The Naffah family of Beit Chabab, a town in Lebanon, continues to uphold a centuries-old tradition as the country’s last remaining producers of church bells. The family’s bell-making craft dates back to the 18th century and has become an enduring symbol of Lebanon’s cultural heritage.
According to family accounts, the craft began with Youssef Gabriel, a local metalworker originally involved in manufacturing rifles for Arab revolutionaries fighting the Ottoman Empire. One version of the story says Gabriel learned bell-making by observing a Russian engineer who came to Beit Chabab to produce a church bell. Another account maintains that Gabriel was commissioned by the Maronite patriarch to create a bell in defiance of Ottoman restrictions on imports to Mount Lebanon. Regardless of which story is accurate, the village embraced Gabriel’s craftsmanship, granting him the surname Naffah, meaning "useful" or "successful" in Arabic.
Today, the Naffah family continues the craft under the stewardship of master bell-maker Naffah Naffah, 57, who works alongside his two sons. Once the family operated 10 foundries, but the workshop in Beit Chabab now stands as Lebanon’s sole bell production center. It also serves as the primary source of church bells for communities across the Middle East, as well as Lebanese diaspora communities in Europe, Australia, and the United States.
The foundry itself is situated beneath the family home on a hillside overlooking Beit Chabab and the Mediterranean coast, approximately 30 minutes from Beirut. The workshop’s interior bears the signs of extensive use: soot-blackened walls and ceilings, and floors cluttered with bells at various stages of completion. The bell-making process combines traditional materials—a mixture of white clay and goat hair for mold-making—with modern tools, such as hydraulic presses, alongside an age-old anvil mounted on a tree stump.
Each bell takes roughly two months to produce. The process begins with crafting the interior mold over about 40 days, followed by another month to create the outer mold with decorative elements like crosses and inscriptions. Afterwards, molten metal, a blend of copper and tin, is poured into the mold in a furnace heated for 24 hours. The metal solidifies in just minutes, yielding a finished bell. The foundry produces about 25 bells annually, with around 20 sold domestically.
Naffah Naffah describes parting with each bell as a poignant moment. “I hate giving the bells away— it always makes me upset, like I’m giving away a child,” he said, gesturing to a clay mold imprinted with crosses. Each bell carries the names of its makers, symbolizing the family’s deep connection to Lebanon’s churches. The earliest extant bell bearing the Naffah name dates to 1725 and is located in Qalaat Sahyoun, a testament to nearly 300 years of continuous craftsmanship.
The family’s work has persisted even amid Lebanon’s turbulent modern history. During the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel conflict, Christian villages in southern Lebanon became isolated as Israel’s ground invasion largely avoided those communities. Local churches, supported by traditions such as bell-making, remained central to community resilience and aid distribution.
Naffah’s sons, Charbel and Youssef, represent the next generation committed to sustaining the family legacy. Charbel is set to inherit the role of master bell-maker, while Youssef, currently studying medicine, assists when possible and stands ready to assume leadership if needed. “Traditions are important to us,” Youssef said. “We are living and breathing tradition here in this workshop.”
The Naffah family’s dedication ensures that a unique Lebanese heritage remains alive, echoing through the sound of bells that have marked their communities for centuries.