I wondered why these handmade soaps, one of Lebanon’s oldest craftsmanship, were not sold inside the store. I rejoiced somehow in the idea that an increasing number of people are showing a renewed interest in craftsmanship.
Craftsmanship forges a relationship of trust between consumer and seller, worker and employer. It is all about caring for the handmade product. As craftsmen become scarce, we do not expect to find craft in everyday objects. We are wrong. Craftsmanship need not include exclusively precious items; it can be something simple and useful like a beautifully scented handmade soap from the Khan Al-Saboun in Tripoli.
Soap making in Lebanon is an old craft established more than a thousand years ago. Handmade Lebanese soaps have been sold through the ages to the Arabian countries and Europe. The Badr Hassoun family has been involved in soap making for 800 years. The family’s houses and shops can still be seen in the Khan Al-Saboun or Soap Khan.
The Khan Al-Saboun (Soap Khan) was built at the beginning of the 17th century by Yusuf Al-Saifi, pasha of Tripoli. This imposing rectangular structure was built in the center of Tripoli to help the pasha control any uprising. Its two-story high corridors surround a courtyard with a fountain.
During the battle of Anjar, which took place on Oct. 31,1622, Yusuf Pasha was taken prisoner. When Tripoli fell to Fakhreddin, the Ottoman soldiers fled to join his routed forces in Syria. Fakhreddin’s army occupied the barracks briefly but in the following years the building stood empty.
The inhabitants of Tripoli thought this was a great waste so they sent a petition to Deir Al-Qamar, the residence of Fakhreddin, requesting that the building be turned into a soap factory and a warehouse. From that day onwards, the Ottoman barracks have served as Tripoli’s flourishing Soap Khan, famous for its olive oil-based soap.
The Badr Hassoun Family continues to make olive oil-based soap as they have for the last centuries. Some historians acknowledge, that chemists from Tripoli were the first to process soap. Traditionally, a bride was given an assortment of scented soap, before leaving for her husband’s house. Soap was considered a symbol of purity. However, when this tradition began to die out, so did the soap makers.
Making soap is labor intensive as well as time consuming. First, the olive oil must be boiled and stirred in a large cauldron for six hours. Then certain ingredients are added to the oil and heated briefly until the oil is turned into a soft paste. At that point, perfumes and natural colors are added. The hot mixture is left to cool overnight before being cut into a variety of shapes.
In the old days, the “attar”, perfumer and “ashab”, herbalist worked together to prepare medicated soaps infused with herbal remedies. Essential oils were mixed with medicinal herbs to make special soaps which treated dandruff, acne, eczema and hair loss. Badr Hassoun believes that these mild soaps have an advantage over modern remedies, because they are less likely to cause allergies or side effects.
Aware of the increasing popularity of aromatherapy, Badr Hassoun has created his own line of aromatherapy oils and soaps, such as the relaxing jasmine scented soap and the rejuvenating lavender soap. These soaps are made with olive oil, glycerin, essential oils and honey. The presence of honey helps the fragrance penetrate into the skin so that the therapeutic effects last longer.
Aromatherapy is the art and science of using the distilled extracts of aromatic plants to promote both a healthy body and a serene mind. Essential oils or essences are the odoriferous volatile liquid components of aromatic plants. They are found in the petals, leaves, wood, fruit seeds, roots, rhizome or gum of a plant.
Essential oils promote natural healing by stimulating and reinforcing the body’s own healing mechanisms. Lavender, for example, has the remarkable ability to stimulate the regeneration of skin cells, and is wonderful in the healing of burns, scar-tissue, wounds, ulcers and so forth.
Essential oils also act on the central nervous system; some oils help the body to relax, while others act as a stimulant. Essential oils are more effective when applied to the skin. It is thought that the essential oils with their very fine molecules pass through the epidermis to the dermis. From here, the oil molecules pass into capillaries and into the rest of the circulatory system. If the skin is healthy, it takes only a few minutes for the molecules to be absorbed. Once in the bloodstream, the aromatic molecules affect the body in a similar way to herbal medicine. Aromatherapy works by influencing simultaneously, the physical and the emotional and one of the most fascinating aspects of aromatherapy is the influence of smell on the mind and emotions.
The renewed interest in handmade aromatherapy soaps is largely due to a growing number of people who, fascinated with self-development and well-being, start taking their health in their own hands. Bader Hassoun’s workshop in the Khan Al-Saboun has never welcomed so many visitors, interested to see how a family’s craft has been preserved over the centuries thanks to skill, exactitude and training but most all, thanks to the artisans’ love for their work. At a time when real craftsmanship becomes more expensive, the handmade aromatherapy and herbal soaps from Tripoli, combine quality and value, and are still affordable.
Craftsmanship plays an essential role because it helps us define our relationship to the material world. Buying a beautiful handmade object gives us a sense of timelessness and permanence at an age when our consumer’s society is obsessed by the new and constantly stressed by shrinking time.
- [email protected]
