From: Subject: Metallurgy and Chronology Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 18:38:02 +0300 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://localhost:8780/pubs/journals/pensee/ivr05/05metal.htm X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198 Metallurgy and Chronology

Metallurgy and Chronology

Immanuel Velikovsky

Shortcomings of the metallurgical approach to comparative = archaeology

This paper, first set in type in the early 1950's, will = appear=20 as a supplement to Ramses II and His Time.

I. BRONZE AND IRON

In the thirties of the nineteenth century a scholar (1), following in = the=20 footsteps of Hesiod and Lucretius, proposed that the past of mankind be = divided=20 according to the material from which, in successive ages, historical man = manufactured his tools and utensils, differentiating the ages of stone = and bone,=20 of bronze, and of iron. This proposal was successful, and the = introduction of=20 further divisions dotted modern books on history and archaeology with = letters=20 denoting the "Early," "Middle," and "Late" periods of each age, with = subsequent=20 subdivisions of I, II, and sometimes III. The Early Bronze Age is more=20 accurately called the Copper Age.

Archaeology generally construes its ages either according to the = character of=20 pottery or according to the metals used for tools; the latter division = is more=20 definite, so that pottery of different kinds is labeled in terms of = metal=20 periods, e.g., ceramics of Late Bronze Ia or Early Iron IIb, and so on. = We have=20 already seen the confusion that underlies the division of ceramic ages. = Here we=20 intend to examine briefly the metal ages and their bearing on = chronology.

By bringing Egyptian history six or seven centuries closer to our = time, do we=20 not cause a displacement of the metal ages? A sailing vessel takes only = two or=20 three days to bring cargo from Egypt to Palestine; the desert road was = traversed=20 by Thutmose III with his army in nine days. One would expect that = conventional=20 chronology took into consideration the closeness of countries like Egypt = and=20 Palestine; thus, if the beginning of the Iron Age in Palestine is = commonly=20 thought to have taken place in -1200, in the time of the Judges, then in = the=20 conventional scheme the Iron Age in Egypt must also have started about=20 -1200.

This is not the case. "There are few subjects that are more disputed = than=20 that of the date when iron first came into general use in Egypt" (2).=20 Consequently there is no ground for fear that the revised chronology = will bring=20 confusion to the Bronze-Iron scheme; the confusion is already there. = When the=20 Iron Age began in Egypt cannot be established by relying on conventional = chronology. It is also clear why this is so. The time of the Nineteenth = Dynasty=20 is not antecedent to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty by seven hundred years; = they are=20 one and the same. And the Twentieth Dynasty of Ramses III does not = precede the=20 time of Necho II by six centuries but follows it by two centuries. With = such=20 erroneous premises, it is, of course, hopeless to try to establish the = time when=20 the Iron Age in Egypt had its beginning.

Keeping this in mind, and in order to reconstruct the succession of = ages, we=20 must ask: When did iron come into use for the first time? When did the = process=20 of the extraction of iron from the ore become known? When did iron = replace=20 bronze for most of the purposes for which iron is preferred to bronze in = our=20 time?

Iron ore is more widely distributed on the earth than copper or tin, = and the=20 metallurgy of iron is simpler than that of bronze (3). Iron is found in = native=20 form in meteorites, making the process of extraction unnecessary. It is=20 extracted from ore (smelted) by heating at about 500=B0 C.; when it is = red-hot it=20 is malleable into the desired form. The addition of carbon (smelting on=20 charcoal) followed by quick cooling produces steel. In order to make = iron fluid=20 (to melt it) so that it can be poured into molds, a temperature of over = 1500=B0 C.=20 is required.

Copper is less generously bestowed by nature; it is found in its = native state=20 and is also extracted from malachite and other ore by heating. Its = extraction=20 requires a temperature of about 1085=B0C., at which temperature it also = melts and=20 can be poured into molds. Unlike iron, copper possesses the quality of = being=20 malleable in a cold state. But this is a defect as well as an advantage; = it=20 means that the metal is soft. Hammering strengthens it; too much beating = makes=20 it brittle. Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, is much harder than = copper. The=20 manufacture of alloys marks a definite progress in the metallurgic art; = it is an=20 advanced stage by comparison with that when only extraction from ore and = hammering into shape were known.

Copper in alloy with zinc is called brass. This alloy is known from=20 comparatively late times; "brass," the translation of the scriptural=20 nechoshet, really means copper and bronze, without = discriminating=20 between them.

