Damascus Steel Swords and Blades

Timeline

1. c. 200–700Deccan Plateau · DeccanHigh-carbon steel billets smelted in crucibles in the Deccan region of southern India were transported by sea to the Persian Gulf, then entered the forging workshops of Syria and Anatolia, forming a supply chain for blade steel in Western Asia.
2. c. 900–1360Damascus · SyriaDamascus craftsmen used fold-forging and acid etching to reveal carbide striations, producing curved sabers, longswords, and daggers; the watered pattern (damask pattern) became a mark of quality. In the fourteenth century the standing armories of the Mamluk sultans ordered such blades in large quantities.
3. 1360–1517Cairo · EgyptThe armories of Cairo traded Damascus steel swords and blades with Venetian and Genoese merchants; European nobles used the term "Damascus steel" to refer to such patterned blades, which became an important category of Mediterranean luxury trade after the era of the Crusades.
4. c. 1700–1980Damascus · SyriaWith the exhaustion of Indian ore sources and the impact of industrialized steelmaking, the traditional production of Damascus steel ceased; in the twentieth century, metallurgists using electron microscopy revealed the banded carbide structure, partially reviving the ancient pattern-welded steel craft.