Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

IRON

A malleable metal derived from common oxide ores such as hematite and limonite. It is the primary ingredient in wrought iron and steel. The working and use of iron is evidenced artifactually in the early 3rd millennium b.c. These early artifacts are typically high in nickel content and are apparently made of meteoric iron. The celestial origins of early iron is indicated in Old Kingdom Egyptian references to it as the “metal of heaven” and in the Sumerian cuneiform signs for “sky” and “fire” used to designate the metal in Mesopotamia. Artifacts were made of terrestrial iron in Anatolia by the middle of the 3rd millennium. Iron technology was greatly advanced by the Hittites in the 2nd millennium. Currently, the earliest physical evidence of iron mining and smelting in Canaan is from the end of the 2nd millennium at Timnah. In the 1st millennium iron became the chief utilitarian metal in the Levant, hence the designation of the period as the Iron Age.

The utilization of iron supplanted bronze as a result of technological advance, the properties of the metal, and economic factors. The development of iron was initially limited by pyrotechnology. Ancient furnaces which could melt copper from cuprous ores at 1083°C were not hot enough to melt iron from ferrous ores at 1538°C (2800°F). With a draft from blowpipes and bellows, sufficient heat could be generated to melt away impurities and to create spongelike “Iron blooms” of ca. 10 kg. (22 lb.) which had to be reheated and hammered to knock away impurities of slag and charcoal, and to make wrought iron. The iron product produced in this manner was not as tough as hardened bronze and could not be cast in molds, since it was not liquified. The use of charcoal in shaft furnaces which created a reducing atmosphere of carbon monoxide made it possible to efficiently separate iron from its oxide and carbonate ores. The subsequent steps which led to the wide expansion of iron working were carburization and tempering. The incorporation of less than 1 percent carbon in the wrought iron produced steel. This steel, when heated white hot and rapidly cooled by quenching, produced a tempered product that could attain a hardness of 6.5 on the Mohs’ scale, surpassing the best bronze and having a much higher tensile strength and shock resistance. Ferrous metals thus could provide working edges on tools and weapons that could withstand intensive wear.

By the beginning of the 1st millennium, iron supplanted bronze as the standard utilitarian metal for most all metal items with the exception of those which were cast with intricate details and those in which aesthetics required a material other than iron. Economic factors contributed to this transition. Iron production utilized locally available ores and eliminated the need for expensive tin imports. A further advantage in iron production was that the process required only half the amount of fuel needed for bronze. The only disadvantage in ironworking was that it was more labor intensive, but this was no great obstacle since labor was cheap.

In the Bible the eponymous “father of metallurgists,” Tubal-cain, is recognized as the forebear of those who worked in bronze and iron (Gen. 4:22). The antediluvian metalworking of Tubal-cain has been variously understood as anachronistic myth, as evidence of very early metallurgical prowess lost as a result of the Flood, or most likely as the first use of the process of heating and hammering metals and their ores, initiating a technology which developed over time. According to the biblical text iron was well known in the time of Moses. In the context of the Exodus, Canaan was recognized as a place where the Israelites could exploit local iron ores (Deut. 8:9) and where they would possibly use iron weapons (Num. 35:16) and tools (Deut. 27:5). Iron is not mentioned as being employed in the manufacture of the tabernacle, but its manufacturing process was known well enough to form a figure of speech to describe the cultural experience of the Israelites in Egypt (Deut. 4:20). In the Conquest and until the Davidic monarchy, the Israelites appear to have been at a metallurgical disadvantage to the Canaanites, whose “iron chariots” were a powerful deterrent to Israelite expansion into the plains (Josh. 17:16; Judg. 1:19; 4:3). Subsequently, the Philistines, who used iron weapons like those found in 11th-century contexts at their cities of Ekron and Tell Qasile, maintained a monopoly on metallurgy and iron in particular, which helped them to dominate the Israelites (1 Sam. 13:19-22). The metallurgical monopoly was broken by King David, who infiltrated the Philistines. He stockpiled vast quantities of iron in preparation for the Jerusalem temple construction (1 Chr. 29:2-7) and also forced subject Ammonites to work for him using iron implements such as saws, picks, and axes (2 Sam. 12:31). Iron came to be widely utilized in architecture (Jer. 1:18), particularly with iron bars and nails strengthening doors (1 Chr. 22:3; Isa. 45:2). Iron tools were widely used by the Hebrews (1 Chr. 20:3) and were of considerable value (1 Chr. 29:7). In taxonomic lists, iron is listed behind gold, silver, and bronze (Josh. 6:19; 22:8; 2 Chr. 2:14; Dan. 2:33-35) but ahead of lead (Ezek. 22:20). Iron is symbolic of strength in both the OT and NT (e.g., Job 40:18; Rev. 12:5).

Bibliography. V. C. Pigott, “Near Eastern Archaeometallurgy,” in The Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century, ed. J. S. Cooper and G. M. Schwartz (Winona Lake, 1996), 139-76.

Robert W. Smith

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

IRON

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)