thumb|right|Italian silk polychrome damasks, 14th century
Damask (; ) is a woven, reversible patterned fabric. Damasks are woven by periodically reversing the action of the warp and weft threads. The pattern is most commonly created with a warp-faced satin weave and the ground with a weft-faced or sateen weave.
True damask is made entirely of silk. Yarns now used to create damasks include silk, wool, linen, cotton, and synthetic fibers, but damask is best shown in cotton and linen.
History
A damask weave is one of the five basic weaving techniques—the others being tabby, twill, Lampas, and tapestry—of the early Middle Ages Byzantine and Middle Eastern weaving centers. Damask was named after the city Damascus, Syria, a large trading center on the Silk Road.
Damask in China
In China, draw looms with a large number of heddles were developed to weave damasks with complicated patterns. The Chinese may have produced damasks as early as the Tang dynasty (618–907). Damasks became scarce after the 9th century outside Islamic Spain, but were revived in some places in the 13th century. Trade logs between The British East India Company and China often demonstrate an ongoing trade of Chinese silks, especially damask. Damask is documented as being the heaviest Chinese silk. In the 11th century Damascus, crusaders introduced the fabric in their traversal of Europe. Shortly after its appearance in French language, damasks were being woven on draw looms in Italy. Weavers who were specialized in more complex figured silks were referred to as 'damask' or 'camacas weaver' rather than the general 'silk weaver'.
Damask and Nomads
In daily nomadic life this form of weaving was generally employed by women, specifically in occupations such as carpet-making. Women collected raw material from pasture animals and dyes from local flora, such as berries, insects, or grasses, to use in production. Damask weaves are commonly produced in monochromatic (single-colour) weaves in silk, linen or synthetic fibres such as rayon and feature patterns of flowers, fruit and other designs. The long floats of satin-woven warp and weft threads cause soft highlights on the fabric which reflect light differently according to the position of the observer. Damask weaves appear most commonly in table linens and furnishing fabrics, but they are also used for clothing.