Wootz steel is a high-carbon crucible steel originally made in southern India and Sri Lanka, produced by heating iron with carbon-rich material in sealed clay crucibles to create small ingots. It was traded widely across Asia and the Middle East for many centuries and was the raw material for the famous watered-steel blades often described as Damascus steel.
When wootz ingots were carefully forged at relatively low temperatures, the steel developed a distinctive surface pattern of light and dark bands, revealed by etching and often likened to flowing water or watered silk. Swords, daggers and armour made from wootz in Persia, India, the Ottoman Empire and the Arab world were prized for their beauty and quality. The traditional process declined and was largely lost by the nineteenth century, prompting European scientists to study the material in attempts to reproduce it. In antiques, wootz is encountered mainly in Indian, Persian and Islamic edged weapons. Collectors examine the clarity and type of pattern, the condition of the blade, hilts and scabbards, and any inscriptions or inlay. Pattern-welded steel, which looks similar but is made differently, is often confused with true wootz.
