Assyrian Sources of Iron.

A Preliminary Survey of the Historical and Geographical

Evidence
Author(s): K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop
Source: Iraq , 1974, Vol. 36, No. 1/2 (1974), pp. 139-154
Published by: British Institute for the Study of Iraq

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 139

ASSYRIAN SOURCES OF IRON

A PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF THE HISTORICAL AND

GEOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE

By K. R. MAXWELL-HYSLOP

Amico doctissimo M. E. L. Mallowan

In lhis introduction to the Nimrud wine tablets Professor Mallowan has pointed
out that the closest source of iron for Assyria were mines noted by Layard in
Kurdistan, notably in the Berwari valley north-east of Amadiya, and also in the
Tiyari mountains " particularly in the heights above Lizan ".1
Iron was also observed by Layard only " three or four days journey from Mosul ",
in great quantities scattered on the sides of mountains," and his information is
confirmed by the Rev. George Percy Badger who visited Kurdistan between 1842
and 1850. He gives the following information, " of iron they have abundance in
several parts of Tiyari, this they smelt and beat out into rude ploughshares and such
other tools as they require for tillage. The people of Asheetha, however, are famed
for tempering steel, and the best packing needles used by Kurdish muleteers are
made in this village ".2 Deposits in the Kurdistan mountains may also have been
the closest source of supply for the land of Musasir.3
Although we can suspect that these sources were exploited by the Assyrians,
archaeological and documentary evidence is lacking and this preliminary study
concerns other possible sources in Anatolia and Syria with reference to Assyrian
textual references and evidence concerning the most important deposits known
to-day, including those recorded in the last century. At the end of the 2nd and
beginning of the Ist millennia B.C. the expansion of the Assyrian armed forces
necessitated regular and increasing supplies of smelted iron ore which could be used
in the production, not only of weapons, but of tools and implements for use in
building, agriculture and other allied crafts. Manufactured iron objects were also
probably imported, as captured cities in iron-producing areas would have been
an easy source of replacing used weapons; the archaeological evidence, however,
needs a comprehensive study with detailed metallographic examination of the few

IJ. V. Kinnier Wilsotn, The Nimrud IVite lists, xii;
A. H. Layard, Nineveh and its Remains I, 225-see
map at end of Vol. I for " iron mines " between the
Great Zab and Amadiya, near Dura; Iraq and the
Persian Gulf, Geographical Handbook, 1942 (Admiralty
Naval Intelligence Division) I 12, Fig. 28. The Foreign
Office Guide to Mesopotamia (1920), 84, refers to the
existence of large quantities of iron ore in the Sergusa
hills north of Amadiya which used to be worked but
insecurity caused abandonment of the mine. " Other
deposits are reported East of Amadiya and in the
Dohuk district ".
2 The Nestorians and their Rituals with a narrative of a
mission to Mesopotamia and Coordistan in i84-xr844
(London, 1852; I969 edition, Gregg International
Publishers Farnborough), 215 if. A. H. Layard,
op. cit., II, 415. The village of A?uta, where Layard
visited the copper mine in i840, now lies in Turkey.
3 R. M. Boehmer (Baghdader Mitteilungen 6 (I973),
31-40, Abb. i, Taf. -3) suggests the identification of
Musasir with the village of Mudjesir in the upper
valley of a small tributary of the Great Zab N.E. of
Stoleka.

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 140 K. R. MAXWELL-HYSLOP

well-preserved artifacts ; the ch

and survey.4 The present contribution, may therefore form an introduction both to
show the limited extent of our knowledge of the technical problems awaiting study,
and serve as a basis for future work, technical,5 archaeological and textual. The map
is based on the Turkish I: 2,500,000 map of the Distribution of Mineral Occurrences
in Turkey, published by the Maden Tetkik Arama Enstitusu at the Ankara Institute
in 1960, and reprinted in C. W. Ryan, A Guide to the Known Minerals of Turkey
(Ankara, I 960). In I 957, the latest figures published by Ryan, the total number of iron
deposits in Turkey is given as over 6oo of which about 225 have never been examined.

A. The Middle Assyrian Period.

References to parzillu (iron) occur remarkably seldom in Assyrian historical
records and it is not specifically mentioned in lists of captured booty or tribute until
the Neo-Assyrian period.6 This may be because not only in the I3th but in the 12th
and beginning of the i ith centuries B.C. iron was still a rare commodity used only
for objects intended for royal or religious purposes; but it is recorded that tablets of
iron (AN.BAR) were placed in the foundations of buildings at Assur by Shalmaneser I
(1274-I245 B.C.) and Tukulti-Ninurta I (I244-I208 B.C.). Actual foundation
tablets of iron, however, have not survived from this period.
Although iron ore is of common occurrence all over Anatolia, an examination of
the main deposits of iron known to-day is necessary for assessing the importance of
key areas such as Kizzuwadna and Nairi as possible sources of iron ore for Assyria
during the I3th to i ith centuries B.C. The part played by Mitanni-Hanigalbat in the
distribution of iron objects before and after the Assyrian conquest and the role of
the Kaska people must also be considered.

