"Painstaking, beautiful processes are employed to maintain the legacies of such soaps—pouring, cutting, stamping, and curing handled with the utmost care. While the tradition of soap-making has thrived in some of these cities (bricks of Savon de Marseille are familiar imports), it barely survives in others. Sadly, war and sanctions have created near-impossible working conditions for the artisans of Syria and Palestine."