Iron ores are found in Egypt in fairly large deposits but of poor = quality=20 (4). Copper was brought from over the border of Egypt proper. Malachite = mines=20 belonging to the Egyptians have been discovered in the southwest Sinai = massif.=20 They were exploited, the inscriptions inform us, as early as during the = Old=20 Kingdom; heaps of slag near the mines indicate that extraction was = performed on=20 the spot. Before the end of the Old Kingdom the copper mines of Cyprus = were=20 delivering, metal to Egypt. The island either gave its name to the metal = or=20 received its name from it (5).

The high temperature necessary for the extraction and melting of = copper=20 (1085=B0C.) was attained by using bellows, as can be seen in ancient = Egyptian=20 drawings, and also by constructing furnaces with a flue for draft. By = these=20 means iron could easily be extracted from its ore (smelted) at a lower=20 temperature and hammered into shape.

Tin has not yet been found in the centers of the bronze civilization: = Cyprus,=20 Egypt, or Greece. It was imported from afar for making bronze (6). = Ezekiel=20 (27:12) says that the maritime people of Tyre traded in tin which they = brought=20 from Tarshish. Tin is mentioned earlier by Isaiah (7) and is repeatedly = referred=20 to by Homer (8). Herodotus told of its being imported into Greece, and = the "tin=20 islands" probably signify the British Isles (9). Posidonius in the = second=20 century before this era referred to the Iberian Peninsula as the mining = source=20 of imported tin (10); so did Pliny, and Diodorus told of its being mined = in=20 Cornwall (11). In the first century of the present era tin was = transported by=20 way of Egypt to India (12).

As it is generally supposed that Stone Age man crossed the sea only = by chance=20 and not in regular voyages, the copper period of the Bronze Age must = have seen=20 the conquest of the sea, and Bronze Age man must have already developed = a sea=20 trade in tin.

In Egypt the copper period began in pre-dynastic times, and the Old = Kingdom=20 is also regarded as belonging to the age of copper. There are only a few = bronze=20 objects left from the end of the Old Kingdom (Sixth Dynasty). The Bronze = Age=20 embraces the Middle Kingdom and lasts until some indefinite date. The = divergence=20 of opinions regarding the beginning of the Iron Age in Egypt is = extremely great.=20 "The date of the commencement of the Iron Age in Egypt is perennially = discussed,=20 and unfortunately but little fresh evidence comes along as time = progresses" (13=20 ).

The Iron Age in Egypt "may yet be proved to have even preceded the = Bronze=20 Age" (14), is the opinion of one group of authors (15). The Iron Age = began about=20 -1800 with the end of the Middle Kingdom, is the opinion of another = group, or in=20 the time of Ramses II, according to a third group. The developed Iron = Age in=20 Egypt began about -1200, or in the days of Ramses III, a few scholars = maintain.=20 Many favor the date -1000 under the Libyan Dynasty (16). "The early Iron = Age of=20 Egypt did not begin until -800 (between the XXII and XXV Dynasties)" = (17). The=20 year -700 "may be considered as the beginning of the Iron Age in Egypt" = (18), is=20 a statement often made. It is also asserted that the earliest smelting = in Egypt=20 (at Naucratis) dates from the sixth century. All sides of opinion = covering the=20 entire length of Egyptian history have their advocates. "Iron has had = more=20 contradictory statements made about it than any other metal" (19).

A criterion for the beginning of the Iron Age must be defined, and = the=20 problem must be divided into two parts: When did man become able to = manufacture=20 iron, and when did iron come into general use, cutting down considerably = the use=20 of copper and bronze?

The precedence of iron was postulated, not only because of the = simpler=20 technological process involved in manufacturing the metal, as compared = with=20 bronze, and the widespread presence of iron ore, but also because of the = evidence provided by the work executed. The stones for pyramids were cut = in=20 square blocks during the Old Kingdom-copper or bronze tools would not = have cut=20 the limestone rock. Sarcophagi of granite with carved sharp corners of = perfect=20 angles and knife-like edges and plumb-straight lines, sculptures with = finely cut=20 lines of eyelids and lips dating from the Fourth Dynasty, and the sharp = lines of=20 hieroglyphics cut into granite and basalt, both very hard stones, and = into=20 diorite, the steely stone, hardest of them all, indicate that a medium = as hard=20 as steel was employed. A modern sculptor would scoff at the idea that = anything=20 less than hard steel could even scratch these stones which blunt the = steel=20 chisel after a few strokes.

