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While walking in the Souk of Aleppo it is inevitable (that you will) be attracted by heaps of Ghar Soap stacked pyramidally, in closed dimensions, unwrapped, tempting the sensation with their constantly existing smell, and colours ranging from pale yellow to green.’ 1

While the Romans choose to herald their glory with Ghar or laurels, in this land people found another way to enjoy it - they bathed with its fragrance.

Syria produces a wide range of high quality natural products. Usually hand made, many of these products are particular to Syria. Although well known and sought after in the Middle East, Syria’s ancient beauty products are still virtually unheard of in other parts of the world. A treasure waiting to be uncovered.

Ghar Soap is the name given to a fine handmade toilet soap produced from pure Olive oil with Bayberry oil (Ghar), added to provide the fragrance. This soap is regarded locally as a luxury, and the best qualities produced are considered among some of the finest soaps made anywhere in the world.

We would like to introduce Ghar Soap to you and hope that you will use it and enjoy it as much as we do in Syria.

Although olive plantations and olive oil production were known since earliest antiquity - tablets from Ebla dated 2400 BC mention olives and olive oil - the actual manufacture of soap from olive oil seems to have been a more recent development.

Soap is first mentioned as a medicinal lotion used in the treatment of certain conditions of the scalp and skin. This early soap was produced from animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is cited in early Sumerian and Assyrian tablets, as well as in Egyptian papyri. The Roman historian Pliny, writing in the 1st century AD, attributes the invention of soap to the Gauls.

Whatever its origins, by the Early Middle Ages soap produced from olive oil had become a thriving business all over the civilized world. Aleppo in Northern Syria was particularly famous for the quality of its soap produced in the many small workshops concentrated in the Bab Qinnisrin area.

By the 16th century, the workshops had been transformed into large factories and many specialized areas (Hay Al- Masabin), Souks (Shari Al- Sabbana) and Khans (Khan Al Saboun) came into being to cater for the booming soap industry. And they are still in existence today.

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