Mapping of microstructural anisotropy of cementite in a sword bearing the "Ladder of the Prophet".

Our long-term aim is a detailed study of the forging procedures to produce high quality steel arms and armour in different parts of the world. It is our intention to investigate in depth the quality and the kind of steel used for their production. We already performed several neutron diffraction analysis of various categories of Indo-Persian steel artifacts from the Wallace Collection. The analyses suggest that anisotropy in cementite can be at the origin of the intricate patterns present on the surface of wootz artifacts (wootz is a patterned crucible steel, the so-called “Damascus Steel"). The most famous pattern is the so called “Ladder of the Prophet” where a special pattern resembling the rungs of a ladder is present on the surface of the artifacts. Our goal is the spatial mapping of the cementite anistropy in this pattern through diffraction analysis.