Actually various objects wrought of iron were discovered in the Egypt = of the=20 Old Kingdom, and even in pre-dynastic Egypt. At Gerzah, some fifty miles = south=20 of Cairo, iron beads were found and identified as belonging to = pre-dynastic=20 times (20). An iron chisel was found between the stones of the Great = Pyramid of=20 the Fourth Dynasty (2 1 ). A number of chisels and other tools dating = from the=20 Fifth Dynasty were found in Saqqara not far from Cairo (22). Several = pieces of a=20 pickax from the Sixth Dynasty were unearthed at Abusir (23), and a heap = of=20 broken tools from the same period at Dahshur (24); a lump of iron dust, = probably=20 a wedge, was discovered at Abydos (25).

Most of these objects showed a nickel content, suggesting that they = were made=20 of meteoric iron. The Great Pyramid and Abydos pieces contained "traces = of=20 nickel," but the analyses were not conclusive. Meteoric iron does not = require=20 extraction from the ore (smelting). If only meteoric iron was used, and = no=20 extraction from the ore was undertaken, the process of manufacturing = cannot be=20 regarded as complete and the Iron Age had not yet begun. On the other = hand,=20 meteoric iron is more difficult to hammer into shape than iron from ore. = Some=20 scholars stress that geologists have collected only a few hundred tons = of=20 meteoric iron, largely in the Western Hemisphere, and hence, as long as = the=20 source was scarce, the real Iron Age could not begin. Others think that = man, who=20 has used metals for only five or six thousand years, had at his disposal = at the=20 time he learned to use metal the meteorites that had fallen during = hundreds of=20 millions of years.

However, one or two iron objects of the Sixth Dynasty are declared to = contain=20 no nickel and therefore to be not of meteoric origin. This means that = already in=20 the Old Kingdom the process of smelting iron ore was known. If the first = successful attempt to smelt iron from the ore is to be regarded as the = beginning=20 of the Iron Age, then the Iron Age had already started at that early = date. But=20 the question remains, Why did iron extracted from ore not come into = general use,=20 if the smelting process was known? And generally, why did the Bronze Age = come=20 first and the Iron Age second? Here we have learned that at least it was = not=20 because of lack of skill that iron was not utilized to a greater extent = during=20 the Old and Middle Kingdoms.

II. BRONZE AND IRON AFTER THE FALL OF THE MIDDLE = KINGDOM

The historical parts -of the Scriptures, covering the period from the = Exodus=20 to the return from Exile, present Palestine in a simultaneous iron and = bronze=20 civilization. Copper and bronze were used for many purposes for which = they are=20 not used today, but iron was a familiar metal and its manufacture was a = familiar=20 process. Barzel (iron) and nechoshet (copper, bronze) = are=20 mentioned equally often in the Scriptures.

The Israelites, on arriving in Palestine after their wandering in the = desert,=20 found iron being used by the inhabitants of the land (the iron bed of = Og, king=20 of Bashan; the iron vessels of Jericho). But as soon as the process of = conquest=20 was interrupted by the Philistine-Amalekite bloc, the Israelites were = barred=20 from the production of tools and had no access to the mining regions = (1). When=20 in need of the work of a smith, the Israelites had to go down to the = valley of=20 the Philistines. The Philistines used bronze for armor but iron for = spearheads=20 (2). The Canaanites had iron chariots, the Israelites had none (3).

Because of these conditions objects of metal were scarce in the hills = occupied by the Israelite tribes, and not many of them have been left = for=20 archaeologists to find. In the Shefala (the coast) of the Philistines = iron, left=20 unprotected, rusts away in a few years, and only under especially = favorable=20 conditions would it be preserved for thousands of years. Such favorable=20 conditions prevailed in Gezer.

"A curious exception to the total absence of iron in the earlier = Semitic=20 periods must however be mentioned. At the very bottom of the sloping = part of the=20 Water-passage were found two wedge-shaped lumps of iron, apparently = parts of=20 axe-blades or hoes. How these had got down to their resting-place, which = was=20 sealed up some four or five hundred years before the use of iron became = general,=20 is not easily explained" (4).

As has been said before, the excavator of Gezer changed the ages of = the=20 Semitic periods of his former excavations by some five hundred years. = The iron=20 blades of Gezer date most probably from the time of the Judges when = Gezer was a=20 Philistine-Amalekite city.

In the days when the Amu-Hyksos ruled Egypt from Auaris their policy = with=20 respect to metal manufacturing must have been similar to that employed = in=20 Palestine. An example of an iron tool from Egypt corresponding to the = iron=20 blades of Gezer is a chisel found together with a ferrule of a hoe = handle near=20 Esnah; these pieces date from the Seventeenth Dynasty, at the end of the = Hyksos=20 domination (5).

