EARLY HISTORY OF METALS. 7 



same papyrus vessels of iron are mentioned, and the king is 

 said to have made the wall of the temple of Horus like a " hill 

 of iron." Objects of iron are also mentioned in the Karnac 

 tribute. In the lists of Thothmes III. (1600 B.C.) iron comes 

 third in the series of metals paid as tribute. These refer- 

 ences, however, imply that the use of iron was already well 

 known.* This renders less improbable the authenticity of the 

 piece of iron said to have been found wedged in between two of 

 the stones of the Great Pyramid.-)- Maspero, moreover, in 1882 

 found some pieces of iron in the Black Pyramid of Abousir 

 (Vlth Dynasty) ;{ but no iron has been found in any of the 

 tombs belonging to the earlier Egyptian dynasties, and the 

 oldest weapon of iron of which the date can be certainly deter- 

 mined is an Egyptian blade, found by Belzoni under one of the 

 Sphinxes at Karnac, and supposed to date about 600 B.C. 



The date of the introduction of iron into the North of Europe 

 cannot at present be satisfactorily ascertained ; nevertheless 

 it is most likely that the use of this metal spread rapidly. 

 Not only does it seem a priori probable that such an impor- 

 tant discovery would have done so, but it is evident that the 

 same commercial organization which had already carried the 

 tin of Cornwall all over our continent, would equally facilitate 

 the transmission of iron, as soon as that even more useful metal 

 was discovered and rendered available. However this may be, 

 the soldiers of Brennus were provided with iron swords, and 

 when the armies of Eome brought the civilization of the South 

 into contact with that of the North, they found the value of 

 iron already well known to, and in general use among, their 

 new enemies. Nor is there any reason to suppose that arms of 

 bronze were also at that time still in use in the North, for, had 

 this been so, they would certainly have been mentioned by the 



* I am indebted for these par- J Maspero. Guide du Musee de 

 ticulars to Mr. Budge. Boulaq, p. 296. 



f Vyse. Pyramids of Gizeh, vi. 

 p. 275. 



