Editing Iron Age (section)

===Ancient Near East===
The Iron Age in the [[ancient Near East]] is believed to have begun after the discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in Anatolia, the [[Caucasus]] or [[Southeast Europe]] {{circa|1300&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}.<ref name="Waldbaum-1978"/> The earliest [[bloomery]] smelting of iron is found at [[Tell Hammeh]], Jordan {{circa|930&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} (determined from [[C14 dating|<sup>14</sup>C dating]]).

The Early Iron Age in the Caucasus area is divided conventionally into two periods: Early Iron I ({{circa|1100&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), and Early Iron II (10th–9th centuries&nbsp;BC). Many of the material culture traditions of the Late Bronze Age continued into the Early Iron Age. Thus, there is a sociocultural continuity during this transitional period.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/iron-age-caucasia |title=Iron Age Caucasia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411083117/https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/iron-age-caucasia |archive-date=11 April 2022 |via=encyclopedia.com |encyclopedia=Ancient Europe, 8000 B.C. to A.D. 1000: Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World}}</ref>

In Iran, the earliest actual iron artifacts were unknown until the 9th century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web | title=Iron Age | website=Encyclopædia Iranica | date=2006-12-15 | url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/iron-age | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616081236/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/iron-age | archive-date=2022-06-16 | url-status=live }}</ref> For Iran, the best studied archaeological site during this time period is [[Teppe Hasanlu]].

====West Asia====
In the [[Mesopotamian]] states of [[Sumer]], [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]] and [[Assyria]], the initial use of iron dates to perhaps 3000&nbsp;BC.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Iron Age}}</ref> One of the earliest smelted iron artifacts known is a dagger with an iron blade found in a [[Hattians|Hattic]] tomb in [[Anatolia]], dating from 2500&nbsp;BC.<ref name=cowen>{{cite web|first =Richard |last =Cowen |title = Chapter 5: The Age of Iron|url = http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/cowen/~GEL115/115CH5.html |website = Essays on Geology, History, and People|publisher = UC Davis|url-status=dead|date = April 1999|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180119085111/http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/cowen/~GEL115/115CH5.html|archive-date = 19 January 2018}}</ref> The widespread use of iron weapons which replaced bronze weapons rapidly disseminated throughout the [[Near East]] by the beginning of the 1st millennium&nbsp;BC.

The development of iron smelting was once attributed to the [[Hittites]] of Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age. As part of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, the [[Bronze Age collapse]] saw the slow, comparatively continuous spread of iron-working technology in the region. It was long believed that the success of the Hittite Empire during the Late Bronze Age had been based on the advantages entailed by the "monopoly" on ironworking at the time.<ref name="Muhly-2003">{{cite book |last=Muhly |first=James D. |chapter=Metalworking/Mining in the Levant |pages= 174–183 |title=Near Eastern Archaeology |editor=Suzanne Richard |year=2003}}</ref> Accordingly, the invading [[Sea Peoples]] would have been responsible for spreading the knowledge through that region. The idea of such a "Hittite monopoly" has been examined more thoroughly and no longer represents a scholarly consensus.<ref name="Muhly-2003"/> While there are some iron objects from Bronze Age [[Anatolia]], the number is comparable to iron objects found in Egypt and other places of the same time period; and only a small number of these objects are weapons.<ref>{{cite book |last=Waldbaum |first=Jane C. |title=From Bronze to Iron |location=Gothenburg |publisher=Paul Astöms |year=1978 |pages=56–58}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="float:center; margin:0 0 1em 1em; clear:right;"
|+Early examples and distribution of non-precious metal finds<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.wolftree.freeserve.co.uk/Phoenician/Early_Metalworking.html |first=Alex |last=Webb |title=Metalworking in Ancient Greece |work= Wolf tree | via = Freeserve |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071201162453/http://www.wolftree.freeserve.co.uk/Phoenician/Early_Metalworking.html |archive-date=2007-12-01}}</ref>{{self-published source|certain=y|reason=Freeserve is (rather was) merely an ISP, not a "work"|date=October 2023}}
! style="width:130px;" | Date
! style="width:60px;" | Crete
! style="width:60px;" | Aegean
! style="width:60px;" | Greece
! style="width:60px;" | Cyprus
! style="width:80px;" | Sub-totals
! style="width:60px;" | Anatolia
! style="width:60px;" | Totals
|-
| 1300–1200 BC
|5
|2
|9
|0
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|16
|33
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|49
|-style="background:#FFFFDD;"
| {{nowrap|'''Total Bronze Age'''}}
|5
|2
|9
|0
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|16
|33
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|49
|-
| 1200–1100 BC
|1
|2
|8
|26
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|37
|N/A
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|37
|-
| 1100–1000 BC
|13
|3
|31
|33
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|80
|N/A
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|80
|-
| 1000–900 BC
|37+
|30
|115
|29
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|211
|N/A
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|211
|-style="background:#FFFFDD;"
| '''Total Iron Age'''
|51
|35
|163
|88
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|328
|N/A
|style="background:#DDEEFF;"|328
|}

