Does iron element descended from the sky?
Iron from the heaven
Although they had access to ample supplies of iron in both Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, it was not until 600 BC that ancient Egyptian metalworkers developed iron production techniques. This appears to have been a deliberate choice, textual sources indicate that they were familiar with iron from early in Egyptian history, when iron ores were milled to create pigments used in art and cosmetics.
Although there are no signs of early iron manufacture, archeology has shown that the Egyptian elite were sometimes buried in iron tombs long before that date.
This raises a number of interesting questions
Did the ancients actually work iron much earlier than it was ever known? Was iron a by-product, by-product, by-product of copper smelting? Did iron enter Egypt regularly through trade, and if so, where did it originate from? Or, as early archaeologists suggested, was this meteoric iron: iron that fell from the sky, the abode of the gods?
If it is of meteoric origin
So did the idea that it was a gift from the gods influence the perception and use of the mineral? With one of us (DJ) fascinated by meteorites, the other (JT) fascinated by early Egypt, and both of us fascinated by ancient mysteries, we couldn't resist the temptation to dig further.
Five thousand three hundred years ago, a time before reading and writing
Before Egypt became a single state ruled by a pharaoh, a man was buried in a sandy grave in the Gerza cemetery (70 km south of modern Cairo). We know very little about this unknown man, but we can infer that he was an important member of his community because his body was surrounded by precious tombs - an ivory bowl, a stone plate for grinding cosmetics, and a brass spear—and beading jewelry made of precious raw materials including gold, agate, and iron. His tubular iron beads were so rare that not a single other tomb in the extensive cemetery contained anything similar.
in 1911
The man's body was exhumed and beaded when archaeologist Gerald Wainwright excavated the Jarzeh tomb. This unexpected discovery of iron artifacts in an ancient context that predates the official start of the Egyptian Iron Age by more than 2,500 years has caused archaeologists to question their understanding of ancient Egyptian metalworking techniques. However, the question was quickly answered when early analysis indicated that the beads were rich in nickel.
kjh since all meteoric iron is nickel-rich
This was considered conclusive evidence of a meteorite origin for the metal. It seems that the ancients simply found iron and worked it as if they would work copper, without any real understanding of its nature. Wainwright, believing that the deliberate inclusion of iron beads in high-status burials indicated that the meteorites had religious significance, He continued to develop several theories involving the cult of meteorites in ancient Egypt.
The earth is not devoid of iron
The mineral makes up most of our planet's core and is the fourth most abundant element in the crust. But in reality, getting this iron to use it - to make tools, for example - was not always a simple process. Most of the iron is packed away in ore, and you have to know how to smelt it to produce the metal, which has long been attributed to its strength and workability. It wasn't until about 1200 BC that humans perfected the process and produced iron on a large scale. But as soon as they do... well, the next period of human history is known as the Iron Age for a reason.
However, iron does appear in the archaeological record in the Early Bronze Age. Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, who died in 1324 BC, for example, was buried with an iron headrest, bracelet, and dagger. For a long time it was believed that some civilization somewhere managed to smelt iron earlier, resulting in these coveted and precocious artifacts. But there is another way to get iron — literally out of this world
Europeans began to understand meteorites only at the beginning of the nineteenth century
Before that, stories of rocks falling from the sky were dismissed by scientists or philosophers as fairy tales or magic
Jambon is determined to put an end to this mystery, so he's spent the past few years visiting museums across Europe and the Middle East using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to scan for iron artifacts—among them a dagger from Alaca Höyük, Turkey (2500 BC), and a necklace and ax from Syria. (2300 and 1400 BC, respectively), several tools from China's Shang Dynasty (1400 BC), and iron items from the tomb of Tutankhamun.
The Conclusion
A new study published in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science
that the iron in at least one of the Gerzeh beads came from outer space. By combining electron microscopy and X-ray computer tomography to investigate the beads' chemical composition and chemistry, a British research team has determined that iron possesses a subtle structural and chemical signature known as the Widmanstätten pattern that is unique to weathered iron meteorites. It is not known exactly why the ancient Egyptians used this extraterrestrial iron for precious gifts, but they may have believed it offered particularly powerful protection in the afterlife, certainly, the new study is bound to prompt other researchers to re-examine other iron artifacts, such as the small iron blades, headrest, and amulet discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun, who died around 1327 BC.
Now do you know that God - the Almighty - the Lord of the Muslims mentioned this in His dear book (the Holy Qur’an) where
Allah says
( ... وأَنزَلْنَا الْحَدِيدَ فِيهِ بَأْسٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ... الحديد/25)
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