(i) Nairi- Uru(a)tri

While we can infer that small supplies of iron (probably in the form of bloom-
iron) were being brought to the Assyrian homeland during the campaigns of
Shalmaneser I, Tukulti-Ninurta I, and Tiglath-pileser I (I I I 5-0 I 77 B.C.) against
the Hurrian population of the Nairi-Uruatri lands, there is still no textual or
archaeological evidence for this assumption, with the one cxception of the na4KA and
na4KA.GI.NA (sadanai) which can be translated iron ore (unspecified) and haematite,
obtained from Nairi by Tiglath-pileser IJ8 Earlier, Tukulti-Ninurta I, who styled

4 Iranian iron deposits require a separate study.
See Cambridge History of Iran I, 496, Fig. 1 13; T. A.
Wertime in Science I59, (I968), 927 ff.
5 H. F. Cleere, " The Classification of Early Iron-
Smelting Furnaces," AJ7 52 (1972), 8-23, surveys the
European evidence.
d N. B. Jankowska, in Ancient Mlesopotlania, ed.
Diakonoff (Moscow, 1969), 253-
7 I.e. the spongy pieces of metallic iron produced by
the initial smelting process.
8 L. W. King, AKA, IoI lines I I-14. Mention of
Nairi also occurs in the tablets from Tell al Rimah
where although the metal traded was annaku (tin)
which often comes from Nairi, a few instances of
consignments of s'arbu occur. In rR. 3008 Wisemai
suggests that jarbu could denote a metal ore or slag,
and if ra?ubat (raidbu, " to blaze ") is part of the
description, it is possible that the tablet refers to 2'3
minas of smelted iron ore (Iraq 30 (I968), i8o). The
source of the larbu is not given. It is unlikely that
lumps
I. M. of unsmelted ore would have been imported
to Rimah but a consignment of lumps of bloom-iron
c. 23 lb. in weight would be reasonable. Tylecote
reters to a bloom of probably 30 lb. produced by the
Tudely bloomery in Kent (14th cent A.D.), where the
account roll gives a yearly output of about 200 blooms
a year (Metallurgy in Archaeology, 273).

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 PLATE XX

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 I 42 K. R. MAXWELL-HYSLOP

himself " King of all the Nairi-lands,

kingdoms of Elhunia, Sarnida and Me
regular deliveries of one or more ess
is precise in stating that " I frequent
difficult ranges, the paths of which
with copper axes and widened their impassable paths ".9 Presumably the king's
copper axes were efficient or they would not be especially mentioned and although
Tiglath-pileser I records his use of an iron spear on a hunting expedition it is not
until the gth century B.C. that the use of iron tools is recorded; this is by Tukulti-
Ninurta II who cut his way up the Euphrates with iron pickaxes and who received
iron as well as copper, lead, wood and horses as tribute from Nairi.'0 To-day the
region west and south of Lake Van is known as a source of iron ore ; the Mu~ and
Bitlis areas and the valley of tlhe Bohtan Su all contain considerable deposits of iron
ore, which must have been used by the inhabitants of Nairi-Uruatri and kingdom of
Urartu in the gth and 8th centuries B.C." (see p. 149 for the Elazig region).

(2) Kizzuwadna
The well known Kizzuwadna letter of Hattusilis III (1289-I265 B.C.) was almost
certainly addressed to Assyria and formed only part of the regular series of diplomatic
exchanges between Adad-nirari I (I307-I275 B.C.), and the Hittite predecessors of
Hattusilis III. In this case iron (AN.BAR parzillu) is specifically mentioned, and it
appears that the iron daggers demanded by the Assyrian King were actually being
forged and made in KizzuLwadna, a-na e-pa-si a-di-ni la-a i-gan-ru (" so far they have
not finished making them "). At the same time a lisan patar parzilli (" blade of an
iron dagger ") was sent to Assyria as compensation for the delay. That these
transactions were based on barter is shown by the fact that Assyria had sent armour
(presumably of bronze) to be exchanged for iron dagger blades. I2 The fact that the
king's storehouse was located in Kizzuwadna implies a measure of Hittite control
over the distribution of smelted iron ore (i.e. good quality bloom-iron, parzillu damqu)
if not the actual mining or collection of the ore.13 At the lhcight of its power
Kizzuwadna must lhave cxtcnded as far to the cast as Hanigalbat, wlhose capital
NVassukkani, (Tell Fakhariyah?) lay Inear the head waters of the Klhabur river. It is
also important to note that in the Hittite imperial period, the district of Kizzuwadna
lay about the axis Tarsus-Comana, and this north-west extension of the region there-
fore included the area round Hittite Kummanni, (Comana Cappadociae). From

