[Yardstick]

Iron initial result was that it allowed the arming of barbarians from the north precipitating a holocaust previously unknown to the civilized world.

Reminds me of those scenes in the Lord of the Rings where the orc army is being outfitted with crude weapons from the underground ironworks.

[Nikas777]

There was a great episode of some show hosted by Gunny Sgt Ermey - the sarge from Full Metall Jacket where they were comparing different compositions of swords and they compares bronze to iron and it looked like iron was superior but not by much.

So it reminded me of something I half remember. Iron was not a superior material at that time - not yet. Bronze was corrosion resistant and easier to make.

Bronze's problem was it was expensive - you needed rare tin and thus you could not outfit large armies.

Iron allowed almost every male of a tribe to be armed cheaply. You could not defend against that horde unless you were Egypt and they barely survived.