In the last part of the eleventh century, when the Israelites under = Saul and=20 David achieved independence, they reentered the Iron and Bronze Ages. = David took=20 in Damascus "exceeding much brass" (6). Chariots and bows (II Samuel = 1:18)=20 became the new war equipment of the Israelites, when "the people of the = bow"=20 (7), i.e., the Amu or the Amalekites, lost their imperial position. = Swords and=20 shields were made of bronze ("brass"), but agricultural implements, = "harrows of=20 iron" and "axes of iron," were made of the gray metal (8).

For the building of the house of worship David prepared "iron in = abundance=20 for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and = brass in=20 abundance without weight." Each of the metals had its proper use ("iron = for=20 things of iron, brass for things of brass"). The princes of Israel gave = their=20 share for the erection of the house: eighteen thousand talents of copper = and=20 bronze and one hundred thousand talents of iron, which proves that iron = was of=20 more common use than copper and bronze (9). Changes on the political = scene were=20 accompanied by the acquisition of metal manufacture by the Israelites; = with the=20 end of the Amalekite domination the Israelites came into possession of = sources=20 of copper and iron in the Edomite region of the Araba and other places, = and they=20 learned artistic metal working from the Phoenicians and from their = compatriots=20 living in the vicinity of the Phoenician cities (10).

The Araba mining district, between the Dead Sea and the Aqaba Gulf, = with=20 Sela, or Petra, at its center, was under active exploitation in the days = of=20 David and Solomon. It bore the name of the Valley of the Smiths, and the = Kenites=20 or Kenizzites living there were the smiths who supplied the arsenal of = the=20 allied Amalekites with weapons, before the latter's downfall and the = conquest of=20 the valley by David. The district is rich in cupriferous minerals and = iron ore=20 (oxides). In recent years it has been explored by N. Glueck (11). Ruins = of=20 smelting furnaces are found scattered along the valley; copper and iron = were=20 processed in them in the days of Solomon. Large iron nails actually have = been=20 unearthed and ascribed to the time of Solomon.

Solomon's harbor of Ezion-Geber on the Aqaba Gulf was an industrial = community=20 where furnaces equipped with the forced-draft system were employed in = the=20 "smelting and refining of copper and iron and the manufacturing of metal = articles for home and foreign markets" (12).

In the days of Solomon silver was brought in large quantities in = ships from=20 afar, setting off another metal revolution, as we may read in the = Scriptures and=20 in the inscriptions of the viziers of Hatshepsut. In Palestine and in = Egypt=20 alike new luxurious buildings were erected, and in some instances silver = was=20 used for floors (13).

The rapid acquisition of metallurgical skill by the Israelites was = followed=20 by a similarly rapid process in Egypt. Thutmose III (Shishak) had twelve = hundred=20 chariots, which played an important part in the conquest of Palestine = and Syria.=20 Prisoners from Rezenu (Palestine) were employed in metal workshops in = Egypt, and=20 the Egyptians learned the craft from them, as the pictures in the tomb = of=20 Rekhmire, the vizier of Thutmose III, show (14). Copper was brought as = tribute=20 from Syria and Cyprus, and mining activity in the district of Sinai was = resumed.=20 In the list of tribute from one of Thutmose III's campaigns in Syria = vessels of=20 iron (bia) are mentioned (15).

A list of the temple treasures of Qatna, drawn up some time before = the=20 conquest by Thutmose III, includes seven objects of iron, six of which = were set=20 in gold (16). This does not mean that iron was particularly scarce. Iron = kept in=20 temples was of meteoric origin. The word bia means metal in = general but=20 more specifically iron or "the metal of heaven." Meteorites were held in = veneration in many sanctuaries: in the temple of Astarte at Tyre, in the = temple=20 of Amon in Thebes, in Delphi, in Mexican temples, and to the present day = in=20 Mecca (17). Because of its origin the meteorite iron was set in gold and = kept in=20 the temple of Qatna, as it was in other places.

The various peoples in the lands around the Mediterranean had their=20 preferences for one or the other metal. In most cases the natural = distribution=20 of ore dictated whether the preference would be for copper or for = iron.

