Although bridges, structures, cars and ships come to mind when we think of steel, many millennia ago before steel was forged, iron was used to create weapons, armor, knives, pots, hooks and many other products. In fact, the earliest iron was discovered in meteorites and later extracted from the Earth to produce steel.
King Tut’s Dagger: Archaeologists determined the dagger found in Tutankhamun’s tomb was created from iron that came from a meteorite, since it had a higher nickel content than if the material was dug up and smelted. The ancient Egyptians called this iron-nickel alloy biz-n-pt., translating to “metal from Heaven.”
Steel in India and Central Asia: A variety of products were created including sewing needs and swords. Both were stronger and sharper.
Stronger than Bronze: The Chalybes people forged iron weapons to use in place of weaker bronze. They realized stronger weapons could be made form putting iron ore into a hearth and hammering it into shape.
The First Miners: It wasn’t until 2,500 BC that tribesmen found the first metal material in the ground, mixed in with stones.
The Iron Age: 700 years after the first miners dug up metal from the ground a process was developed to separate the metal from the ore.
The highlighted history shows only a glimpse of what steel was used for. When you’re starting a project that requires steel, look no further than Texas Iron & Metal. We’re proud of our own history of providing the steel, pipe and industrial products our customers need.