The road to Damascus
I used to live round the corner from the wonderful Pitt Rivers Museum and spent many a happy hour examining the weaponry and other delights. Must be the only museum that has Victorian Hashish cigars and shrunken heads alongside a display of shields from around the world with a Thames Valley Police riot shield alongside a Aboriginal bark one. The swords included some fantastic examples of Damascus steel, which I never understood how or why had become a "lost art".
Crumb Trail provides an illuminating answer in an article on Wootz.