In the ninth-century palace of Assurnasirpal and Shalmaneser III at = Nimrud,=20 in which Tiglath-Pileser also dwelt in the second half of the eighth = century,=20 spearheads, arrowheads, axes, and sickles of iron were found; "hoards of = iron"=20 were unearthed in Khorsabad and Nineveh. The ore for this iron was mined = in the=20 Tiyari hills northeast of Nineveh and in the Chalybes region southeast = of the=20 Black Sea; in about -881 a rich load of iron was sent from the latter = place to=20 Assurnasirpil in Nineveh. This region was within the dominion of the = Chaldeans;=20 we would therefore expect to find mention of iron already in the earlier = portions of the Boghazkeui archives. And in fact there is "a long list = of=20 mentions of iron in these documents, which reach down to the end of the = Hittite=20 Empire about -1200 . . . Here iron is the common metal, not the bronze = to which=20 one is accustomed in other lands of the Near East" (18).

The Phoenicians of the Syrian shore, because of their closeness to = Cyprus=20 with its rich copper mines, were not fond of ironwork, though iron, too, = was=20 occasionally worked there in small quantities. It is no wonder that most = of the=20 metal found in Ras Shamra across the strait from Cyprus was bronze; yet = rusted=20 iron objects were found in Ras Shamra too (19).

One of the main arguments in support of the theory that the = Mycennaean Age=20 antedated that of the Homeric epics is based on the assumption that the=20 Mycenaean tombs belong to the Bronze Age while the Iliad and Odyssey = reflect an Iron Age. The weapons of the Homeric heroes are of = bronze, but=20 iron is mentioned forty-four times in the epics, and although, from some = references, it had been concluded that iron was rare in those times = (20), the=20 Iron Age had already superseded the Bronze Age, and steel manufacture = was=20 already known.

In the Mycenaean tombs bronze is abundant, but iron is not absent (21 = ).

As in the days of Solomon, so in the time of Homer (presumably the = eighth=20 century), Sidon was "abounding with bronze," and if the Mycenaean graves = belonged to the Carians who migrated from Ugarit or to Argive princes = who were=20 supplied with armor by the Phoenician traders, it would not be = surprising to=20 find that bronze is abundant in the tombs and iron rare.

The copper-mining region of Cyprus, Temessa, was exporting copper not = only to=20 Egypt but to the Aegaean region too, and ships sailing to Cyprus to take = on=20 copper sometimes brought iron there (22).

Because of this distribution of deposits, with large centers of = copper in=20 Cyprus and in Sinai and the poor iron ore of Egypt, bronze was the chief = metal=20 of Phoenicia and Egypt, but iron was more in use in and around Assyria = and=20 Chaldea.

A correspondent of the el-Amarna period, Tushratta of Mitanni, wrote = to his=20 son-in-law Amenhotep III that he was sending him a sacred knife = (mittu)=20 of iron and iron rings covered with gold. To Akhnaton he also sent iron = rings=20 covered with gold and a dagger, the blade of which was of iron and the = handle of=20 gold set with precious stones (28). The fact that an iron dagger has a = handle of=20 gold or bronze does not necessarily mean that iron was rarer than gold = or=20 bronze. Following such reasoning, a future archaeologist, finding a = table set of=20 knives with silver handles, might think that silver was less precious in = our day=20 than steel.

Iron rings were sometimes covered with gold for the purpose of saving = the=20 gold, as is also done in our day when gold is laid over a less precious = metal.=20 In Megiddo iron tools were found beside an iron foundry; iron rings = covered with=20 gold were uncovered there too (24).

In the tomb of Tutankhamen copper is more abundant than bronze, = though the=20 Copper Age ended before the Middle Kingdom. A steel dagger set in a gold = handle=20 was found there together with a few small objects of iron (25). At this = time=20 the. process of controlling the carbon content of iron was perfected, at = least=20 in the north, so that a dagger blade of tempered steel was sharper than = one of=20 bronze, and could also compare favorably in flexibility and durability. = In all=20 ages the secret of tempering steel brought fame first to one place, then = to=20 another--in later times Damascus and Castilian blades were superior to = the=20 products of other localities.

When the Ethiopians superseded the Libyans in Egypt a new source of = iron was=20 opened up to this country in the south (26). Slag from iron ore, found = in heaps=20 in Meroe in Nubia is ascribed to this period, which is often regarded as = the=20 beginning of the real Iron Age in Egypt. Tools and small iron foundries = were=20 discovered in Egypt of the Ethiopian Dynasty. The Assyrian conquest of = Egypt was=20 carried on with iron arms, and Assyrian tools made of iron were found in = Egypt=20 (27). Iron is not among the booty that Assurbanipal took in Egypt in = about -663,=20 but the same king enumerated spoils of iron taken in Syria (28). The = general=20 impression is that nations which used iron, especially for armor, were = able to=20 subdue nations that employed bronze. The Assyrian conquest of Phoenician = cities,=20 the Ethiopian conquest of Egypt, the long contest between Assyria and = Ethiopia=20 over Egypt are examples.

