"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [و‎‎١‎٤‎٣] (٧٣٨/٢٩٠)

INDUSTRY
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necessarily from year to year according to the crop. Ruppin
estimates the number of oil presses at from 600 to 800, the
number of people engaged in the industry at between 6,000
and 10,000, and the value of the annual output at £1,000,000*
The table oil produced is consumed in the country and
requires less than one-half of the usual crop. Its quality is
injured by the rough treatment of the olives during the
harvest, and the amount obtained is diminished by imperfect
methods of crushing and pressing. Modern machinery is,
however, being introduced in all the principal centres of
manufacture. Weakley ascertained that 100 hydraulic
presses were in use in the Lebanon district, 22 in Damascus
and the Hauran, and 30 in the country lying round Haifa and
‘Akka. Before the introduction of modern machinery Killiz
table oil had a specially good reputation.
The chief centre of soap-making is Nablus and its neighbour
hood (with about 30 establishments). In Tripoli in 1911
there were twelve soap factories, producing, in a good year,
5,300 tons of soap. Other important centres are Jaffa,
Damascus, Antioch, and Aleppo. The soap of Nablus, of
pure olive oil, has a high reputation. Other ingredients,
e. g. talc and caustic soda or qili (= alkali), give a special
character to the soap of each locality. Round Antioch oil
made from the berry of the ghdr (bay tree) is mixed with
olive oil to produce perfumed soap. The soaps of Aleppo and
Antioch are highly esteemed. ‘Aintab, also, manufactures
what is called Aleppo soap. The destruction of the olive
trees of Killiz in 1910-11 has injured the soap industry of
‘Aintab. There are good markets for Syrian soap in Egypt,
Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor, so that this industry
is constantly expanding.
In recent years the supplies of olive oil in the country have
been insufficient for the soap industry and have been supple
mented by importation. In 1911 the importation of olive oil
through Jaffa from Smyrna and Mitylene was 647 tons and
in 1912 1,100 tons. Even cocoa-nut oil, cotton oil, and
maize oil are imported, to be used in combination with olive