9 E. Weidner, AfO, Beiheft I2 (1959), 27, no. I6 in a Middle Assyrian administrative text, see l. N.
1. 44. A. K. Grayson, Assyrian Royal Inscriptions I Postgate, Iraq 35 (1973), 13.
(1972), 108, ? 714; 1 I8, ? 773; copper axes could be 11 H. Quiring, " Die Erzgrundlagen der altesteni
used for cutting trees, but copper picks or hoes wouldEisenerzeugung " (Zeitschrifi fur praktische Geologie 4'
be ineffective tools. See CAD s.v. akkullu; M. Salvini,( 933), 1 28; C. W. Ryan, op. cit., 1i1 2).
Nairi e Ur(u)atri, 20 f.; A. Salonen, Agricultura 12 A. Goetze, Kizzuwadna and the Problenm of Hittite
AMesopotamica, 157. Geograply; KBo 1, 14 11. 20-26.
10 L. W. King, AKA, 85 1. 66; D. D. Luckenbill, ' 3pairzillu dainqu can be translated either as " good
ARAB I, ?? 405, 41 1. Amnnii-ba'li may not have been
cluality bloom-iron " which had to be re-heated and
hammered (i.e. forged) to squeeze out the remaining
a ruler of a Nairi state, but could have obtained his
metal supplies from Nairi. He probably ruled an slag, or as " wrought iron " ready to be worked up
into artifacts.
area located somewhere betweeni the Tigr-is and Lake
Van. For a dagger of iron and a lance of habalginnu

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 ASSYRIAN SOURCES OF IRON 143

Comana, situated south-east of Kay

iron deposits in the Berit Da' north of Firnis (Zeytin), about 40 miles north-west of
Mara?, and in the Fara?a area (south-west of Comana in the Seyhan valley) would
have been accessible.14 One may infer that it is from these regions that Hattusilis III
received supplies of iron which were then transported either as ore or as bloom-iron
to the royal iron-working centre from which finished objects could be distributed.
The protest that " it is a bad time for producing iron . . . but they will produce good
quality iron (parzillu damqu), so far they have not finished " may well be related to
winter snow or a shortage of either suitable bloom-iron or charcoal for the smithy
furnaces where forging took place. As yet we have no evidence for the location of the
centre mentioned by Hattusilis III. If actual smelting operations took place as well
as subsequent forging and manufacture the centre would be unlikely to be found in
the Cilician plain as the ore would have to be smelted in an area where ample
supplies of fuel were easily obtainable. Since it takes 8 tons of charcoal to smelt I ton
of iron ore, the well-wooded slopes of the Taurus or anti-Taurus mountains would
be suitable.

(3) The Kingdom of Mitanni-Hanigalbat.

It cannot be stated with certainty that deposits of iron ore could be found within
the boundaries of Mitanni even at the time of their greatest extent, but there is no
doubt that the rulers had access to supplies of iron, whether in the form of ore,
bloom-iron or objects of wrought iron.
That Tusratta was able to obtain costly objects made both of parzillu (AN.BAR) and
the metal habalkinu 15 iS shown by the following list included in the dowry of his
daughter Taduhepa-
(i) A dagger with blade of habalkinu with wooden hilt overlaid with gold and
pommel of lapis lazuli.
(2) A mittu of iron (par(zi)lli) overlaid with I5 shekels of gold.
(3) Two handrings of iron whose mesukku was overlaid with gold.
(4) A dagger with blade of parzillu and hilt decorated with lapis lazuli.
(5) A second dagger with blade of habalkinu.
(6) Ten arrows (Glyakdtu) made of habalkinu.

We have, however, no evidence concerning the source of the iron used at this
period; it is possible that the Hittite attacks on Mitanni by Suppiluliumas (1380-
I 346 B.c.), after he had recovered the land of Isuwa, and his subsequent control over

14J. Garstang and 0. R. Gurney, Geography of the Gurumze and BahSecik in the Fara~a iron district
Hittite Enmpire, 44, 50 f.; Admiralty Handbook of Asia were still engaged in smelting iron ore some years
Minor I (I9 I9), 132, states that the Berit Dag deposits
prior to 19i9.
" are difficult of access and for that reason have not 15J. A. Knudtzon, Die El-Amarna Tafeln, no. 22. 1,
been worth exploitation. The inhabitants of Zeitun 32, 38, II I, 3, i6, III, 7, 49; E. Laroche, RHA 6o
and the neighbourhood, however, have been per- (I957), 9 ff., refers to a bilingual Hattian-Hittite text
mitted by the Government to mine the ore without where Hittite hapalki is equated with the Sumero-
tax and sell it in Aintab and Marash ". The Fara?a gram AN.BAR. In the list of iron objects in Hittite
iron deposits were an important centre in Ottoman texts AN.BAR can be distinguished from AN.BAR MI,
times and today superficial deposits of haematite and " black metal of the sky ", i.e. meteoric iron, which
limonite ore and many old workings are visible in occurs far less frequently. There is no evidence for
this region. The Greek inhabitants of the villages of translating hapalkinu as steel.

