Beyond Tulkarem the landscape becomes rocky and is clad with olives. The roads rise and fall. Until you arrive in the city of Nablus, which lies on the slopes of two holy mountains, Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Nablus is a city of skilful, shrewd, impudent merchants. It is worth visiting during Ramadan, when its ancient alleys are unable to contain all the people who crowd every afternoon around stalls selling sweets and falafel, vegetables and hummus. The carob juice seller does a roaring trade in this period. But even at other times of the year the old city is invariably ‘shrouded in the aromas of sesame oil and crushed olives’ and spices from around the world. Sometimes one could think that they are all poets in Nablus. And undoubtedly they are, in their own way, but they are also tenacious businesspeople. It is no coincidence that the Palestinian Stock Exchange is in Nablus. This city has been, and indeed still is, famous for its traditional soaps: two ancient factories continue to hand-produce the olive oil soap that once ended up in royal courts the length and breadth of the Middle East. Nablus is an intriguing city. The Samaritans live on the summit of Mount Gerizim, their sacred mountain. There are so many histories in this city, which needs visiting at leisure: lingering in the pastry shops that produce, throughout the day, kunafa, a sweet made of honey and cheese that should be eaten fresh from the oven; or spending carefree hours in a hammam (there are two in the old city). It is little wonder then that Sahar Khalifa, a writer from Nablus, should ask: ‘Who gave this city its splendour?”