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Crucible Damascus Steel

Introduction

Crucible steel is best known as the material used to produce Damascus steel blades. These blades have been famous for centuries as the weapon of the Islamic armies. There are many myths and legends surrounding these blades, however many of these myths have no supporting evidence. A common myth is that Damascus steel was primarily produced in Damascus from imported wootz ingots from India.

Historical accounts testify that for at least a thousand years crucible steel was considered to be the highest quality steel, most notably because it was used to produce the so-called “Damascus steel” swords, famous for their attractive surface pattern, being tough, flexible and with the ability to retain a sharp edge. Crucible steel is generally attributed to production centers in India and Sri Lanka where it was produced using the so-called “wootz” process and it is assumed that its appearance in other locations was due to long distance trade. Only recently has it become apparent that Central Asia was also a crucible steel producing region.

Excavations at the Central Asian oasis city of Merv in present day Turkmenistan, found the remains of a 9th-10th century AD workshop which produced this high quality steel.