Souvenirs from Israel/Egypt?
 

Our family of 4 (15 yr old son, 12 yr old daughter, hubby & me) are traveling to Israel/Jordan/Egypt with a group from our church. Many people have asked us to bring them back souvenirs.

Does anyone have any suggestions for souvenirs? Any particular place to purchase them? I would prefer items that are not too pricey since we have to buy so many of them.

Can't help with Israel and Jordan...but here's link to a previous post that covered gifts from Egypt.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=4

Israel has some nice t-shjirts, like Coca-cola in Hebrew, "smiley"[s] with Hebrew, and so on. Small plastic ram's horns (shofar) are inexpensive, although the real ones are not!

Small filigree hand-made silver perfume holders can be had for US$10-20 in some shops. In the open markets of the Old City of Jerusalem you can get some very inexpensive olive wood crosses. Also available in olive wood and inexpensive are camels, and other items.

Tip: *Always* bargain!

Have fun!

I couldn't get GRcxx3's link to work, but Egypt is AWASH with inexpensive souvenirs (and people all too ready to sell them to you!).

For instance: papyrus (cheaper ones are not always made of real papyrus, and are printed not hand-painted, but are still fun), carved stone (e.g. alabaster, onyx etc (carved scarab beetles were very cheap)), lovely embroideries (eg cross-stitched bags, scarves etc), bead necklaces, bottles filled with sand patterns, scarves, glass perfume bottles. It will not be so much the price as the weight that will limit you.

Israel - it's a long time since I was there, but I recall olive wood carvings - e.g. crosses, camels, donkeys, nativity scenes.

If you are comfortable with bargaining in Egypt you can buy things from vendors and stalls, but don't pay the first price suggested. But if you're not, then stick to shops e.g. hotel souvenir shops and larger outlets to which your guide will no doubt take you, where the prices are displayed and no haggling takes place. But even here, if you are buying several items, there's no harm asking for a discount, it will usually be given.

Not sure I'd be that pleased to have to take souvenirs back because people had asked me to! Hopefully you'll find a one-size-fits-all souvenir (e.g. papyrus bookmarks) for most of your friends. Otherwise you will use up your whole free time trying to find the "perfect gift" for each person.

Enjoy your trip!

Don't know why my link didn't work (just technically challenged, I guess) - so I'm just copying/pasting what I said...

There are LOTS of things....here are some things I got for various kids over the years.

Gallabeyas are cute and you can get the headpieces too (turban-type things for the boys and beaded "hats" for the girls)

Papyrus with names in heiroglyphics (can usually be done in 1 day, maybe 2) - or there are Papyrus coloring books with outlines of Nefertari, King Tut, etc (okay - not real papyrus....but for the kids it's fun)

You may be able to find miniature sarcophogus items - with King Tut or some of the other gods.....outer sarcophogus all decorated and inside is usually a mummy.

Quick and easy - "papyrus" bookmarks with Egyptian themed designs or sticker sheets with heiroglyphs.

Brass or stone miniature pyramids (be careful - some of them have VERY sharp edges) and be sure to get a set of 3 to represent the Giza pyramids

Asfour Crystal makes some beautiful crystal pyramids, obelisks, etc, and some have engraved images on the inside (king tut, sphynx, etc)

Egyptian themed beach towels (okay - bulky to bring back, but fun)

There are a few shops in the Khan that have interesting glass Christmas ornaments.

For the girls - get silver cartouches with their names in heiroglyphics.

Small stuffed camels, dolls, and small woven rugs with camel or pyramid designs are common in the bazaars.

Older boys might like the mother of pearl chess boards (some are small and fold up like a box with alabaster or onyx pieces inside).

Girls might like the mother of pearl boxes - nice little thing to keep jewelry or treasures in.

That's all I can think of for now - I'll add more if I can.

Calendars are lightweight, flat to pack, and come in many sizes and price ranges.

Ben Yehida street in Tel Aviv has several souvenir shops. One of them is on the corner of Gordon, or Frishman, don't remember exactly (just few block apart), it's on the North-West corner. Small store, but they have lots of Jewish and Christian stuff, small color etchings and paintings, olive wood stuff, T-shirts (lots for kids too), all kind of nice, inexpensive gifts.

Sorry, it's BEN YEHUDA street, not Ben Yehida...

I had Egyptian currency left from my last trip to Egypt. I handed it out to people at work,and everyone really liked it.

Dottie, this is a great idea! I always agonize over what to bring my co-workers, something inexpensive, for both genders and different tastes.

I like your idea of money - maybe a coin collection.

At work we like to bring back a little inexpensive souvenir for each other, and have gotten into the habit of (most of the time) bringing back ballpoint pens. Always useful, and we have quite a fun collection on our desks, from elegant (Tower of London) to gaudy (Las Vegas).

Here's a twist on the currency idea. (Like in Turkey or Cambodia where the currency is of low value but many zeros in the numbers.) I have brought back paper money, colorful postage stamps or other interesting paper or fabric scraps and had them laminated at Kinkos (a sheet of 8-1/2 x 11 is about 1 or 2 dollars) then I used one of the paper slicers there to trim them to size. Instant bookmarks!