# When Was Soap Invented? Earliest Evidence and Where Aleppo and Marseille Fit

> <p>Nobody knows who invented soap. This guide covers the earliest written evidence, what the Romans used instead, when people began washing skin with soap, and where traditional Aleppo and Marseille soap fit.</p>

- **URL:** https://sampsonecoshop.com/blogs/sampson-learning-center/when-was-soap-invented-and-where-aleppo-and-marseille-fit

Nobody knows exactly when soap was invented, but the earliest written evidence is about 4,500 to 4,800 years old and comes from ancient Mesopotamia. This guide walks through what the sources say, who may have invented it, and where traditional Aleppo and Marseille soap fit in.

We sell [traditional Aleppo soap](/products/traditional-aleppo-soap) and [Authentic Marseille Soap](/products/authentic-marseille-soap), so we read the history closely. Where sources disagree or a popular story lacks support, we say so. For the bars themselves, see our [Aleppo soap guide](/blogs/sampson-learning-center/what-is-aleppo-soap) and [Marseille soap guide](/blogs/sampson-learning-center/what-is-marseille-soap).

In this guide [When Was Soap Invented?](#when-was-soap-invented) [Who Invented Soap?](#who-invented-soap) [Did the Romans and Egyptians Use Soap?](#did-the-romans-and-egyptians-use-soap) [When Did People Start Washing Their Skin With Soap?](#when-did-people-start-washing-their-skin-with-soap) [Where Do Aleppo and Marseille Soap Fit Into the History?](#where-do-aleppo-and-marseille-soap-fit-into-the-history) [Why Was Soap a Luxury for So Long?](#why-was-soap-a-luxury-for-so-long) [What Can We Learn From the History?](#what-can-we-learn-from-the-history) [Frequently Asked Questions](#faq)

 **Key takeaways**

No single inventor is known. Per Wikipedia, the earliest recorded evidence of soap-like materials dates to around 2800 BC in Babylon, and a Sumerian tablet from around 2500 BC gives a formula for washing wool.

True soap, made deliberately and able to foam, probably appeared between those early proto-soaps and the first century AD. Wikipedia says it may have been invented independently by several societies.

For centuries soap cleaned textiles and dishes rather than skin. TIME reports the first proof of skin washing is a Hittite tablet written nearly a thousand years after the first soap tablet.

Olive oil soap spread from the Levant to Europe in the Middle Ages. Marseille was a major centre by the 15th century, and an English soap tax kept soap a luxury until 1853.

## When Was Soap Invented?

Soap-like materials appear in writing about 4,500 to 4,800 years ago, and nobody can name an exact date. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap) says the earliest recorded evidence of soap-like materials dates to around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon.
- **The Babylonian evidence:** Wikipedia dates the earliest recorded soap-like materials to around 2800 BC in Babylon.
- **The Sumerian tablet:** Wikipedia says a formula for a soap-like substance was written on a Sumerian clay tablet around 2500 BC, made by heating oil with wood ash and used for washing wool. [TIME](https://time.com/5831828/soap-origins/) puts the Girsu tablet at 4,500 years old and says it concerns washing and dyeing wool.
- **The Egyptian record:** Wikipedia says the Ebers papyrus, from Egypt around 1550 BC, indicates a soap-like product made from animal fats or vegetable oils and trona, used as a medicine.
- **The caveat:** Dates differ by source, and these are written records, so the real discovery may be older.

## Who Invented Soap?

Nobody knows. Wikipedia says it is uncertain who invented true soap, which may have been invented independently by various societies, so no single name belongs to the discovery.
- **Proto-soaps first:** Wikipedia separates proto-soaps, which mix fat and alkali, from true soaps, which foam, are made deliberately and can be hard or soft because the maker understands lye sources.
- **An educated guess:** [TIME](https://time.com/5831828/soap-origins/) quotes chemist Seth Rasmussen, who says soap was probably discovered close to its first mention in the tablets, since earlier Sumerian records do not mention it. TIME's author invents the name "Nini" for the unknown discoverer, so treat her as an illustration, not a historical person.
- **The likely trigger:** TIME says wet wood ash was probably used to clean greasy tools and wool for a long time, and that ash combined with grease to make a simple, impure soap.

## Did the Romans and Egyptians Use Soap?

Not for washing their bodies, according to the sources we read. The Egyptians used a soap-like product as medicine, and the Romans cleaned with oil and a scraper until at least the first century AD.
- **Rome:** Wikipedia says the ancient Romans did not use soap until at least the first century AD and preferred to massage oil into the skin and scrape it away with a strigil.
- **The Gauls:** Wikipedia says Pliny the Elder describes soap as an invention of the Gauls, made from tallow and ashes.
- **Mount Sapo:** The popular story of a hill near the Tiber where sacrificial fat and ash made soap is, per Wikipedia, mythical. It says the word was in all likelihood borrowed from an early Germanic language.
- **Galen:** Wikipedia says the second-century physician Galen describes soap-making with lye and that soap for personal cleanliness became increasingly common in that period.

