The Weird & Wonderful Legend Of Soap Making!

We all use soap and it is found across the planet. However, do any of us really know where this valuable product came from?

The earliest recorded document describing making a soap like product is a clay tablet dating to Babylon around 2,200 BC. Sapo the Latin word for soap, first appeared in Pliny the Elder's Historia Naturalis where he discusses the manufacture of soap from tallow and ash. Strangely he only mentions it as a pomade for hair.

"There is also soap (sapo), an invention of the Gauls for making their hair shiny. It is made from tallow and ashes, the best from beechwood ash and goat fat, and exists in two forms, solid and liquid; among the Germans both are used more by men than by women." - Pliny The Elder

Saponification

This excellent word describes the process of making soap. Saponification is the process that produces soap and s is usually achieved by combining fats and lye. I have always enjoyed making soap as there is an alchemy which takes place when mixing fats and lye. This chemical reaction is what gives us soap and is very satisfying to watch.

Mount Sapo

One of the more interesting stories about the invention of soap is the story of Mount Sapo, which was supposedly a fictional mountain near Rome. The mountain's name explains the use of the Latin word Sapo for soap.

As was usual with our ancient Gods they instructed their followers to go to the top of a mountain and make burnt animal offerings - a Godly barbecue! As the animals were sacrificed their fat were washed down the the mountain by rain to the river below.

The fire of the barbecue produced ash and when rain drops fell through the ash lye was produced. This lye was also washed down the mountain and combined forces with the fat in the river to produce soap. The legend tells us that when ancient people bathed and washed in a certain part of the river they noticed bubbles and their clothes became cleaner.

The veracity of this legend is unclear but I enjoy the story and perhaps a situation similar to this caused the discovery of soap. So lets thank our Gods for demanding barbecues otherwise we would not be as clean as we are! =)

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Images courtesy of: 1, 2, 3.

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Jockey loves you All - but only if you're clean! ;-)

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