From Aleppo to Mosul: A History of Soap, Commerce, and Cultural Exchange
How a centuries-old exchange shaped the city’s economic and cultural identity
In the heart of Mosul’s ancient city, nestled between arched alleyways and timeworn stones, lies the Soap Market—Sūq al-Ṣābūn. This small yet storied souk has long served as a sensory portal into Mosul’s layered past, where the scent of Aleppo soap mingled with spices, incense, and tales of long-distance trade. Its legacy, however, extends beyond perfumed nostalgia; it is a reflection of Mosul’s historical role in regional commerce and cultural exchange.
The Mosul-Aleppo connection is centuries old. Both cities were vital nodes on overland trade routes linking the eastern Mediterranean with Mesopotamia, Persia, and beyond. Aleppo, renowned since antiquity for its production of laurel-based olive oil soap, exported this staple through northern Iraq, and Mosul became a critical distribution point. As the 19th-century Ottoman economy became increasingly integrated with global markets, Mosul’s merchant families—many of whom operated in both cities—capitalized on these ties.
By the late 1800s, Mosul had become a major hub for the import and export of goods across the Ottoman Empire. Trade records from 1911, for example, show significant soap exports from Syria (primarily Aleppo) to Mosul—valued at 300,000 French francs—while Mosul’s own exports of livestock, hides, and wool to Syria topped 1.46 million francs. The exchange of goods was accompanied by the flow of people, knowledge, and artisanal traditions, including soap-cutting and curing techniques still used in Mosul today.
The soap trade was not merely commercial. As documented in the memoirs of local merchants and the archives of the Mosul Chamber of Commerce, soap was considered a therapeutic item and a household necessity. It was also deeply embedded in popular medicine and cultural rituals.
One figure stands out in this heritage: Mohammed Rifaat al-Habbār, descendant of a long line of soap traders and the son of the city’s former mufti. His family’s business dates back to 1935 and has survived political upheavals, war, and even the occupation of the city by ISIS. With his return to the newly restored Old Market, many locals felt that the soul of the souk had finally returned. The absence of Aleppo soap in the years following ISIS’s occupation had been keenly felt. Under the care of a seasoned hand, its reappearance signaled not just economic recovery but the revival of a cultural identity.
Architecturally modest, the Soap Market remains one of the most atmospheric spaces in the Old City. Wooden shelves hold pyramid-stacked bars of green-brown soap, aged and hardened by time. To the casual observer, they might seem simple commodities. But for Moslawis, they are repositories of family memory, trade lineage, and community resilience.
The market also served historically as a social space. Neighbors and traders gathered here to purchase goods and share stories, news from Aleppo, and folk remedies. It was part of a broader network of specialized markets—Sūq al-‘Aṭṭāreen (the spice market) and Sūq al-Najjāreen (the carpenters’ market)—that connected Mosul to the rest of the region. The Soap Market’s proximity to these other souks made it a vital node in economic and social life.
Today, as Mosul’s Old City slowly reemerges from the devastation of war, markets like Sūq al-Ṣābūn offer more than commercial revival—they represent a fragile but profound reconnection with the city's urban heritage. The restoration of such markets has been central to local and international recovery efforts, but the return of merchants like al-Habbār ensures continuity with the past.
In his words, the revival of Mosul’s spirit lies not in nostalgia, but in the return of its economy and its people: “We send a message of peace and love from Mosul,” he says, “and we hope to see this city once again filled with coexistence.”