True Damascus is not made by pattern welding but by the
process of smelting iron with carbonaceous materials in
a neutral environment, a sealed crucible.
Pattern welded steel is not that hard to make or manipulate.
I’ve been doing it for decades.
Wootz is probably the closest to Damascus of the turn of
the century methods.
Three hundred layers takes a little time and I have made
some with a thousand layers, but the pattern becomes
very fine and hard to distinguish so most don’t develop
it that far.
For your interest.
I read about Damascus steel in Science Digest probably 35 years ago. As I remember it they said it was super high carbon content but the kneading gave it properties way different than most high carbon steels. It sounds like it was pretty amazing stuff. Wikipedia has a pretty good take on it
Damascus steel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascus_steel