The origins of this miraculous soap
Aleppo soap (also known as Savon d’Alep, laurel soap, Syrian soap, or ghar soap) is known as Syria’s “green gold”. It is said to be the oldest soap in the world, with some of its traditional manufacturing processes dating back thousands of years. The hand-made soap gets its name from the city of Aleppo, located in Northwestern Syria, where it is manufactured in ancient underground tracts. Beloved by historical figures like Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and Queen Zenobia of Syria, it truly is the ‘mother of all soaps’
The manufacturing of Aleppo soap
This all-natural soap is still made today following the same process developed more than 2000 years ago! Professional soap makers use exactly the same artisanal methods as their ancestors.
Aleppo soap is made by the hot process method, in which olive oil, water and lye are boiled together in a large in-ground vat. Then laurel berry oil is added at the end of the cooking process, and the solution is poured over a waxed paper-covered floor to cool and dry. As it dries, workers walk over the soap to help flatten and smooth it. The soap is cut into cubes, stamped to identify the maker, and stacked like staggered bricks, where it is left underground to age for six months to a year. This curing period allows the soap to fully harden as moisture escapes.
The ingredients of the original recipe are: olive oil, laurel berry oil., soda ash (wood ash) and water.