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 144 K. R. MAXWELL-HYSLOP

Aleppo and Alalakh, may have been related to tlle need to control the routes leading
to the Mitannian sources of iron. The treaty concluded by Suppiluliumas with the
king of Kizzuwadna, Sunassura, previously allied with Mitanni, again may have
safeguarded iron supplies for the Hittites while the reduction of Carchemish by the
Hittites ended Mitannian domination over areas from which iron was easily
accessible.
The dagger from the tomb of Tutankhamun (1361-I352 B.C.) with the gold hilt
and iron blade may well have come from the same source as that used by Tusratta
(Kizzuwadna?), and the few other extant iron objects dating from this period nmust
represent a small part only of the amount of objects being produced in iron.'6
Furthermore, the standard of workmanship of the dagger blade and the magnificenit
Ugarit axe with bronze socket decorated with gold " cast on " to an iron blade,17
suggests that during the I 4th century B.C. smiths in more than one centre had attained
a relatively sophisticated knowledge of the methods necessary to work the new metal
efficiently. Its use in jewellery is attested by the Qatna inventories. 18
Forty years after the death of Suppiluliumas, Adad-nirari I came to the tlhrone of
Assyria and Hanigalbat was conquered by Assyria. Its boundaries extended from
the Tur Abdin to the Euphrates, including the upper reaches of the Khabulr and
Balikh rivers, but it seems that Assyria had to look furtlher afield for iron supplies,
and the letter from the Hittite Hattusilis III concerning Assyrian demands for iron
and iron weapons has already been referred to above. It is worth noting however,
that after the final defeat of Hanigalbat, Adad-nirari I rebuilt the palace at the city
of Taida,'9 located between Cizre and Diyarbakir. With the districts of Suda and
Harran fortified up to the bank of the Euphrates, the trade routes leading to the iron-
bearing areas were thus effectively controlled, although it was not until the rc-
conquest of this key area by Shalmaneser I that Hurrian power was finally destroyed
and Assyria rather than the Hittites became the predominant power in Upper
Mesopotamia. The campaigns of Adad-nirari I and Shalmaneser I for the control
of this much disputed region of north Mesopotamia may have been largely due to the
need of both powers to control the trade routes leading to the iron deposits in tlhe
interior of Anatolia. For this purpose both Carchemish and Diyabakir would havc
been a vital link in the Assyrian penetration. Even if the most important iron ores
lay in Hittite dominated territory, it is likely that Hanigalbat, as the successor of the
kingdom of Mitanni, would have had access to them, and therc is evidence that the
Diyabakir region itself may have been a source of iron for the Assyrians. To-day, a
source of iron ore is known niorth of the city, on the Mlurat Su southl of Bingol, and in
1837 the geologist Ainsworth recorded large quantities of magnetic ironi near
Diyarbakir, and that the mud sands of the Tigris were almost covered witlh black
magnetic iron sand.20 Yakut mentions the town of Hani as " famotus for

16 G. A. Wainwright, Anqtiuity io (i9q6), "I5-24,

A. Goetze, JC?S 7 (1953), 59, notc 47.
has suggested that the blade of Tutankhainun's 20 C. Ryan, op. cit., io8, 112; F. R. Chesney,
dagger may not belong to the hilt and could have becn Euiphrates expedition 521 -2. Ainsworth records that
imported separately. " the sands of the river ... abound in iserine or
17 C. Schaeifer, Ugaritica I, 107 ff., P1. XXII; magnctic iron . .. which could be separated from the
H. C. Richardson, Berytus 8 (I943), 72. sand by a magnet." See also W. F. Ainsworth,
"8 J. Bottero, RA 43 (i949), I fr Researches in Assyria, Babylonia anid Chaldaea, 270.

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 ASSYRIAN SOURCES OF IRON 145

the iron mine in the neighbourhood, which produced much metal for export ",21
The control of Hanigalbat up to the Euphrates, with the city of Carchemish as the
western limit, was also necessary before the Amanus region (see p. 148) could be visited
by Assyrian monarchs or traders, and Hattusilis III's indignation at Adad-nirari I's
suggestion of a visit to the Amanus may reflect Assyria's need for access to the iron
deposits known to-day near tskenderun as well as a desire for participation in the
timber trade. Carchemish also commanded the route to Mara? (see p. I48) a vital
centre in the history of iron working.

