Ep. 35 Soap

This week I take a look at soap and try to find out where it came from. Come along for the ride as I ask, soap, how did that happen? The word “Sapo” is the Latin version of “soap”, and is likely based on early Germanic languages. The word possibly comes from the proto-German saipo, which means “to strain”; the Latin sebum, which translates as “grease”; or from Mount Sapo, an Italian mountain whose location is now lost to history. (The story is that the drippings and ashes from the fires of the gods rolled down the hill and were discovered by filth-encrusted Romans.) Hygeia The word hygiene comes from Hygeia, the Greek goddess of health,  who was the daughter of Aesculapius, the god of medicine. The first evidence of soap production dates to 2800 BC in ancient Babylon. In fact, a Babylonian clay tablet, dated back to 2200 BC, was found with a recipe for soap. It included water, alkali (which is a sort of salt base), and cassia oil. Some of the earliest signs of soap or soap-like products were found in clay cylinders during the excavation of ancient Babylon.  Inscriptions on the side of the cylinders say that fats were boiled with ashes, but did not specifically say it was soap. The ancient Egyptians used soap as medicine. They combined it with animal fats or vegetable oils and then combine that with a soda ash substance called trona. Most of these early soaps were made for washing wool clothing.  What the romans did before soap(around the 1st century): TheRomans' preferred method of cleaning the body was to massage oil into the skin and then scrape away both the oil and any dirt with a strigil. The standard design is a curved blade with a handle, all of which is made of metal. In reading these articles some of them say that the first soaps could have been the result of cookouts, or grilling outside as most of our ancestors did. The results of the process would leave animal fats mixed with ash, which is the recipe for a lot of early soaps. The result was a chemical reaction that created a slippery substance that turned out to be great at lifting dirt off skin and allowing it to be washed away. Description from a recipe book to make early soap. “Spread well burnt ashes from good logs over woven wickerwork … and gently pour hot water on them so it goes through drop by drop.… After it is clarified well, let it cook.… Add enough oil and stir very well.” The age-old soap recipe comes from an astonishing how-to guide called the Mappae Clavicula, which roughly translates from Latin as “A Little Key to Everything.” Lye was and still is a main component in soap. Fat reacts with lye—a substance made in ashes that can be pretty toxic, which is why soap makers need to wear protective gear—in a process called saponification. Ancient China also created a type of soap from the seeds of Chinese honey locust, a type of plant. Its called Zao Jia. Its a flowering plant with thick thorns and yellow or white flowers. It is sometimes called soap bean.  The fruits of the zoo Jia tree have ben used as a detergent of sorts for 2000 years.  Israelites had a style of soap made from burnt ashes. Biblical accounts suggest that the Israelites knew that mixing ashes and oil produced a kind of hair gel. The Gauls, which inhabited parts of Germany, France, and Belgium among other nations created a milder soap from animal fats – but used it exclusively for shampooing.  Quick Timeline of Hygiene 1500 BC – Records show that ancient Egyptians bathed regularly. The Ebers Papyrus, a medical document from about 1500 B.C describes combining animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to form a soap-like material used for treating skin diseases, as well as for washing. 1200-200 BC – The ancient Greeks bathed for aesthetic reasons and apparently did not use soap. Instead, they cleaned their bodies with blocks of clay, sand,