...Iron Age
The Iron Age is that period of historical times in which humans used iron to make tools and weapons. The Creamy Age is considered the last of the main eras in the three-period system and is preceded by the Bronze Age. The beginning of the Creamy Age varies historically depending on the geographical region, but in general it is considered the beginning of the Iron Age in the twelfth century BC, that is, between 1500 and 1000 BC in the regions of the Middle East, India and Greece, and in the eighth century BC in the regions of Central Europe, and the sixth century BC in North Zagha areas.
The Iron Age was characterized by the development of the iron industry more than other metal industries, as the development of the process of smelting and shaping iron and the availability of iron production sources made it superior to bronze and also made it cheaper in price. Which led to the replacement of bronze with iron in most industries.
the date
The Iron Age: This name is given to the stage that followed the Bronze Age, during which the use of iron became common in the manufacture of ordinary tools, especially agricultural and military tools, so long and short swords, spearheads, arrows, and axes appeared. In Anatolia, the iron industry began in the second millennium BC, at the height of the Bronze Age.
This technology gradually spread starting from the twelfth century BC in the northeastern regions of the Mediterranean basin and then in the European Balkan countries. Some attribute the superiority of the Athens and the Sea Peoples in the iron industry over their contemporaries, the Egyptians and the peoples of Mesopotamia, because they possessed iron weapons. Iron weapons did not become common until the first centuries of the first millennium BC. Scientists date the Iron Age in Central Europe and the eastern Mediterranean basin to the twelfth or eleventh century BC. The use of the term Iron Age I, II, or III, as is the case with the term Bronze Age, remains rare and is not actually used except in Cyprus and Palestine. Today, the following distribution is preferred: The First Iron Age, or the era of justice and one kingdom, extends from the twelfth century BC until the tenth century BC.
The Second Iron Age, or the era of the division of the unified kingdom into the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, extends from the ninth century BC until the early sixth century BC.
The Third Iron Age, or the Persian Age, extends from approximately 550 BC until 330 BC.
As for Anatolia, the Iron Age is the stage that witnessed the invasions of the Phrygians (a people of Indo-European origin). For Greece, it is the dark stage or the pre-geometric and early archaic stage, and in Europe it is the stage called Hallstatt and Latin. As for Egypt, the Iron Age does not exist as a term. It began in eastern Black Africa in the first centuries AD through trade with Sudan, especially with Merwa. In Iran, the Iron Age is the era of the Medes and Persians. In India and China, we find that it is considered the era of gray ceramics in India dating back to the first millennium BC, and the era of the warrior kingdoms in China, and it actually begins in the middle of the first millennium BC. In general, we can consider the late second millennium BC the beginning of the Iron Age and the first century BC its end. Until the beginning of the seventh millennium BC, all the peoples of the world lived by hunting and harvesting, and they did not know the human gatherings in the villages that began to form during the Neolithic Age.
Man's discovery of agriculture and his domestication of animals contributed to the gathering of nomads and hunter-gatherers, their settlement, and the beginning of the process of building permanent homes. This stage was considered a revolution for the ancient world. Its features began in the Near East and from there slowly spread to Europe and the Far East. But we find that the peoples of the West were still in the Neolithic Age, while the Egyptians were building the pyramids of Giza, the peoples of Mesopotamia were building the city-states of Sumer, and the Akkadians formed the first Semitic empire.
This historical comparison remains relative because when reading ancient historical books, we are sometimes surprised by the accuracy of history. Such as the history of the rule of an Assyrian king, or his conquest in Asia, or the rule of a Pharaoh in Egypt, or a Greek, Persian, or Roman battle.
But when we realize that each people has its own ways of calculating years or time, our astonishment disappears. The Greeks recorded their history starting with the date of the first Olympic Games, that is, since 776 BC, and there was a period of four years between one session and the next. Contemporary countries have adopted these traditions in holding Olympic sports tournaments. The Romans recorded their history starting from the founding of the city of Rome, that is, from the year 753 BC. We find the Easterners calculating their history based on the duration of their rulers’ reign. In addition to all of this, ancient texts and writings of all kinds have contributed to determining the history of ancient civilizations. This determination required tremendous efforts in the fields of science in general, especially with regard to prehistoric and pre-historic civilization.
Archeology does not stop at a specific date, but rather goes to the furthest reaches of time, trying to extrapolate it, observing its development, studying it, delving into its unlimited ramifications, looking forward to discovering the new - the old, the continuous, seeking to organize it scientifically and practically. Archaeologists pave the way for this by developing terms that define the stages of civilization. We find that they have sometimes dealt with it in general and given it a name that includes a historical stage that has no objective boundaries, as is the case with the Stone, Bronze, or Iron Ages, and at other times they have limited it to a location, region, dynasty, people, or A belief, as in the civilization of Tell Halaf, or Ubaid, or Sumer and the Sumerians, or Thebes, and the Thebans, or Canaan and the Canaanites, or Greece, or the Greeks, or Rome, or the Romans, or Seleucus, or the Seleucids, or Byzantium and the Byzantines.
the reviewer
Tewari, Rakesh (2003). "The origins of Iron Working in India: New evidence from the Central Ganga plain and the Eastern Vindhyas" (PDF). Antiquity. C. 77: 536–545. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-27.
Text Archived September 17, 2018 on the Wayback Machine website.
“Excavation of a Protohistoric Canoe burial site in Haldummulla – 2010”. Archived from the original on 11/13/2017.