(4) The Kaska

While many of the most important regions where iron can be found to-day are
those whence Hittite or Assyrian texts record incursions by the Kaska people from
the north, we cannot, on present evidence, link their advance with a need for metal
ores. Nevertheless, in the absence of any sites or archaeological remains which can
be described as specifically Kaskean the question can be asked whether the seemingly
unlimited resources of these mountain tribes whose activities caused so many
defensive campaigns by successive Hittite kings may not have been due to the fact
that their homelands were regions which, since classical times, have been famous
both for iron deposits and iron working. This is the area of the Chalybes, and not
only Xenophon and other classical writers,23 but Hamilton (writing in I835) refer
to iron working in the area between Trabzon and Ordu (classical Cotyora), and
have described the primitive smelting and forging operations of the inhabitants,
who were also charcoal-burners.24 In Hittite tinmes this mountainous region south
of the Black Sea with its remote forested valleys was described in the records as the
Kaska lands, with the lands of Azzi-Hayasa to the east, and comprised the large area
along the coast south of Samsun and eastwards to Trabzon. The southern boundary
varied at different periods but we know that at the time of Amenophis III (1417-
I379 B.C.),the Kaska folk were twice the subject of correspondence between Egypt
and Arzawa. In E.A. 3I Amenophis III asks Tarhundaradu of Arzawa to send him
Kaska now that their country is subdued, while the treaty of Amenophis IV (I 379-
I 362 B.C.) with Suppiluliumas mentions the resettlement of Kaskean people from the

21 G. le Strange, La?nds of the Eastern Caliphate, I IO.forges to a more productive spot, as soon as they have
23 Anabasis II, 5 " Their livelihood was for the most exhausted the ore and consumed the wood in their
part derived from working in iron." Pleiner sum- immediate vicinity." The ore was smelted in a
marizes the classical references in Iron working in blacksmith's forge, and the process was extremely
Ancient Greece (Prague, 1969), 26-7. laborious with i8o okes of ore producing only 3 pigs
24 W. J. Hamilton, Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus, of metal weighting 6 okes or 131 lb each. The ore
and Armenia I (I842), 275-7. Hamilton's description only yielded io% of metal and for this 300 okes of
of iron smelting near Onye after he had been taken charcoal was necessary. (The modern oke weighs
5 miles into the mountains and received hospitality 2 - 8 lb.). " The blast of the furnace is kept up for 24
in a " rude forge and hut, constructed of branches hours, during which the mass must be constantly
and trees ", is worth quoting to illustrate the primitive stirred, and the scum and scoria raked off, after which
methods used in 1835. He was informed that " there the melted iron is found at the bottom, which, from
were no mines, but that the ore was found everywhere the specimen- I saw, appeared of very good quality. . .
about the hills near the surface. This they proved by Returning to Unieh, we passed the remains of several
scraping up the soil near their hut with a mattock, and forges in places where the ore had been completely
collecting small nodular masses . .. The ore is poor, worked out, and where the ground was strewn with
and the miners ... are at the same time charcoal- ashes ".
burners, for their own use; removing their huts and

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 146 K. R. MAXWELL-HYSLOP

city of Kurustama in Egyptian-held Palestinian territory.2> These people must have

hiad some special skill which was in demand and which was not easily obtainable
elsewhere; they were valuable enough to be brouglht back again to Asia Minor by
Arnuwandas 11 ( 346-I 345 B.c.) after the conclusion of his invasion of Palestine, but
the records give no hint of the nature of their craft. Kaskean sheplherds, swineherds
or weavers occur in Hittite records26 but there are no references to smiths or metal-
working. Although the evidence is lacking, once can suppose that if the Kaskean
and Arzawan peoples did not manufacture efficient weapons themselves they must
have lhad easy access to supplies of ore or finished goods. The importance of their
increasing power is shown by the fact that the great defensive wall of Bogazkoy had
to be erected soon after the capital had been sacked by the Kaskeans, probably by
Suppiluliumas (I38o-I346 B.C.). The southward thrust of the Kaska is shown in their
occupation of Nenassa which has been associated by Gurney with the river Maras-
santiya (classical Halys); this may refer to the upper reaches of the Kizil Irmak
where to-day there are ample deposits of iron ore. To the south-east, the land of
Armatama, located by Gurney north of Malatya and east of Isuwa, with Tegarama
nearby, would have included the rich deposits of haematite round HasanKelebi and
Gurun (see p. I50). In the west, the land of Arzawa did not lack iron ore ; it can be
found to-day in the Aydin and Izmir regions. Adjacent to Arzawa lay the lands of
Mira-Kuwaliya within whose territory lay the deposits of iron ore letween the
Bey*ehir and Ak?ehir lakes.27
The preoccupation of Suppiluliumas with the kingdom of Mitanni, the rising
power of Assyria, and the final peace with Kizzuwadna nmay have given the Kaska
folk a renewed opportunity for more trouble-making in the nortl. Hittite iron
supplies may well have been supplemented by control over Aleppo, Carclhemish,
and the Amanus iron deposits, but Mursilis II (1345-1315 B.C.) had to conduct no
less than ten campaigns against the turbulent northern Kaska tribesmen. Some of
the inhabitants of Durmitta (located by Gurney in the Kanak Su valley at Yenilhan
between Tokat and AliUar) described as Kaska folk in Mursilis II's annals, are
known earlier in Suppiluliumas' reign to have deserted to Isuwa, wlhich may again
illustrate the southern movement of the Kaska. 28 There is a possible explanation for
this for which positive evidence is needed. Iron working was probably going on in
many scattered centres which could easily be made useless by raids or invasions,
and with so many easily worked surface ores it would be natural for prospectors and
smiths to be constantly on the move. The organization of some kind of non-
agricultural work by a group of workmen is shown in an interesting text published
by Gurney. The subject was the food supplies and their transport by boats from
Pittiyariga to Samuha for some Kaska workers and " utili" workers. If Samuha is
correctly located on the Euphrates either near Malatya or higher up the river near
the mouth of the Murat Su, then we have another instance of the penetration of
Kaska workers to the sotuth far from their original homeland. The establislhment of

