be in working it; for, as we have seen, they were
in the habit of casting their articles of bronze. But iron is very
difficult of fusion. It was a long while before they learned how to
do that. They had therefore to learn an entirely new art--that is, to
fashion their implements of iron by hammering the heated mass.

There is no reason to suppose that iron was first discovered in Europe.
Its spread has been from the east and south to the north and west.
It, in all probability, was discovered, like bronze, in Asia. Although
evidence, both archaeological and traditional, goes to show that
bronze was in use long before iron, yet iron has been known from time
immemorial. Explain it how we will, civilization and history follow
close after the knowledge of iron. Wherever the light of history first
falls on the nations of the Old World, we find them acquainted with
iron, but such knowledge, at least on the part of the Mediterranean
nations, does not long precede history, for at that early time, iron
was still a most precious metal. It was not yet produced in sufficient
quantities to take the place of bronze; hence the prehistoric Iron Age
was there but of short duration.

Among the early Egyptians iron was known, but was probably not very
common. There is on this subject some diversity of opinion; some
believing that at the very earliest historical period they were skilled
in working it, and employed it in all the affairs of life, but others
assure us that at the most ancient period they did not really use iron,
and that bronze was the metal employed for all ordinary purposes.<4>

A wedge of iron is said to have been found in a joint between the stones
of the great pyramid. Here, then, at the dawn of historic times iron
seems to be making its way among a bronze-using people. The ancient
Chaldeans employed iron as an ornament, but not for implements. With
them it was therefore a precious metal. Among the Assyrians, iron was
largely used, and at a comparatively early date. A careful study of the
poems of Homer shows that the Greeks of nearly three thousand years ago
had a knowledge of iron, though it was a highly prized metal. But to
the north of the Mediterranean the prehistoric Iron Age was of longer
duration.

We can readily see that a knowledge of iron would spread in much the
same way as did bronze. When first introduced, it would be rare and
costly, and so would be used sparingly. Bronze axes have been found with
the e