The United Nations cultural agency has added Aleppo's famous soap to its intangible cultural heritage list. Syria's second city is on the organisation's endangered list, due to damage sustained in the country's civil war.
Artisans have been making the soap in the city for some 3,000 years, brewing olive and laurel oil in large pots and allowing the mixture to cool before cutting it into blocks, and stamping them by hand.
Makers craft the product using "traditional knowledge and skills", said Unesco, adding that they rely on a mix of natural, locally produced ingredients and a drying process that can take up to nine months.
Aleppo soap on Tuesday joined the city's traditional music, Al-Qudoud al-Halabiya, on Unesco's list of intangible cultural heritage.
Aleppo itself, which was declared a world heritage site in 1986, was added to the organisation's List of World Heritage in Danger in 2013, due to the damage wreaked by armed conflict.
Aleppo soap finds refuge in France
Of the 100 soap factories that stood in the city, only around 10 remain. Many have relocated to Damascus or neighbouring Turkey.
But the soap remains essential to the families and communities involved in the trade. "The collaborative production process promotes community and family unity," said Unesco.
(with AFP)
UNESCO petitioned to save Lebanon's heritage sites from Israeli strikes