25 K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop, Iraq I 5 (1953), 75, n. 2; Mlap i; J. Macqueen, An St i 8 (X 968), 1 69, Fig. i i.

A. Malamat, VT 5 (I955), 3 ff. 28 Garstang and Gurncy, op. Cit., 17, 42; H. H.
28 E. von Schuler, Die Kaskiaer, 75 if. von der Osten, Explorationts in Hittite Asia Minor
27 Gatstang and Gurney, op. cit., 44, 64, 91 andl (OIC 6), Fig. 155.

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 ASSYRIAN SOURCES OF IRON I47

Kaska at Pittiyariga after severe raids is known from the records of Hattusilis
concerning his predecessor, and the location of Pittiyariga is important in this
connection.29 Garstang suggested Qermuk (classical Ciaca) on the Euphrate
between Pingan and Malatya, and noted that from 9ermuk a direct road runs to
Divrivi avoiding the Euphrates gorges.30 This would be a possible route for trans-
port of iron ore. Sedat Alp's location of Samuha near the mouth of the Murat Su and
Pittiyariga possibly at Pertek would be equally accessible to the Divrigi iron de-
posits.3' The land of Tummanna south-west of Kangal adjacent to Tegarama (see
p. I 50) was also overrun by Kaska and the identification of the town of Tummanna
with Viran?ehir (classical Carmalis) on the Hanzir Da' again brings the Kaska into
an area rich in iron deposits. 32
South of Tummanna the land of Gasula represented the southernmost outpost of
the Kaska as Mursilil II's account of the reconquest of Tummanna by Suppiluliumas
includes a reference to the capture of Gasula, and that " all the Gasgaean enemny
feared him ".33
In the following century the Kaska appear in Assyrian records. Tiglath-pileser I
states that the Kaska allied with Paphi tribesmen had settled in the Alzi-Purukuzzi
region, former Assyrian tributary territory, Isuwa see (p. I50) which contained the
copper mines of Ergani Maden, displacing the Muski, who had controlled the
region for fifty years. Four thousand Kaska " soldiers of the land of Hatti " were
defeated by the Assyrians, and an indication of their military strength is the mention
of their " one hundred and twenty chariots and their yoked teams "34

B. Neo-Assyrian period

(i) The Middle Euphrates and Khabur region

In the gth century B.C. when the use of iron had become increasingly common not
only for weapons but also for agricultural tools, we have the first documentary
reference to its forming part of tribute offered to Assyria. The kingdom of Laqe,
which can be located in the region of the middle Euphrates eastward across the
Khabur river could control trade routes to the mineral resources of Asia Minor and
its rulers, Hamataya, produced inter alia copper, gold, silver, lead, wood and I talent
of iron, about 6o lbs. in weight, but surprisingly worth recording in the Annals
of Tukulti-Ninurta 11 (890-884 B.C.) .35 The wealth of the land of Laqe is, however,
illustrated by the tribute received by Tukulti-Ninurta II before he reached Nusaybin
several days later; this included silver and one hundred iron daggers.
The use of iron tools (previously recorded by Tukulti-Ninurta II, see p. 142) also
occur in Assurnasirpal's Annals, but the context suggests that there were unusual
objects; " for six days in the midst of the mighty mountain of Kasiari, (Tur Abdin), a
difficult region, which was not suited for a passage of chariots and troops, I cut and

29 Garstang and Gurney, op. cit., 33 ff. 34 D. D. Luckenbill, ARAB I, ? 226.

30 J. Garstang, INES I (1942), 454, Map.
31 S. Alp, " Die Lage von Samuha," Anatolia
(1956), 77-80.
32 Garstang and Gurney, op. cit., 31.
33 H. G. Guterbock, JCS 1o (1956), 9I .
35 ARAB I, ? 412. See M. E. L. Mallowan, An St 22
(1972), 68, n. i6, quoting J. D. Hawkins who reads
Hamataya as a gentilic " the Hamatean " or man of
Hamath.

