Joe doesn't mind the Arabic numerals. And I don't mind the concept of predecessors, influences, borrowings. I'm sure it was Money See, Monkey Buy, Monkey Copy on all the trade routes. So long as you don't attribute a strong consciousness of the historic lineage to the rank and file, I don't see a problem. So some Templar Knight liked his booty so much he got somebody to copy it and it stuck as the fashion. I'm not too happy looking for specific carpet patterns which suggest specific barrel patterns. Most people take the ball and run with it. If they slavishly copy, they're usually copying the ball that Dad ran with. Clearly the survival of the name Damascus is a pointer to the geographical origins of ferric composites.

jack