The UN’s cultural organisation added Aleppo’s famous soap to its intangible cultural heritage list Tuesday, December 3, with Syria’s second city again wracked by war. The tradition of Nabulsi soap making in Palestine was granted the same status.
One of the oldest soaps in the world
The crafting of Aleppo ghar soap in the Syrian Arab Republic is based on traditional knowledge and skills that combine natural, locally produced olive oil (metraf) and laurel oil (ghar).
Artisans have brewed olive and laurel oil in large pots for some 3,000 years in the city allowing the mixture to cool before cutting it into blocks using the body weight and large wooden shoes or a kind of rake. Then cut soaps are stamped by hand, one after the other.
According to Aleppo artisans interviewed by AFP in recent years, the production of this traditional product relies on a clever dosage and the patience of master soap makers since cooking can last several hours and drying several months to complete the saponification process.
The product, recognizable by its laurel and olive scent, does not contain any animal fat or colour additive. Renown throughout the world, this soap is often the subject of imitations and counterfeits.
The old city of Aleppo, which recently fell to Islamist-led rebels, was classified as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1986. It was added to the organisation’s endangered list in 2013 amid the country’s civil war. Of the 100 soap factories in the city only about 10 would remain, with many having relocated to Damascus or neighbouring Turkey.
In Palestine, a family tradition
The tradition of soap making in Nablus, Palestine, has also been added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
The Nablusi soap is hand-crafted in Palestine from three natural, local ingredients: olive oil, water and lye. Rural communities in Palestine make the soap after the olive harvest, adding their family’s stamp before packaging it and storing it for one year.