With the beginning of the Nineteenth, i.e., the Twenty-sixth, = Dynasty, the=20 Ethiopian source of iron in Egypt was eliminated. Greeks of Daphnae, and = later=20 of Naucratis in Egypt, reduced iron ore to ingots, from which they = manufactured=20 tools. Iron tools were confined mainly to Greek settlements, a situation = very=20 characteristic of Egypt (29). Not even from later times--of the = Persians,=20 Ptolemies, or Romans--has there remained so much iron in Egypt as from = these=20 Greek settlements of the Saitic period (30). But as the hematite of = Egypt is of=20 poor quality, domestic iron could best be employed for objects that did = not=20 require fine material: fences, buckles, chains, and the like. Ramses II = imported=20 iron of a better grade from the north.

A letter in the Boghazkeui archives, probably written by Hattusilis=20 (Nebuchadnezzar) to Ramses II, reads:

"What concerns the pure iron, about which thou hast written to me, = there is=20 no pure iron in Kiswadna in my storehouse which is closed. The time was=20 unfavorable to make iron. But I ordered in writing to prepare iron" (31 = ).

Thus Hattusilis and Ramses II lived in a fully developed Iron Age. = The reason=20 an order was placed for iron from the north at a time when iron was = smelted by=20 the Greek mercenaries in Egypt was because of the difference in the = qualities of=20 the metal smelted in Egypt and in the north.

Jeremiah at the same time asked (15:12): "Shall iron break the = northern iron=20 and the steel?"

In that epoch iron was brought even from the western Mediterranean: = Tharshish=20 traded with Tyre in silver, iron, tin, and lead (Ezekiel 27:12). "Bright = iron"=20 was also brought from Java (Ionia) (32).

Iron and bronze enriched the language with metaphors: "I have made = thee ...=20 an iron pillar, and brazen walls" (Jeremiah 1:18); and Ezekiel (4:3)=20 symbolically built "a wall of iron." "I am your wall of iron," Ramses II = said of=20 himself (38).

It is also acknowledged that "by the time of the XIX Dynasty (c. = 1300-1200=20 B.C.) iron had become the regular metal at Gerar in south Palestine, of = which=20 were manufactured knives, dagger-knives, spearheads, lance-heads, = chisels,=20 borers, hooks and sickles" (34). Actually the Nineteenth Dynasty ruled = in the=20 seventh-sixth centuries.

Because the Egyptians had at their disposal the deposits of Sinai, = and the=20 Phoenicians the deposits of Cyprus, they were skilled in the manufacture = of=20 copper and bronze articles (35). This remained true for Egypt until the = days of=20 the Moslem conquest (36), and although the mines of Sinai have long = since ceased=20 operation, fondness for copper utensils is apparent in Egypt even = today.

Gold, silver, and electrum (a mixture of gold and silver) are noble = metals,=20 not corrodible, and Egyptians who knew the corrodible quality of iron = would not=20 have included objects made of it among the funeral furniture and = utensils of the=20 dead, especially a noble person, still less a pharaoh: the purpose of=20 mummification was to prolong the sepulchral life of the deceased. As the = tombs=20 built for the nobles are among the main sources of archaeological finds = of=20 metals in Egypt, the rare occurrence of iron smelted from ore can be = explained=20 to some extent by its deliberate omission in the choice of objects for = the=20 funeral chambers.

Besides a natural fondness for shiny copper and bronze in preference = to iron,=20 a religious tabu may have played a role in the slow progress of iron. A = tabu=20 against using iron for certain purposes is known to have existed in=20 Palestine--the stones of the Israelite altar must have been shaped = without the=20 use of iron (37); a similar tabu was observed in Greek and Roman cults = (38), it=20 was and still is widespread (39). In Egypt iron was called "bones of = Seth," and=20 played a role in religious beliefs and superstitions. Tiny symbolic = instruments,=20 which served for "opening the mouth" of the deceased and which were made = of=20 bia, the heavenly metal, the iron that fell from the sky, were = placed=20 in tombs. They are mentioned in the Egyptian Psalms for the Dead but are = not=20 often found (40).

Religious beliefs, the natural distribution of iron and copper, the = quality=20 of iron ore, the nature of the soil under cultivation--muddy (in Egypt) = or stony=20 (in Assyria and Palestine)--were the chief factors in the competition = between=20 iron and copper.

