History of Islam Sciences( how made the seel in islamic history)

Crafting steel in Damascus

The main function of this paper is to make available to historians generally a selected number of passages in Arabic medieval literature (some of which were hitherto unpublished) which bear upon ferrous technology. There are other numerous sources which are not cited here. Thus, this paper is not exhaustive in this respect. For each source, an English translation is presented followed by the Arabic text.

Thus, Section 2 below quotes al-Kindi on the location of steel centers, and Section 3 give al-Biruni's description of Damascene crucible steel production. The following section from al-Jildaki describes what seems to be the production of pig iron and cast steel, and so on.

The review of sources concludes with Section 8. No attempt is made to draw general conclusions, except that the evidence adduced seems ample to demolish the commonly held notion that Damascene steel was produced only or mainly from Indian wootz steel, or that Damascus was not a center for producing steel. Section 8 locates iron mines in the Damascus region, and documents the persistence of the ferrous industry there down to modern times.

AI-Kindi on Sources and Centers of Production

Among the extant works of Abu Yusuf b. lshaq al-Kindi, "the philosopher of the Arabs", is "A Treatise (Addressed) to some of His Brethren Concerning Swords" The treatise contains much useful technological information. But we shall be content in this paper to give al-Kindi's classification of the various kinds of iron and steel from which swords were being made. The passages below have been excerpted from this treatise

Natural and not-natural iron:

Learn that iron from which swords are forged is divided into two primary or main divisions: natural (as mined) and not-natural (I. e. manufactured). Natural iron is divided into two divisions: shaburqan and it is the male, hard iron which can be heat-treated by its nature, and narmahin (narm-ahin), which is the female soft iron which cannot be heat-treated by its nature. [Swords] can be forged from either of these two kinds or from both combined. Thus, al; kinds of swords made of natural iron fall into three kinds: shaburqani, narmahani, and those made of a combination of both.

Not-natural or manufactured iron or steel:

Iron which is not natural (i.e. Manufactured) is steel. 1t means the refined or purified. It is made of natural iron by adding to it while smelting sorne (ingredients) for purifying it, and for decreasing its softness, until it becomes strong, flexible, susceptible to heat treatment, and until its firind appears.

Three main qualities of steel:

This steel is divided into three divisions: the antique, the modem, and the non-antique, non-modern. Swords may be forged from all these steels. Thus, there are three kinds of swords: the antique, the modern, and the non-antique, non-modern.

Antique" means top quality steel:

Antique is not related to time (or age) but it indicates the noble or the generous qualities, as when it is said "an antique horse" meaning a noble horse (of good breed). That (sword) which has the noble qualities is "antique", no matter in which age it was forged. At the extreme end of the "antique" is its opposite in meaning, I mean that (sword) which is deprived of the qualities of the "antique". That is why it was given an opposite name, I. e. modern, even if was forged before the time of `Ad.

Those (swords) which have sorne qualities of the "antique", but which are deprived of sorne of its qualities, are the swords which exhibit sorne of the qualities of the "modern". Therefore, these swords are given a name in the middle between both, and they are classified as non-antique, non-modem even if they are forged in ancient or modern times. Sword- makers called some of these swords "non-antique", and called some others "non-modern".

Three kinds of "antique" or quality swords:

The antique are divided into three kinds. The first and best in quality of all is the Yemenite; the second is the Qal`i; and the third is the Indian.

Swords forged from imported steel:

Some swords were called non-native. They were forged from imported steel. Some Khurasani swords for example were forged from steel imported from Sarandib; and this is the case in several other cities.

Swords forged from local iron:

As for those native swords, they fall into five kinds. Of these are the Khurasani, the iron which is produced and forged in Khurasan; the Basriyya, the iron of which is produced and forged at Basra; the Damascene, the iron of which is produced and forged at Damascus; the Egyptian, which is forged in Egypt. Swords in this category may be forged in other places like those of Baghdad, of Kufa, and a few other places, but are not attributed to such places because of their scarcity. These are all the types of swords which are made from manufactured iron, I mean from steel. Continuous..............