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Damascus Steel is not simply a product of simple Iron ore being forged and re-forged over and over again in layers, it is created by a blend if iron ore with a mix of carbon and other impurities smelted at the same time that gave it its unique qualities and made it so treasured for those that worked with it.

Sadly, the exact nature of how it came to be created has been lost over time, but along with it being forged with simple bellows systems (increased oxygen) and carbon introduced during the smelting process (along with certain trace elements present with the ores when they were mined at the time) the completed product was so well-renowned that its name is still recognized hundreds of years after the secret of its manufacture has been lost to the annals of time.

Notably, the trace elements and additional oxidation introduced during the forging process produced a result much like the anodization of aluminum that this thread addresses. Instead of something brittle that was a plague upon the swords and other edged blades of the time, the forging process on the unique combination of ores and minor impurities associated with it produced something much more durable and usable when the process was completed.