Most people washed themselves with only one essential thing at the time, water. This, of course, happened until the development of soap in 2800 B.C. The soap was found in clay cylinders during the excavation of ancient Babylon. There were inscriptions discovered on the cylinders, which showed us that fats were boiled with ashes, which was the method of making the soap at this time.
             Records have shown that Egyptians bathed regularly. There was a medical document found called "The Ebers Papyrus" which described the combining of animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to form soap-like material. These were used for treating skin diseases and washing. At around this time, Moses gave the Israelites specific laws about personal cleanliness. He related cleanliness to health and religious cleansing.
             The early Greeks bathed for artistic reasons. Instead of washing with soap, they bathed themselves with blocks of clay, sand, pumice, and ashes. Then they anointed themselves with oil and scraped off the oil and dirt with a strigil. They washed their clothes in the streams without using soap.
             According to an ancient Roman legend, soap got its name from Mount Sapo where animals were sacrificed. When it had rain, the water washed away the animal fat and wood ashes down into the clay soil along the Tiber River. Women had found this clay mixture and it made their wash much cleaner.
             Soap making was a popular craft in Europe by the 17th century. Vegetable and animal oils were used with ashes of plants and fragrance. More varities of soap gradually became available for shaving and washing hair, as well as bathing and washing clothes. Italy, Spain, and France were the early centers of soap manufacturing. The English began making soap during the 12th century.
             The chemistry of the soap manufacturing stayed the same until 1916 when the first synthetic detergent was developed in Germany. Synthe
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