History of ferrous metallurgy

History of ferrous metallurgy
[edit] Wrought iron
A circle, with a short, simple arrow shape extending diagonally upwards and rightwards from its edge
The symbol for Mars has been used since antiquity to represent iron.
An pillar, slightly fluted, with some ornamentation at its top. It is black, slightly weathered to a dark brown near the base. It is around 7 meters (22 feet) tall. It stands upon a raised circular base of stone, and is surrounded by a short, square fence.
The Delhi iron pillar is an example of the iron extraction and processing methodologies of India. The iron pillar at Delhi has withstood corrosion for the last 1600 years.

Iron objects of great age are much rarer than objects made of gold or silver due to the ease of corrosion of iron.[28] Beads made of meteoric iron in 3500 B.C. or earlier were found in Gerzah, Egypt by G. A. Wainwright.[29] The beads contain 7.5% nickel, which is a signature of meteoric origin since iron found in the Earth's crust has very little to no nickel content. Meteoric iron was highly regarded due to its origin in the heavens and was often used to forge weapons and tools or whole specimens placed in churches.[29] Items that were likely made of iron by Egyptians date from 2500 to 3000 BC.[28] Iron had a distinct advantage over bronze in warfare implements. It was much harder and more durable than bronze, although susceptible to rust.

The first iron production started in the Middle Bronze Age but it took several centuries before iron displaced bronze. Samples of smelted iron from Asmar, Mesopotamia and Tall Chagar Bazaar in northern Syria were made sometime between 2700 and 3000 BC.[30] The Hittites appear to be the first to understand the production of iron from its ores and regard it highly in their society.[24] They began to smelt iron between 1500 and 1200 BC and the practice spread to the rest of the Near East after their empire fell in 1180 BC.[30] The subsequent period is called the Iron Age. Iron smelting, and thus the Iron Age, reached Europe two hundred years later and arrived in Zimbabwe, Africa by the 8th century.[30]

Artifacts from smelted iron occur in India from 1800–1200 BC,[31] and in the Levant from about 1500 BC (suggesting smelting in Anatolia or the Caucasus).[32][33]

The Book of Genesis, fourth chapter, verse 22 contains the first mention of iron in the Old Testament of the Bible; "Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron."[28] Other verses allude to iron mining (Job 28:2), iron used as a stylus (Job 19:24), furnace (Deuteronomy 4:20), chariots (Joshua 17:16), nails (I Chron. 22:3), saws and axes (II Sam. 12:31), and cooking utensils (Ezekiel 4:3).[34] The metal is also mentioned in the New Testament, for example in Acts chapter 12 verse 10, "[Peter passed through] the iron gate that leadeth unto the city" of Antioch.[35]

According to Pliny the Elder, iron use was common in the Roman era. He reported in his "Natural History" chapter 39 that iron was used to help "construct houses, cleave rocks, and perform so many other useful offices of life" and that iron was used in "wars, murders, and robberies."[29]

The Quran referred to Iron 1400 years ago.






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