In the remnants of an ancient house in Rahat, a predominantly Bedouin city in what is now southern Israel, government archaeologists believe they have found the oldest known soap factory in the country. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the ruins are approximately 1,200 years old, dating to the early Islamic period when the region was ruled by the Abbasid Caliphate. Archaeologists were excavating a site designated for construction of a new neighborhood when they came across a pillared structure resembling a workshop and some old olive pits, which suggest…
