# Roofing in Palestine

> Palestinian roofing from Neolithic Jericho to the lead-covered timber roof of the Church of the Nativity and modern flat concrete roofs.

- URL: https://roof.wiki/roofing-in-palestine/
- Topic: Roofing Around the World
- Also known as: Palestinian roofing; Roofs of Palestine
- Regions: Middle East
- First published: 2026-11-02 · Last reviewed: 2026-11-02
- Cite as: "Roofing in Palestine." roof.wiki. https://roof.wiki/roofing-in-palestine/

## Key facts

- **Oldest evidence:** Jericho deposits from c. 10,500 BC
- **Landmark roof:** Church of the Nativity, timber trusses and lead
- **Nativity re-roofing:** Begun 2013; c. 1,625 m² new lead
- **Modern:** Flat concrete

Palestine contains Jericho, whose archaeological deposits reach back about 12,500 years, and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, whose restored timber-and-lead roof is a well-documented recent heritage roof project.

## Climate and hazards

Palestine has hot, dry summers and a winter rainy season. The region is seismically active: steel connectors were added to the Nativity church's roof trusses for earthquake resistance.

## Roofing history

**Pre-Pottery Neolithic Jericho.** At Tell es-Sultan, archaeological deposits go back to about 10,500 BC and record 29 phases of occupation. By the 9th-8th millennium BC the settlement was a sizeable permanent community protected by a monumental wall with a ditch and a tower, built around 8000 BC. Houses of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A period were round and semi-subterranean, with stone foundations and mud-brick upper walls; how they were roofed are not well documented in published sources.

**Byzantine and later.** The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem has a basilica roofed with timber trusses covered in lead sheet. The roof's last major repair before modern times was in 1480, in the Mamluk period.

**Modern.** Flat reinforced concrete roofs, as across the Levant, are standard in new buildings.

## Traditional and vernacular roofs

Stone vaults and flat earth roofs are part of the shared Levantine tradition (see flat-roof and mud-roof).

## Notable roofs

- **Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem** (UNESCO, inscribed 2012): placed on the danger list at inscription because of the building's poor state, with rain seeping in through the roof. Restoration began in 2013; the Italian firm Piacenti re-covered the roof with about 1,625 m² (17,500 sq ft) of new lead, replaced about 8% of the trusses with aged timber from Italy and added steel seismic connectors. The site was removed from the danger list in July 2019. See church-of-the-nativity-roof.
- **Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan** (UNESCO): Neolithic wall and tower.

## Sources and gaps

Detailed climate data, Palestine-specific descriptions of vernacular roof construction, census data on main roofing materials, Palestine-specific data on rooftop solar water heaters, local roofing terms and information on modern materials, codes and industry were not found in published sources.

## Sources

1. Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan — UNESCO World Heritage Centre. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1687
2. Pre-Pottery Neolithic A — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic_A
3. Restoration of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity uncovers long hidden treasures — Arab News. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1992436/amp
4. Bethlehem church removed from World Heritage in Danger list — UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/07/1041742