Ferrous metallurgy of the Hittites

Hittites are known as the first people to craft tools made of Iron. It is said that the Hittites crafted Iron weapons and outcompeted neighboring civilizations going through the late bronze age. Hittites monopolized iron technology even before the Iron Age. The Dynasties of the Hittite empire grew strong enough to fight off the New Egyptian Kingdoms for the seat of power. Hittite metallurgy spread to other regions in the world and led to the eventual demise of the Bronze Age.

The Hittites are the ancient empire that occupied Anatolia and a portion of northern Mesopotamia. The Hittites conquered their neighbors and grew powerful enough to challenge enemies in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Scholars often linked the Hittite’s emergence with their iron metallurgy; they hypothesized: Hittites surpassed and spread their iron technology to other nations. The Hittites were the pioneers of the Iron Age, and other countries imitated Hittite metallurgy to create steel alloys. The hypothesis provides iron to validate the Hittite’s development into an empire, but it disregards details and contains many flaws that prove the thesis wrong. The Hittites did not spread iron metallurgy nor did they use iron to build an empire because of following flaws:

• Hittite metallurgy was very restricted to location and weather.
• Hittite iron weapons were no better than the bronze weapons of Mesopotamia and Egypt.
• Iron wasn’t meant for military purposes.

Hittite iron metallurgy was very restricted to location and weather. When making iron, blacksmiths use a special tool called a bellow – a device that creates a strong blast of air. “Excess air increases the amount of oxygen to the combustion and the combustion of fuel.” Blacksmiths use bellows to blow air to the fire in the smelter to burn metals. Iron’s melting point is 2800 F, meaning that Hittite smiths had to push the temperature up to the melting point using bellows to melt iron and create iron tools. However, the Hittites did not have bellows. Instead, they installed a smelter in the plain of Hattusa at a specific period of the year, when the wind blew very strong enough to combust the smelter to the point where iron would melt. Hittite metallurgy was restricted to this location and required planned timing. Iron production was a limited and challenging task. Hattusa was the only place even among the vast Hittite empire where they could craft iron weapons, and there was no way for others to successfully imitate Hittite metallurgy method. Bronze remained Mesopotamia’s primary metal until the invention of the bellow to combust iron without the help of wind.  

Even if the Hittites could craft the iron weapons in the smelter, their iron weapons were no different from bronze weapons. The Hittites added carbon to the metal to create steel. Steel is much stronger than iron, and Hittite steel was very different from its counterparts (other iron weapons created by the Egyptians and Mesopotamians). The addition of carbon also lowered the melting point and enabled easier production. However, the Hittite steel alloy was not advanced enough to break through the bronze. In fact, the Hittite were one of the large producers of copper and tin, two elements that make up bronze, and they built trading networks with Mesopotamian states to trade bronze. Many Hittite weapons and tools were built with bronze, much like other neighboring civilizations. The Neo Assyrian Empire and other Hittite successors modified iron metallurgy and adopted it into the military.

Above all, iron was more of a “luxury” metal for royals and deities. Hittite iron tools have more significance related to sanctitude rather than military purposes. Hittites’ iron smelting depended heavily on the wind, which was believed to be from the Hittite god of weather. The Hittites saw a connection between their iron weapon and their deities, and iron weapons served ceremonial purposes in society. Iron’s sanctitude is not restricted only to the Hittites. For example, the Egyptians crafted an iron dagger for Tutankhamun, the Pharaoh of the New Egyptian Kingdom (AKA. Egyptian Empire). Iron was related to royal powers in Egypt, and Egyptians called it a heavenly metal.

The Hittites were one of the most influential societies in ancient times – but it wasn’t iron that made them unique. Hittite iron metallurgy was very limited, and the iron weapon of the Hittites wasn’t strong enough to break bronze weapons. Iron served as a religious and symbolic metal in the Hittites Empire. The Hittites’ influence came from the development of law, harmony of different ideas, and chariots.