Hammada

The Jews of Jeremiah’s time did not have soap as we know it, since soap was invented many centuries later. However, they did prepare something like it by mixing the ashes of certain plants with olive oil. One of the plants was Hammada Hammada salicornica, commonly found in the desert and called rimth in Arabic. Hepper says any kind of household ashes would have sufficed, but bushes of the goosefoot family (Salsola and Salicornia species, saltworts, and glassworts) would have been especially effective. This is supported by Moldenke, who adds that Arabs call saltwort kali or elkali, which is where we get our chemical term alkali.