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 from: -1300 till: -600 shift:(0,5) text:[[Ancient Near East]]
 from: -1300 till: -1000 text:Iron Age I
 from: -1292 till: -1070 shift:(0,5) text:[[Ramesside Period|Ramesside Egypt]]
 from: -1000 till: -600 text:Iron Age II
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 from: -600 till: -300 text:[[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]]
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Dates are approximate
* {{color box|#f2d97f}}{{color box|#ffd880}} Prehistoric (or [[proto-historic]]) Iron Age {{color box|#cccccc}} Historic Iron Age

====Egypt====
{{main|Third Intermediate Period of Egypt}}
[[File:Aflo 178168414.jpg|thumb|Sword with the name of Merneptah, Ugarit.<ref>{{Cite web |title=写真素材・ストックフォトのアフロ {{!}} Sword with the name of Merneptah, Ugarit, from the living quarters … |url=https://www.aflo.com/ja/contents/178168414 |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=写真素材・動画素材ならアフロ |language=ja}}</ref>]]

Iron metal is singularly scarce in collections of Egyptian [[antiquities]]. Bronze remained the primary material there until the conquest by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] in 671 BC. The explanation of this would seem to be that the relics are in most cases the paraphernalia of [[tomb]]s, the funeral vessels and vases, and iron being considered an impure metal by the [[ancient Egypt]]ian<nowiki/>s it was never used in their manufacture of these or for any religious purposes. It was attributed to Seth, the spirit of evil who according to Egyptian tradition governed the central deserts of Africa.<ref name="EB1911" />  In the [[Abusir|Black Pyramid of Abusir]], dating before 2000&nbsp;BC, [[Gaston Maspero]] found some pieces of iron. In the funeral text of [[Pepi I]], the metal is mentioned.<ref name="EB1911" /> A sword bearing the name of pharaoh [[Merneptah]] as well as a battle axe with an iron blade and gold-decorated bronze shaft were both found in the excavation of Ugarit.<ref name="cowen" /> A [[Tutankhamun's meteoric iron dagger|dagger with an iron blade found in Tutankhamun's tomb]], 13th century BC, was examined recently and found to be of meteoric origin.<ref>{{cite journal | title =The meteoritic origin of Tutankhamun's iron dagger blade | journal =Meteoritics & Planetary Science | volume =51 | issue =7 | page =1301 | doi =10.1111/maps.12664| year =2016 | last1 =Comelli | first1 =Daniela | last2 = d'Orazio | first2 =Massimo | last3 =Folco | first3 =Luigi | last4 = El-Halwagym| first4 =Mahmud | bibcode =2016M&PS...51.1301C |display-authors= etal| doi-access =free}}  Free full text available.</ref><ref>{{cite news | last =Walsh | first = Declan | title =King Tut's Dagger Made of 'Iron From the Sky,' Researchers Say | newspaper =[[The New York Times]] | location =NYC | quote = ...the blade's composition of iron, nickel and cobalt was an approximate match for a meteorite that landed in northern Egypt. The result "strongly suggests an extraterrestrial origin"... | date =2 June 2016 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/world/middleeast/king-tuts-dagger-made-of-iron-from-the-sky-researchers-say.html | access-date =4 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last =Panko | first = Ben | title =King Tut's dagger made from an ancient meteorite | newspaper =[[Science (journal)|Science]] | publisher =[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] | date =2 June 2016 | url = https://www.science.org/content/article/king-tut-s-dagger-made-ancient-meteorite | access-date =5 June 2016}}</ref>