It would be wrong to date medieval Cairo earlier than Nimrud, = Nineveh, or=20 Khorsabad of the ninth-seventh centuries before this era merely because = in these=20 places iron was found in greater quantities than in Egypt in any = age.

When the Ethiopians or Assyrians invaded Egypt they brought iron with = them;=20 so did the Greek mercenaries. The Greek settlements in Egypt show that = the=20 Greeks favored iron while the Egyptians favored bronze. To fix = chronology by=20 weighing the iron and bronze found is an erroneous procedure. What = matters is=20 that during the entire period under discussion in this book Egypt, like = other=20 countries, knew and used iron; it is referred to in the sources and it = is found=20 in the excavations. Equally important is the fact that, in its relations = with=20 foreign countries, be it tribute from Syria to Thutmose III or a load of = iron=20 ordered by Ramses II, the New Kingdom of Egypt was in the middle of the = Iron Age=20 of the Near and Middle East. On the other hand, the Scriptures and the = classic=20 authors from Homer on down demonstrate by scores of references that iron = did not=20 displace bronze in many uses, especially in armor, until near the close = of the=20 period we call the Hellenic Age of ancient history. In Egypt the = "progress was=20 much the same though rather slower," and "the change was not = accomplished till=20 Roman times" (41).

It can be said in conclusion that the partition of historical periods = into=20 ages of bronze and iron, with divisions of each of these ages into = Early,=20 Middle, and Late, with subdivisions of each of them into I, II, and III, = and=20 with a further differentiation of each of them into a and b may be = defended as a=20 method of describing the succession of ages for a particular country, = but it=20 cannot bring clarity to comparative archaeology since iron did not = progress at=20 the same pace in all countries of the Mediterranean basin. Conventional = history=20 did not claim such simultaneity, but conventional chronology enmeshed = itself in=20 many conflicting statements by employing metal ages and their = subdivisions for=20 synchronizing historical periods in the countries of the ancient = world.

REFERENCES

1. Christian Thomsen. Cf. Hesiod, Works and = Days.
2.=20 A. Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, = p.=20 193.
3. Lucretius differed on this point. He wrote: "The use of = bronze was=20 known before iron, because it is more easily worked and there is greater = store.=20 With bronze men tilled the soil of the earth, with bronze they stirred = up the=20 waves of war .... Then by small degrees the sword of iron gained ground = . . .=20 then with iron they began to break the soil of the earth," De Rerum = Natura=20 (trans. W. H. D. Rouse; London. 1924),128lff.
4. W. F. Hume, = The=20 Distribution of Iron Ores in Egypt (Cairo, 1909). See also = his=20 Geology of Egypt (1925-37), 2 vols.
5. Hill, A History = of=20 Cyprus, 1, 82.
6. In recent years it has been conjectured that = alluvial=20 fragments of tin were brought down by winter streams from the Syrian = hills to=20 the neighborhood of Byblos and were gathered in the dry beds during the=20 summer.
7. Isaiah 1:25. Compare Numbers 31:22.
8. Iliad, = XI, 25,=20 34; XVIII, 474, 565; XX, 271, etc.
9. Herodotus, III, 115.
10. = Quoted by=20 Strabo.
11. Pliny, III, 2, 9; Diodorus, V, 2.
12. Lucas, = Ancient=20 Egyptian Materials, p. 211.
13. H. Garland and C. O. Bannister,=20 Ancient Egyptian Metallurgy (London, 1927), pp. 85-86.
14. = Ibid., p.=20 5.
15. This view already had its proponents in the last century. Cf. = St. John=20 V. Day The Prehistoric Use of Iron and Steel (London, = 1877).
16. Cf.=20 H. C. Richardson, "Iron, Prehistoric and Ancient," American Journal = of=20 Archaeology XXXVIII (1934), 555.
17. R. A. Smith, "Archaeology, = Iron=20 Age," Encyclopaedia Britannica (14th ed.), 11, 252.
18. Lucas, = Ancient=20 Egyptian Materials, p. 406.
19. Sir W. M. Flinders Petrie, "The = Metals=20 in Egypt," Ancient Egypt, II (1915), 18.
20. G. A. = Wainwright, "The=20 Coming of Iron," Antiquity, X (1936), 7.
21. R. W. H. Vyse,=20 Operations Carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837=20 (London, 1840-42), I, 275-76.
22. Olshausen, Zeitschrift fur = Ethnologie, 1907, p.373.
23. Found by G. Maspero in 1882.
24. = See=20 Olshausen, Zeitschtift fur Ethnologie 1907, p. 374.
25. Sir = W. M.=20 Flinders Petrie, Abydos, II (Egyptian Exploration Fund,=20 Memoirs, Vol. 24; London, 1903), 33.

