MAN FROM THE FARTHEST PAST 
warfare no less than did the introduction of gunpowder in 
the Middle Ages. 
Of the origin of the horse-drawn war chariot we have 
already spoken. That it came originally from the great 
grasslands far to the north and northeast and that it was 
connected in some way with the rise of the Indo-European 
speaking peoples, to whom we ourselves belong, there 
seems no doubt. Perhaps some of its users came through 
the passes of the Caucasus Mountains so often traversed 
by invading armies; for it first appears, and at about 
the same time, both in eastern Asia Minor and in Baby- 
lonia, where it quickly sprang into favor. Its wonderful 
efficiency as a new engine of war insured that; for war often 
serves as a great promoter of progress. We should not be 
nearly as far along as we are in the mastery of aviation, 
for example, had it not been for the stern incentive pro- 
vided by the World War. A couple of centuries or so 
after its introduction into southwestern Asia the use of the 
war chariot spread to Egypt, where, as we have seen, it 
thenceforth played a no less important part. 
Iron, although known earlier, seems to have begun to 
come into general use toward the year 1000 B. c. At first 
only domestic tools were made of it, while weapons con- 
tinued to be made of bronze; for bronze, as material for 
sword, dagger, or ax, is superior to untempered iron, which 
is too soft. Possibly the introduction or invention of 
effective iron weapons may have had something to do with 
the rise, about this time, of the kingdom of Assyria; for 
that country lay near some of the early great iron-working 
regions of what is now Asia Minor. — 
For several centuries the kings of Assyria, among whom 
were some very able men, dominated a great part of the 
Near East, even for a few years establishing their sway 
over Egypt, then in its decadence. They introduced many 
improvements in warfare, especially for the capture of 
walled towns. The battering-ram was perhaps one of these. 
The Assyrians, although great organizers for their time, 
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