Olive Oil Soap in the Holy Land: Background, Technology and a Newly Discovered Workshop in Jaffa

Abstract

ABSTRACT The production of soap made of potassium and olive oil is a centuries-old industrial tradition in the Holy Land. A popular local and export commodity, olive oil soap from the region was traded as far as Turkey, Yemen, the Sudan and the highly profitable markets of Egypt. Thriving in a land notorious for hygienic deficiencies, this industry reflects various aspects of the social and economic realities in the Holy Land under Ottoman and British Mandate rule. It was nearly eliminated in recent decades by the combined effect of modernisation, competition and conflict, with only two surviving workshops in Nablus preserving its methods and heritage. Textual and archaeological data shed light on early soap workshops in Jerusalem, while abandoned factories active until the end of the British Mandate in 1948 still stand in Lod, ‘Akko and Jaffa. A recently exposed olive oil soap workshop in Jaffa was found to include all the characteristic manufacturing installations. This discovery represents a significant addition to the surprisingly scant material testimonies to what for several centuries has been one of that city’s most renowned industries.