Near East - Iron Age

The Iron Age in the Ancient Near East is believed to have begun with the discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in Anatolia or the Caucasus in the 2nd millenium (ca. 1300 B.C.) From here it spread rapidly throughout the Near East as iron weapons replaced bronze weapons by the early 1st millennium. Anatolia's use of iron (from 2000 BC) had developed into the manufacture of weaponry superior to bronze.

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The use of iron weapons by the Hittites was believed to have been a major factor in the rapid rise of the Hittite Empire. Because the area in which iron technology first developed was near the Aegean, the technology spread early into both Asia and Europe, aided by Hittite expansion. The oldest known article of iron shaped by hammering is a dagger found in Egypt that was made before 1350 B.C. This dagger is believed not to have been made in Egypt but to be of Hittite workmanship.