Aleppo soap: craft from Syria

Aleppo soap is a hard, handmade bar soap from the city of Aleppo in Syria, based on olive oil with laurel berry oil added near the end of making. Bars are cut and aged for months, turning pale gold outside while staying green within. In December 2024 UNESCO listed the craftsmanship as intangible cultural heritage.

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Aleppo soap is a hard bar soap made by hand in the Syrian city of Aleppo, built on olive oil and laurel berry oil. Bars come out green, then turn pale gold outside as they age. Soap makers in the city still work this way, and in 2024 UNESCO recognised their craft as intangible cultural heritage.

What it is

Aleppo soap is a hard bar of soap made by hand in the city of Aleppo in Syria. Its base is olive oil turned into soap with lye and water, which places it among the hard soaps called Castile soaps. What sets it apart is laurel berry oil, added near the end of the work. A fresh batch comes out green. After months of resting, the surface of each bar turns pale gold while the middle stays green. The share of laurel oil, usually between two and twenty per cent, decides the quality of a bar. Some bars float in water.

How it is made

Makers use what is called the hot process. Olive oil, water and lye go into a large vat sunk into the ground, with a fire burning beneath it. The mixture boils for three days, until the oil and lye have reacted into a thick liquid soap. Laurel oil goes in at the end. Then the soap is poured over waxed paper spread on the factory floor and left to firm up for about a day. Workers walk across it with boards strapped to their feet to even out the thickness. It is cut into cubes, stacked with gaps for air, and finally aged underground for six months up to a year.

Origins and claims

Nobody knows where Aleppo soap began, and claims that it is very old cannot be checked. Two of them involve queens: Cleopatra of Egypt and Zenobia of Syria are each said to have used it. Another common story says soap-making reached Europe from the Levant after the First Crusade. Against that, the Romans already knew soap by the first century AD, and Zosimos of Panopolis wrote about soap and how it was made around 300 AD. Whatever its age, the soap has long carried the name of its city.

Ingredients and quality

Four things go into the soap: olive oil, laurel berry oil, water and lye. Laurel oil, called zeit ghar in Arabic, is the one that matters most for grading. A bar may hold anywhere from two to twenty per cent of it, and the higher the share, the better it is considered. Aleppo soap breaks down naturally, so it is biodegradable. From the twentieth century, makers who took up the cold process began adding herbs and essential oils of various kinds to their bars.

Today and change

Aleppo soap is still made in Aleppo, and most of it now leaves Syria. Bars with more than sixteen per cent laurel oil are chiefly the ones sent to Europe and East Asia. The soap is used for washing and shampooing, as a face mask, as shaving cream, and for bathing babies and small children. Laurel oil is a good cleanser and is said to have some antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-itching effect. In December 2024, UNESCO added the craftsmanship of Aleppo ghar soap to its list of intangible cultural heritage.

How Aleppo soap is kept

In Aleppo, soap makers work in batches. Olive oil, water and lye are heated together in a sunken vat over a fire for three days, until they form a thick liquid soap. Laurel oil is stirred in at the end. The batch is poured onto waxed paper on the floor and left to set for about a day, while workers smooth it with boards strapped to their feet. It is then cut into cubes, stacked to dry with air around every bar, and stored underground to age.

When and where

Aleppo soap belongs to the city of Aleppo in Syria, where it is still made by hand. Most of the soap now leaves the country, with Europe and East Asia taking the largest share, above all the bars with a higher laurel oil content.

What Aleppo soap means

The soap is named for the city that makes it, and the name travels with every bar sold abroad. Its two colours carry meaning as well: months in the aging chamber leave a pale gold surface over a green centre. The same months lower the free alkaline content and cut the moisture, which makes the bar hard and long-lasting. None of it can be hurried.

Questions people ask about Aleppo soap

What is Aleppo soap?

It is a hard bar soap made by hand in Aleppo, Syria. Olive oil is turned into soap with lye and water, and laurel berry oil is added at the end. The bars are cut into cubes and aged for months, which turns the outside pale gold while the inside stays green.

Where is it made?

It comes from the city of Aleppo in Syria and takes its name from there. Most of the soap made today is sent abroad, especially the bars with a high laurel oil content, which go mainly to Europe and East Asia.

When did Aleppo soap begin?

Nobody knows. Stories that it is very old cannot be checked, including the claim that Cleopatra of Egypt or Zenobia of Syria used it. Soap was already in use among the Romans by the first century AD, and Zosimos of Panopolis wrote about soapmaking around 300 AD.

What makes it different from other soap?

Its base of olive oil and lye puts it in the Castile family of hard soaps, but it also holds laurel berry oil. That oil, between about two and twenty per cent of the bar, decides the quality. Some bars even float in water.

How is it used?

It is used daily for washing and for shampooing, as a shaving cream and as a face mask, and for bathing babies. Laurel oil is a good cleanser and is said to have some antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-itching effect.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Aleppo soap", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryParampara rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.

Aleppo soap