Of Nabulsi Soap Factories

So they tell me my great grandfather from my mother's side, Adel Arafat (may Allah bless his soul), had a soap factory deep in the Old City of Nablus. And so, today we went to visit. The actual factory has stopped making the famous Nabulsi soap, but now is being converted into a museum. The aim is to restore the place into something educational that teaches about the making of traditional soap.

Part of the project was to use ancient doors from the old city, which were destroyed or broken during Israeli attacks. Local kids were given the chance to decorate the doors before being reinstalled.


This is one of the rooms in the soap factory which is being used to store some old objects that will be displayed later around the museum. This room was originally used to store soap.


Attention to detail runs throughout the project, instead of leaving the lightbulbs exposed, which would ruin the ancient effect, old claypipes were used as lampshades to cover the modernity.


Any walls or doors or staircases were restored to their old look, which has taken a long time and effort.


Some soap is still remade, for display or souvenir purposes, using the old method of making Nabulsi soap. You can also see, in this picture, the original scales used for weighing soap in huge quantities.