Damascus steel

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Damascus steel is the stuff of legends: metal plates with lightly different carbon content welded together, folded many times and forged into swords that gave the crusaders a very nasty suprise. Flexible, light and sharp; it was the like the carbon fiber equivalent of steel in those days.
If you're in Damascus and want to take home a unique souvenir, seek out the good stuff. The souks are littered with 'very old blade sir' knives made not in Damascus hundreds of years ago, but last winter in India. While the metal of the blades does show an effect not unlike proper Damascus steel, it is clear to see that it is not the same. Try to sharpen one of these puppies properly, and it's likely to fall to pieces as the metal layers peel away under the strain. It's not all bad: if you want a simple decorative letter opener (in kitschy tourist design) the prices can be quite good. For a fake.
The real stuff is by definition antique, as apparently no blacksmith has been making Damascus steel in Damascus for a few hundred years. And that means expensive, bring your credit card. There's a stronger market for the blades in Damascus itself than in Europe, but paying a premium for getting something like this from the source is part of the thing I guess. Just not the same walking into an antique store in Europe to buy it as when you are in Syria.
Rimon Badru on Straight Street (If you walk from the roman arch towards the Eastern Gate, Bab Sharqi, on your right hand side after about 100 metres) has some of the best blades I saw in Damascus, ranging from simple knives to swords with exquisite patterning in the steel. He's a nice guy, and was happy to show me his finest stuff although I had made it clear I could not afford any beforehand. Highly recommended!

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Photos

The real deal
Ain't that pretty?

Comments

[Heather]

The photos in your Damascus Steel post were really great! Very interesting info too! Heather :)

[truus]

Lieve Ton, Wat een heerlijke reis, tot spoedig, liefs Truus