The History of Aleppo Soap: From Aleppo to Marseille

Few products come with as many stories as Aleppo soap. Sellers say it is 5,000 years old, that Cleopatra bathed with it, that Crusaders carried it home. Most of that cannot be verified. The documented history, though, is remarkable: a soap that helped shape European soap making, survived a war that destroyed most of its factories, and was recognised by UNESCO in 2024.

Here is that story, with sources. If you want the basics first, read what Aleppo soap is.

Key takeaways

• The origin of Aleppo soap is unknown; claims of great antiquity are unverified (Wikipedia).
• By the 13th century, soap was a major industry in Aleppo, Damascus, Nablus and Fes (Wikipedia, "Soap").
• Castile and Marseille soaps followed. Castile makers dropped the laurel; Marseille reserved its name for olive oil soap in 1688.
• The war nearly ended it: output fell from about 30,000 tonnes a year to under 1,000 (AFP, 2019).
• UNESCO recognised the craft in 2024 (UNESCO).

The short answer

Aleppo soap's exact origin is unknown, but by the 13th century soap making was a major industry in Aleppo and other cities of the region, and Syrian soap was exported to Europe. Its olive oil method influenced Castile and Marseille soap. After nearly collapsing in the Syrian war, the craft was recognised by UNESCO in 2024.

Myth vs the record

Before the history, the legends. They are repeated on many product pages, so it helps to know which hold up.

Wikipedia's article on Aleppo soap is direct: its origin is unknown, and "unverified claims of its great antiquity abound" (Wikipedia). The Crusader story is the most persistent. Atlas Obscura tells it as returning Crusaders spreading news of fine Syrian soap (Atlas Obscura, 2019), but soap itself was known in Europe from Roman times, so the Crusades cannot have introduced it (Wikipedia).

Pro Tip: Be wary of a seller who leads with the legends. Real makers talk about laurel percentage, ingredients and curing time. Our guide on how to spot fake Aleppo soap explains why.

Aleppo soap through the centuries

The first written recipes

The Persian physician and scholar Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (c. 865-925) described soap recipes, and also how to produce glycerin from olive oil (Wikipedia, "Soap"). The chemistry he recorded is the same saponification that happens in an Aleppo cauldron today.

A Levantine industry

By the 13th century, soap making had become a major industry across the region, with Nablus, Fes, Damascus and Aleppo among its centres. Soap was exported from Syria to the rest of the Muslim world and to Europe (Wikipedia, "Soap").

The soap khan

Aleppo's souk still has a building named after soap. Khan al-Sabun, "the soap caravanserai", was built in the late 15th century by Prince Izdamer, a representative of the Mamluk Sultanate (Archnet). Other sources give a later date, but the name itself shows how central soap was to the city's trade.

From Aleppo to Castile and Marseille

As olive oil replaced animal fats in European soap, production moved to the olive-growing Mediterranean. By the 15th century, Castile, Marseille, Naples, Venice and Antwerp were all major soap centres (Wikipedia, "Soap").

Castile soap traces its start to the Levant. Early Spanish makers could not easily get laurel oil, so they left it out, kept the olive oil and, by adding brine, made a white hard soap that became jabón de Castilla (Wikipedia, "Castile soap").

Marseille's first documented soapmaker dates to about 1370. In 1688, the Edict of Colbert limited the name "Savon de Marseille" to olive oil soaps. Production reached 180,000 tonnes in 1913, and there were 122 soap companies around Marseille and Salon-de-Provence in 1924. By 2023, four remained in the Union des Professionnels du Savon de Marseille (Wikipedia, "Marseille soap").

Today the three soaps are easy to tell apart. Our comparison of Aleppo vs Marseille vs Castile soap covers ingredients, look and price.

The 20th century: an industry of hundreds

Before the Syrian war, Aleppo had around 100 soap factories, and the province produced about 30,000 tonnes a year (AFP, 2019). Atlas Obscura counted more than 200 labs and workshops, large and small (Atlas Obscura, 2019). The difference is mostly one of definition, but both figures describe a city where soap was a way of life.

Popularity brought copies. In 2010, a Syrian exporter told The National that cheap industrial imitations were flooding the market (The National, 2010).

War and exile

From 2012, the fighting in Aleppo destroyed or closed most soap houses. Output fell to less than 1,000 tonnes a year (AFP, 2019). Atlas Obscura put the number of working labs at no more than 20 (Atlas Obscura, 2019).

