OK, I just etched it. needed to go to UNDILUTED ferric chloride solution from Radio Shack.
It is wootz, but I can see it only in certain small areas. The rest became (very nice) solid dark grey.
Question#1: why only certain areas? Why did it need such a strong solution? Does the etching solution become old ( mine is very old)? Will getting new stuff help?
Question #2: obviously, this is a remounted old blade. Some Turk needed a sword ( probably, WWI), and used an ancestral (?) blade.
Should I fit it with a new handle/crossguard? I have a full set for a Syrian ( bedawi) handle and a Persian/Syrian type iron crossguard, likely, what it had at least in it's second incarnation ( before the military monstrosity).
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