Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 67.djvu/703

Rh many centuries, their elasticity is almost equal to that of the best steel.

The working of bronze was one of the more honorable branches of industry, and must have furnished labor for a large number of men. Of the various subdivisions of this industry, that of the armorer was held in highest esteem. Reference has already been made to the lack of data concerning the metallurgy of copper and of bronze. But the finished products show that furnaces and smelting pots of large size must have been used in preparing the molten alloy for the molds. The bronze work of different periods shows varying degrees of skill, and it is difficult to say at what time the bronze workers attained the greatest excellence in their art. Both cast and hammered bronze work is found, which in grace of outline and perfection of finish has rarely, if ever been surpassed. The more elaborately finished work includes chasing, inlaying with precious stones, gold and silver, designs in gold and silver wire inlaid with other bronzes, enamels and precious stones. The method of inlaying with gold and silver consisted in making a groove in the bronze, laying the gold on and hammering it into place.

It would be almost impossible to enumerate the uses to which bronze was put. Some of the more important are: weapons and armor; farm implements (in part), artisans' tools, household utensils; boat and chariot building; architectural hardware, such as nails, bolts, hinges, locks; statuary, images, decorative objects and articles for personal adornment.

Iron. Iron never found wide favor in ancient Egypt, but there are abundant evidences that it was used side by side with bronze for tools of various kinds. There is no reason to believe that it was ever commonly used for decorative purposes, either in architecture or otherwise. The finding of iron bracelets proves that it was occasionally used for personal adornment. Even its use for tools seems to have been much more limited than that of bronze.

It has been suggested that the scarcity of iron objects may be accounted for, in part at least, by the readiness with which iron is destroyed by oxidation, especially in a soil so rich in niters as that of Egypt. It is also significant that the Asiatic neighbors of the Egyptians—the Hebrews, the Canaanites, the Chaldeans, the Babylonians and other contemporaneous peoples were familiar with the uses of iron.

Lepsius believes that this metal was used in Egypt as early as 3000 that it served primarily for hard instruments, and was prepared in smelting furnaces. The Great Pyramid was built by Khufu (Cheops), of the fourth dynasty, and not later than 2800 B.C. Herodotus says that iron tools were used in the construction of the great Pyramids, though others find reason to believe that the tools used were of tempered bronze. The question is of little importance in view of the fact that a band of iron was found in an inner joint of the Pyramid of Cheops, where the ancient architect placed it.