Many makers carried the craft abroad. Hassan Harastani, whose factory was bombed, moved to France in 2014 and makes Alepia soap in Angers (Reuters via Oman Observer, 2016). The Kadah family has made soap in Nizip, Turkey, since 2015 (New Lines Magazine, 2025). Our article on Aleppo soap and the Syrian war tells these stories in full.

Keep the tradition going. Traditional Aleppo soap at four laurel strengths, cured for months. See all Aleppo soaps

Return and recognition

In early 2019, soap maker Ali Shami reopened the Aleppo workshop he had closed in 2012. "I never stopped making soap throughout the war, even if it was just a little," he told AFP. About 12 factories were working again, producing around 10,000 tonnes a year (AFP, 2019).

In 2024, UNESCO inscribed the craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The listing covers the full process: the autumn laurel harvest, winter cooking, pouring, cutting in wooden shoes, hand-stamping and months of drying in towers (UNESCO). Our guide on how Aleppo soap is made walks through each step.

Pro Tip: The stamp on a bar is part of this history. Makers press their family name or seal into every bar by hand, a habit that survived the war and the move abroad. Look for it when you choose a brand.

Where Alepo comes in

Alepo ships this soap across Europe from Vilnius. Our bars contain only olive oil and laurel oil, at four strengths: Pure Olive, 10% laurel, 20% laurel and 40% laurel. Our guide to the laurel oil percentage explains the difference.

Frequently asked questions

Is Aleppo soap definitely the world’s oldest soap?

That superlative is difficult to substantiate. Aleppo has a long-established soap-making tradition, but that does not establish the date of the first soap or prove that every modern recipe is unchanged. A more useful buying question is where the bar is made, what oils it uses and who stands behind the product.

Does UNESCO recognition certify individual Aleppo soap brands?

No. UNESCO inscribed the craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap on its intangible cultural heritage list in 2024. This recognises the craft and its cultural transmission; it is not a quality, safety or origin certificate for every bar or brand sold as Aleppo soap. Check product-specific information separately.

Wo wird ALEPO-Seife hergestellt?

Unsere Seife wird in Aleppo, Syrien, hergestellt. Der Versand an unsere Kundinnen und Kunden erfolgt aus Vilnius, Litauen. Herstellung und Versand sind also zwei verschiedene Schritte. Unter Unsere Geschichte erfährst du, wie die Seife gegossen, geschnitten, gestempelt und getrocknet wird.

How does Aleppo soap differ from Marseille and Castile soap?

Traditional Aleppo soap combines olive oil with laurel berry oil. Traditional Castile soap is associated with olive oil, although modern products using that name may contain other vegetable oils. Marseille soap has its own cauldron-making tradition and recipes can include several vegetable oils. Compare actual ingredient lists and manufacturing origin rather than assuming the names mean identical formulas.

The bottom line

Aleppo soap does not need legends. Its documented history runs from medieval soap houses through the birth of Castile and Marseille soap to a war that nearly ended it, and on to UNESCO recognition in 2024.

Every traditional bar still carries that story: the same two oils, the same winter cooking, the same hand stamp and the same long cure. To understand what it is made of, read our ingredients guide and why Aleppo soap is cured.

Try a piece of history. Compare all four strengths in our soap collection. Free EU shipping over €50.

Related reading: where to buy Aleppo soap, how to use Aleppo soap and Aleppo soap benefits: what the evidence says.

Sources

1. Wikipedia. "Aleppo soap." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_soap
2. Wikipedia. "Soap" (history section). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap
3. Wikipedia. "Castile soap." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castile_soap
4. Wikipedia. "Marseille soap." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille_soap
5. Archnet. "Khan al-Sabun (Aleppo)." https://archnet.org/sites/2153
6. Atlas Obscura. Nora Wallaya, "In Syria, war and modernity are no match for the world's oldest soap." 1 August 2019. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-syria-war-and-modernity-are-no-match-for-the-worlds-oldest-soap
7. AFP. "The scent of soap making returns to Aleppo." 22 March 2019 (via Business Standard). https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/the-scent-of-soap-making-returns-to-aleppo-119032201006_1.html
8. Reuters, via Oman Observer. "Bombed-out Aleppo soapmaker revives age-old trade." 26 December 2016. https://www.omanobserver.om/ampArticle/91349
9. New Lines Magazine. "The resilient artisans keeping Aleppo soap alive." 27 February 2025. https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/the-resilient-artisans-keeping-aleppo-soap-alive/
10. The National. "Market awash with imitations." 30 October 2010. https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/money/market-awash-with-imitations-1.512005
11. UNESCO. "Craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap." 2024. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/craftsmanship-of-aleppo-ghar-soap-02132