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 148 K. R. MAXWELL-HYSLOP

hacked a way tlhrough (the mountain) with hatchets of iron (kalabbate parzilli) and
with axes of copper I hewed a way through, and I brought over the chariots and
troops." In the eastern hills, " the peak of the mountain rose like the point of an iron
dagger " but in the west an enormous tribute of 2 talents each of silver and gold,
IOO talents of lead, IOO talents of copper and 300 talents of iron was produced by the
conquered land previously ruled by Ammi-ba'li (see p. I42).3" This region must lie
somewhere to the north of the Kasiari mountains in the neighbourhood of the city
of Tushan, (modern Kurkh on the Tigris, 20 miles below Diyarbakir) wlhich became
a strong outpost against Nairi and a centre for the collection of spoil from the Nairi-
lands. Thereafter an unspecified amount of iron, received in the city of Damdam-
musa, is again mentioned as tribute from the land of Supre, presumably somewhere
in the upper Tigris area, and not far from Tushan.37

(2) Carchemish, MaIara and the Amanus

Carchemish must have had easy access to iron supplies as it is menltioned both in
the annals of Assurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III as producing large quantities of
iron as tribute. Earlier its importance, like that of Aleppo, had been recognized by
the repeated efforts of Suppiluliumas to establish h-is rule therc and tlhus obtain
control of the approaches of the Amanus and Taurus passes. For Assyria, apar-t from
political reasons, the necessity for control of Carchemish was equally important,
since from it routes lead both to the Beilan pass and the Gulf of Iskenderun across the
Amanus, and via Gaziantep (classical Doliche) and Sakge Gozui to Cilicia. The site
of classical Doliche, " ubi ferrum nascitur", modern Tell Dtliik,38 lies oIn the
Gaziantep-Maraa road, and Mara? itself, from which several routes radiate into
N. Syria, is situated at the foot of one of the main Taurus passes. Here, in I837,
Chiesney noted that there were extensive mines of iron of excellent quality, and
to-day the Berit Da" to the north near Elbistan and the area between Maram and
Malatya is rich in iron deposits.39 In the records of the expedition to Carcliemish and
the Lebanion undertaken by Assurnasirpal II, iron is mentioned in far larger quanti-
ties than hitherto, which suggests rapid exploitation. Sangara of Carchemish offered
250 talents of iron as well as 20 of silver and ioo talents of copper, and after crossing
the " river Apre " (the modern river Afrin) and before crossing the Orontes,
Assurnasirpal again received iron as tribute; Lubarna of Hattina offered 20 talents
of silver, IOO of tin and ioo of iron as well as cattle, sheep, garments, clhariots,
horsemen and a rich treasure.40 There is no evidence that the iron ore known to-
day near tskenderun in the Payas area (iron-bauxite deposits) or in the neighbour-
hood of Islahiye were worked at this period, or whether the deposits between
Iskenderun and Antakya were known to the inhabitants of this region in the gtll
century B.C. But the relatively large amounts offered to the Assyrians imply
reasonable easy access to iron producing areas. Earlier in the same campaign iron

36 L. W. King, AKA, 230, 1. 12; 33I, 1. 96; 270, 38 Pierre Merlat, Jupiter Dolichentus (1960), 4, 76,
1. 49; 342, 1. 1 22. 132.

37 S. Parpola, Neo-Assyrian Toponyms, 98; L. WV. 39 Chesney, op. cit., 135-6, i88, 219; von der
King, AKA, 241 ]. 52. Osten, OIC8, 106-7 Fig. ii2.
40J. B. Pritchard, ANET (I950), 275.

