there was a post at one time at freerepublic that discussed stainless steel as being what made the famous saracen swords at once so flexible and strong.
That likely they were able to get the ingredients for it from the meteorites that fleck the deserts of saudi arabia.
that that is the reason that the worship stone at the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca— is a meteorite. The extra terrestrial metals smelted into iron was the secret of their success!
Interesting idea. Not much proof.
The context of the story I believe is that moslems use American stainless steel to hold up meteorite stone at the Kaaba.
I think the way the ancient moslem swords were made was lost.
This story today does start to push back the history of stainless steel
There is reason to think that the quality of classic Muslim Damascus swords was due to both the Damascus process and the secret use of vanadium alloyed steel imported from India. The supply of such steel though was lost due to the disruption caused by the Muslim conquest of India.