The Soap Factory
In the Mamluk era, the Lower Church and its outbuildings were converted into a large soap manufacturing facility, connected with the transformation of Shobak, from a Crusader castle into an Islamic city.
The process began in the former churchyard: first, a paste was made with water and ash from particular local alkali plants, in these twelve rectangular basins. Then, this paste was boiled with olive oil in the large cylindrical tub, heated by a furnace housed in a former Crusader subsidiary chapel. The resulting hot mixture, while still soft, was spread on the church floor to dry, and finally cut into bars of soap.
This facility stands as a rare example of a manufacturing site for a then luxury item that was exported throughout the Mediterranean.
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Archaeologists have reconstructed the evolution of this building by analyzing the sequence of different construction phases.
The Crusader church and narthex were reused during the Ayyubid period, when a new floor was built above the narthex vault. In the Mamluk period, the structure was completely transformed with the addition of small basins, a furnace, and a cylindrical tank.
For further details:
- Vannini, Guido, Chiara Marcotulli, and Pietro Ruschi. “Crusader, Ayyubid and early Mamluk Shawbak and the history of Medieval south Jordan: the archaeology and restoration of the Mamluk workshop”. Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 11 (2013): 359-380.
- Pruno, Elisa, Raffaele Ranieri, and Chiara Marcotulli. “The material culture in Shawbak between Crusaders, Ayyubids and Mamluks: the case-study of Hospitaller’s Chapel”. In Living with Nature and Things. Contribute to a New Social History of the Middle Islamic Periods, edited by Bethany J. Walker and Abdelkader Al Ghouz, 401-422. Bonn: Bonn University Press, 2020.
- Marcotulli, Chiara, and Elisa Pruno. “Teindre ou ne pas teindre. Là est le problème! Le cas du site de Shawbak (Jordanie)”. In Artisanat et métiers en Méditerranée médiévale et modern, edited by Sylvain Burri and Mohamed Ourefelli, 187-202. Aix-Marseille: Presses universitaires de Provence, 2018.
The production of olive oil-based soap continued with little change until very recent times.
For more information on the raw materials used and the trade of this luxury good, see:
- Le Strange, Guy. Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. 513. London: Alexander P. Watt for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1890.
- Richards, Donald Sidney. “A Late Mamluk Document Concerning Frankish Commercial Practice at Tripoli.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 62 (1999): 21-35.
- Warren, Charles. Underground Jerusalem: an account of some of the principal difficulties encountered in its exploration and the results obtained. With a narrative of an expedition through the Jordan Valley and a visit to the Samaritans. 500-508. London: Richard Bentley and Sun Press, 1876.
Last update
14.04.2025