The origin of the name "Damascus Steel" is contentious and there are three potential sources for the term "Damascus" in the context of steel:
1. The word "damas" is the root word for "watered" in Arabic and Damascus blades are often described as exhibiting a water-pattern on their surface, and are often referred to as "watered steel" in multiple languages.
2. Al-Kindi, an Islamic scholar, called swords produced and forged in Damascus as Damascene but these swords were not described as having a pattern in the steel.
3. Al-Biruni, another Islamic scholar, mentions a sword-smith called Damasqui who made swords of crucible steel.
The most common explanation is that steel is named after Damascus, the capital city of Syria. It may either refer to swords made or sold in Damascus directly, or it may just refer to the aspect of the typical patterns, by comparison with Damask fabrics (also named for Damascus), or it may indeed stem from the root word of "damas".
Identification of crucible "Damascus" steel based on metallurgical structures is difficult, as crucible steel cannot be reliably distinguished from other types of steel by just one criterion. The distinguishing characteristics of crucible steel include a relatively homogeneous steel content with virtually no slag, the formation of dendrites, and the segregation of elements into dendritic and interdendritic regions throughout the sample.
The reputation and history of Damascus steel has given rise to many legends, such as the ability to cut through a rifle barrel or to cut a hair falling across the blade. A research team in Germany published a report in 2006 revealing nanowires and carbon nanotubes in a blade forged from Damascus steel. Although many types of modern steel outperform ancient Damascus alloys, chemical reactions in the production process made the blades extraordinary for their time, as Damascus steel was superplastic and very hard at the same time.
Damascus blades were first manufactured in the Near East from ingots of wootz steel that were imported from Southern India. The Arabs introduced the wootz steel to Damascus, where a weapons industry thrived. From the 3rd century to the 17th century, steel ingots were being shipped to the Middle East from South India. There was also domestic production of crucible steel outside of India, including Merv (Turkmenistan) and Chāhak, Iran.