Craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar Soap

Aleppo ghar soap is a traditional handmade soap from Syria, produced using locally sourced olive oil and laurel oil. Its craftsmanship depends on inherited knowledge and skills passed down within families and workshops.
In autumn, families collect wild laurel berries and extract their oil, while soap production usually begins in winter. Olive oil, laurel oil and natural lye are cooked together, then poured onto the floors of traditional soap factories to cool.
Craftsmen wearing wide wooden shoes cut the large soap slab into cubes, which are then hand-stamped with the family name as a mark of identity and legacy. The cubes are stacked in towers or pyramids to allow airflow and left to dry for several months.
The craft involves cooperation across generations and strengthens family ties, community identity and dialogue between elders and youth.

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Craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar Soap was inscribed in 2024 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Syria.