1. I Samuel 13:19.
2. I Samuel 17:5-7
3. Joshua 17:16-18; = Judges=20 1:19.
4. Macalister, The Excavation of Gezer (1902-09), II,=20 269.
5. Wainwright, Antiquity, X (1936), 8.
6. II Samuel=20 8:8.
7. Gardiner, Admonitions, 2:2.
8. II Samuel = 12:31.
9. 1=20 Chronicles 22:3; 22:14; 29:2; 29:7.
10. II Chronicles 2:7.
11. N. = Glueck,=20 The Other Side of the Jordan (New Haven, 1940), pp. SI = ff.
12. Ibid., p. 94.
13. See Ages in Chaos I, = 123.
14: N. De=20 Garis Davies, The Tomb of Rekh-mi-re at Thebes 43), Vols. I and = II.
15. Breasted, Records Vol. II, Sec. 537.
16. C. = Virolleaud,=20 Syria, Revue d'art oriental et d'archeologie, IX 1928), 92, = Qatna=20 (el-Mishrife) was excavated by Du Mesnil du Buisson.
17. Wainwright,=20 Antiquity, X (1936), 6.
18. Ibid., 14.
19. Schaeffer, = Syria,=20 Revue d'art oriental et d'archeologie, X (1929), = 292.
20.=20 Iliad, XXIII, 826ff.
21. Also iron of Late Minoan I was found in = Greece:=20 Forsdyke in Annual of the British School at Athens, = XXVIII=20 (1926-27), 296.
22. Odyssey, I, 182ff. The copper mines of = Cyprus,=20 worked since the days of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and in the time of = Homer, are=20 still in operation.
23. Letters 22 and 25.
24. "One iron object, a = ring,=20 has been attributed to the Late Bronze II period. It is not later in any = event.=20 Four iron objects came from Early Iron I burial, a dagger blade, a ring = overlaid=20 with gold, a fragment of a knife blade, and a bracelet." Guy, = Megiddo Tombs,=20 p. 162. On the iron foundry of Megiddo and on iron implements, see=20 Schumacher, Tell el-Mutesellim, I, 130-32, and Watzinger, ed., = Tell=20 el-Mutesellim, II, 80-81. The date of this foundry is "uncertain, = but in=20 any case is probably before 926 B.C." Wainwright, Antiquity, X = (1936).=20 20.
25. Carter and Mace, The Tomb of Tutankh-Amen, Vol. II, = Plates=20 77B, 82A, 87B; ibid., Vol. III, Plate 27.
26. Petrie, Ancient = Egypt,=20 II (1915), 22.
27. Ibid., p. 22; also Petrie, Six Temples at = Thebes, 1896 (London, 1897), p. 18f.
28. "The absence of = iron from=20 the list is in noticeable contrast to the harvest that had been garnered = by the=20 Assyrians for two hundred years from the cities of Syria and Palestine." = Wainwright, Antiquity, X (1936), 22.
29. "Rather later iron = tools=20 are common in the Greek settlement of Naukratis, but they do not appear = in=20 purely Egyptian sites." Petrie, Ancient Egypt, II (1915), = 22.
30.=20 Garland and Bannister, Ancient Egyptian Metallurgy p. = 17.
31. B.=20 Meissner, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen = Gesellschaft,=20 LXXII (1918), 61.
32. Ezekiel 27:19.
33. A. Erman-A. M. = Blackman,=20 The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians (London, 1927), p. 268. = Cf. A.=20 Alt, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen=20 Gesellschaft, LXXXVI (1933), 40.
34. Wainwright, = Antiquity,=20 X (1936), 19.
35. T. A. Rickard, Man and Metals (New = York,=20 1932), I, 240.
36. "Copper and bronze were used in Egypt for arrow = tips up to=20 Arab times." Garland and Bannister, Ancient Egyptian Metallurgy, = p.=20 104.
37. Deuteronomy 27:5.
38. See literature in H. B. Walters,=20 Catalogue of the Bronzes, Greek, Roman and Etruscan, in the = British=20 Museum (London, 1899) ...
39. J. G. Frazer, The Golden = Bough=20 (1911-35), I, 172.
40. Wainwright, Antiquity, X (1936), = 11.
41.=20 Ibid., X (1936), 21.

PENSEE Journal V

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