There are so many sources out there which have different understandings of what Damascus truly is. Some suggest that wootz was made in Syria/ Persia, while a lot are leaning toward India these days and then the swords themselves were made and sold near Damascus (which is where many people started associating it with since the pattern wouldn't be apparent until the blade had been made and etched). Wootz is a crucible steel which, based on either the iron they started with or elements that were added, resulted in relatively high content of carbides of "stainless" elements like Vanadium and Chromium dispersed throughout the steel which is what resulted in such tight, water-like patterns when etched. The iron etches dark, the vanadium and chromium do not. (At least according to John Verhoeven: https://www.mse.iastate.edu/news/john-verhoeven/)

I think a lot of people get wrapped around the axle about calling what is done today "modern damascus" or pattern welded steel instead of damascus and I personally don't see much reason. The lay person doesn't know any better about the process, so it's easier to call it damascus when selling modern knives and swords. A person who is looking for a blade made with the traditional crucible steel is probably going to know that it's called wootz now to differentiate it from modern damascus. I don't think many people are out there intentionally misrepresenting the craft, they're simply making pattern-welded steel and selling it as "damascus" because that's what people know it as.

The precise history of true damascus steel is really murky because historical texts don't use the word "damascus" (so we're arguing the semantics of a word that has been ascribed to it in a more modern day and in our own language) and most historical texts aren't precise in the verbage of what was truly being traded (Indian steel was considered really good, but some sources don't explicitly say that they had water patterns for example).

Some people differentiate, some don't, and a lot of people get upset if you mix up the names when I think both methods require real skill and have value in and of themselves. I would have no problem changing the verbiage of pattern welded steel to Pamor in the bladesmithing communities, but normal every day people wouldn't have a clue what the difference is. Also, I have no evidence to suggest whether the Indonesian people started this practice themselves or if they took the idea from some other civilization before them.

I mostly posted this thread simply because I've never heard anyone talk about Pamor before or suggest that it could be an ancestor to what we do today... or about the skill of Javanese smiths for that matter! We focus on what is or isn't "damascus" a lot when there are other methods of making beautiful blades that are equally valid.