Facts
Why OpenTrue soap, which foamed and could be made deliberately in a hard or soft form, differs from the proto-soaps of ash and fat mentioned in Sumerian, Babylonian and Egyptian texts. Alkali was used to clean textiles for thousands of years before soap forms, and knowledge of how to produce true soap emerged sometime between the early proto-soap mentions and the first century AD, but no single inventor or society is confirmed; it may have been invented independently more than once. 1 What Would ResolveA securely dated recipe or artifact demonstrating deliberate true-soap production earlier than the first-century AD accounts, or documentary evidence naming a specific society as first to combine enough fat with alkali to foam. 1 Discipline NeededArchaeological chemistry, textile history 1 Open Question
True soap, which foamed and could be made deliberately in a hard or soft form, differs from the proto-soaps of ash and fat mentioned in Sumerian, Babylonian and Egyptian texts. Alkali was used to clean textiles for thousands of years before soap forms, and knowledge of how to produce true soap emerged sometime between the early proto-soap mentions and the first century AD, but no single inventor or society is confirmed; it may have been invented independently more than once.
What would resolve this A securely dated recipe or artifact demonstrating deliberate true-soap production earlier than the first-century AD accounts, or documentary evidence naming a specific society as first to combine enough fat with alkali to foam.
OpenArchaeological chemistry, textile historySoap (Wikipedia)
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Source Soap (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Soap (Wikipedia)
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