The handicrafts here are interesting, varied and tempting; in silver jewelry Christian and Bedouin symbols prevail. Bedouin women still wears bracelets, earrings, necklaces and forehead ornaments. Cross-stitch embroidery which represents delicate skill and many traditions, most patterns and colors of which are copied from dresses of peasant women.
Bedouin rugs are hand woven with brightly colored local wool; the best are woven in Madapa, Shobak, Karak and Tafileh. Bottles filled with brightly colored sands have been made by artisans in Petra and Aqaba for decades. It is believed that the first person to do this was a native of Petra, Mohammed Abdullah Othman, who taught himself the craft as a child, collecting his material from nearby mountains and caves.
Othman and his fellow artisans have no need to use dyes for their art as there are more than 20 different natural colors occurring in the local sand stone.
