago, the train to Jerusalem used to stop in Battir; next to the railway are the unique remains of the Ottoman train station, which was the spot of a busy vegetables […]

Ein Karem

Ein Karem is the birthplace of John the Baptist (Luke 1:57).  The Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth who lived in Ein Karem (Luke 1:39–56); and the Caliph ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab passed by the village and held prayers in it during the Islamic conquest.Ein Karem means “Spring of the Vineyard,” and is so named because of the […]

Mother-of-Pearl: An art and a source of economic sustenance

Mother-of-pearl was traditionally a main handicraft in Bethlehem. It is believed that mother-of-pearl was introduced by Franciscan monks who came from Damascus to the Bethlehem area around the 15th century.With the presence of the order of St. Francis of Assisi in the Holy Land around the late 1600s, religious artifacts gained in economic importance. One […]