## When Did People Start Washing Their Skin With Soap?

Later than the first soap. [TIME](https://time.com/5831828/soap-origins/) says that for hundreds of years after the first soap there is no evidence anyone used it on their bodies, and that it went on items with obvious grease stains such as dishes or clothing.
- **First proof on skin:** TIME says it comes from a cuneiform tablet found in the Hittite capital of Boghazkoi, written nearly a thousand years after the first soap tablet.
- **Wider use:** Per Wikipedia, personal cleanliness with soap became increasingly common by the second century AD.

Featured in this guide

Traditional Aleppo Soap

Olive oil, laurel berry oil, water and lye, air-cured for at least nine months, in four laurel strengths. Full details are on the product page. [Shop now →](/products/traditional-aleppo-soap) ✓ 30-day money-back guarantee · Free shipping over $75

## Where Do Aleppo and Marseille Soap Fit Into the History?

They belong to the olive oil tradition that grew in the Levant and then in Provence. Neither is the first soap, and we found no source that proves any one bar is the oldest.
- **The Levant:** Wikipedia says olive oil was traditionally used instead of animal fat throughout the Levant, and that in Syria soap was made with olive oil, alkali and lime.
- **Exports and Aleppo:** Wikipedia says Syrian soap was exported across the Muslim world and to Europe, and lists Aleppo among the soap-making centres of West Asia and North Africa by the thirteenth century (flagged there as needing a citation).
- **Europe:** Per Wikipedia, soap-making was well known in Italy and Spain by the eighth century, and olive oil replaced animal fat in many formulas, moving production to the Mediterranean.
- **Marseille:** Wikipedia lists Marseille among Christendom's soap centres by the 15th century and says production there was concentrated in at least two factories by 1525. See our [Marseille soap guide](/blogs/sampson-learning-center/what-is-marseille-soap).
- **Our bars:** Our [traditional Aleppo soap](/products/traditional-aleppo-soap) lists olive oil, laurel berry oil, water and lye. Our [Authentic Marseille Soap](/products/authentic-marseille-soap) is, per its listing, made in Provence by Savonnerie Alpilles. Both are modern bars in an old style, not ancient recipes.

## Why Was Soap a Luxury for So Long?

In England, taxes and rules kept it out of reach. Wikipedia says a soap tax introduced during the Restoration meant soap was a luxury, used regularly only by the well-to-do, until the mid-1800s.
- **The rules:** Wikipedia says soap boilers had to make a minimum of one imperial ton per boiling, which put the process beyond small makers.
- **The repeal:** The tax was repealed in 1853, which boosted and deregulated the soap trade, per the same source.
- **Mass production:** Wikipedia says industrially made bar soaps became available in the late 18th century, helped by advertising that linked cleanliness and health.

## What Can We Learn From the History?

Soap is a simple reaction between fat and alkali, so its core has barely changed in thousands of years. What changed is who could afford it, what oils were used and how it was made.
- **Read the label:** Whether a bar uses olive oil, palm or another fat is the real difference between traditions, which is why we list ingredients plainly.
- **Names are loose:** Terms like Aleppo, Marseille and castile describe styles. See our [castile soap guide](/blogs/sampson-learning-center/what-is-castile-soap-and-how-it-differs-from-marseille-and-aleppo) for how they differ.
- **Skin advice:** This is general history, not medical advice. If you have eczema or a persistent rash, ask a dermatologist before changing cleansers.

## Frequently Asked Questions

When was soap invented?

No exact date is known. Wikipedia dates the earliest recorded soap-like materials to around 2800 BC in Babylon, and TIME reports a 4,500-year-old tablet from Girsu on washing and dyeing wool.

Who invented soap?

Nobody knows. Wikipedia says it is uncertain who invented true soap and that various societies may have invented it independently. TIME's character Nini is a made-up illustration.

Did the Romans use soap?

Not at first. Wikipedia says the Romans did not use soap until at least the first century AD and cleaned with oil and a strigil. Pliny calls soap an invention of the Gauls.

Is Aleppo soap the oldest soap?

We found no source proving that. Wikipedia describes soap made from olive oil in Syria and lists Aleppo as a thirteenth-century centre, but earlier soap-like materials come from Babylon and Sumer.

What was early soap made from?

Animal fat or vegetable oil combined with wood ash or other alkali. Wikipedia describes oil and wood ash on the Sumerian tablet and oil with trona in Egypt. [See Traditional Aleppo Soap — 30-Day Guarantee](/products/traditional-aleppo-soap)

## Related Articles [What Is Aleppo Soap? The World's Oldest Soap Explained →](/blogs/sampson-learning-center/what-is-aleppo-soap) [What Is Marseille Soap? The French Soap That's Stood the Test of Time →](/blogs/sampson-learning-center/what-is-marseille-soap) [What Is Castile Soap? How It Differs From Marseille and Aleppo →](/blogs/sampson-learning-center/what-is-castile-soap-and-how-it-differs-from-marseille-and-aleppo) [Marseille Soap vs Castile Soap: Which Should You Actually Use? →](/blogs/sampson-learning-center/marseille-soap-vs-castile-soap-which-should-you-actually-use)