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 ASSYRIAN SOURCES OF IRON 149

had been offered as tribute by " Ahiababa, the son of nobody " who was the ruler
of the Aramaean state of Bit Adini with its capital at Til Barsip (modern Tell
Ahmar) on the Euphrates, south of Carchemish. The tribute list illustrates well
the wealth of this centre and suggests that the Aramaeans in Syria may well have
been controlling some of the main routes to the sources of iron both in the Amanus
and in Asia Minor to the north.4'
It is curious that during the reign of Shalmaneser III, the detailed accounts of the
yearly campaigns produce only four references to iron. There may be reasons for
this; the Assyrians could have omitted it from the list of tribute if ample supplies of
bloom-iron and iron objects which could be re-forged were coming regularly to
Assyria in the normal course of trade. At the same time, after the defeat of the
armies of rulers whose territory possessed rich sources of the ore the booty may well
have included both iron weapons and supplies of bloom-iron which could be used
for manufacturing armaments for equipping the Assyrian armies. In the campaign
of year 2 the ruler of Sam'al offered 30 talents of iron with his tribute and the
people of Hattina (the Amuq plain) are recorded as offering 3 talents of gold,
IOO of silver, 300 of copper, i,ooo copper vessels and 300 talents of iron. Sangara
of Carchemish produced as well as silver and copper, i,ooo talents of iron and
500 weapons. 42 Unfortunately no details are given of the nature of these arms,
and references to " mighty" weapons (GIS.TUKUL.MEs-a dannfiti) on the statue of
Shalmaneser III from Nimrud again give no indication of the material; the phrase
may be a general reference to the strength of Assyrian armed forces.43 The weapons
may well have included the distinctive long swords, presumably of iron (or with
bronze hilts cast on to iron blades) of the well-known type portrayed on sculptured
reliefs at Carchemish, Zincirli, and Tell Ahmar.44 It may be fortuitous that iron is
not mentioned when yearly tribute, as opposed to gifts after conquest, is listed from
Carchemish and Hattina, but by the end of Shalmaneser's reign not only the trade
routes but the rich sources of iron ore in the Taurus, in the kingdoms of Sanm'al
(Zincirli), Gurgum (Mara?), Meliddu (Malatya) and the Amanus, as well as Tabal
and Que (see below p. 151) were included in the Assyrian empire. The poetic text
found among the Sultantepe tablets also reflects the use of iron at the time of
Shalmaneser III; here the " iron swords (patrii parzilli) that subjugate the foe " are
to be sharpened and " the coats of iron mail (siriam parzilli) for the horses " are
mentioned.45

(3) The Elazg Region

Isuwa can be identified with the plain of Elazig (Altinova) and to the south-east
the route to Diyarbakir passed near the great copper mines of Ergani Maden. Here
deposits of iron oxide and magnetite are known to-day, while in the valley of the
Murat Su at Sivan Maden east of Palu iron ore is known.

41 ARAB I, ?? 443, 475. Fig. i; H. Frankfort, The Art and Architecture of

42 ARAB I, ? 6oi. Hattina appears again as a the Ancient Orient, P1. I63; AiS III, Tafel XL;
source of iron tribute in the later campaign of year 28,F. Thureau-Dangin, M. Dunand, Til Barsib I, i.
ibid., ? 585. 45 W. G. Lambert, An St i i (1 96 X), 150, lines 20,
43 J. Laessoe, Iraq 2 1 (1 959), 150 1. 15. 22, 33.
44 Cf. M. E. L. Mallowan, An St 22 (1972), 67
IR 11

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 I50 K. R. MAXWELL-HYSLOP

At the beginning of the reign of Tiglath-pileser I, lhowever, the region had been
dominated for 50 years by the Muski who had advanced into Kummuh (classical
Commagene). It is tempting to speculate whether the Muski had access to the iron
ore near Ma]atya or at least depended on easy supplies of iron ore or iron weapons
with which to threaten the Assyrians; there is however no evidence for this; all we
know is that 2o,ooo Muski and their five Kings were defeated by the Assyrians. To
the east of Isuwa to-day iron deposits are known (see map) south of the Murat Su
NW. of Yayla, not far from the Tigris tunnel, and we know the land of Isuwa-
Enzite46 included the area surrounding the recently excavated site of Korucu Tepe
at the east end of the Altinova.47 Here the post-Hittite level may well correspond
with the period of the Muski settlement in Isuwa in the I 2th and I I th centuries B.C.
Later, Urartian expansion affected this area, and after Palu was conquered
C. 800 B.C. by Menuas of Urartu the annexation of Isuwa, with its rich resources of
copper and iron, assured mineral supplies to Urartu and nmay lla\ve been one of the
reasons for the constant Urartian-Assyrian wars of the 8thi and 7th centuries B.C.

(4) The Giirun and Malatya areas

Tilgarimmu, (Hittite Tegarama) can be located in the Giiruin district48 and was
therefore accessible up the valley of Tohma Su from Malatya. It seems probable
that the iron deposits at Hasan?elebi and those known to-day to the north of the
modern Malatya-Sivas road were included in the " land of Tilgarimmu ". The
accounts of the events of the ioth year of Sargon's reign give details of the situationi
in these regions which were then ruled by Assyrian vassals. After the final defeat of
Tarhunazi and the destruction of Malatya and Tilgarimmu, Assyrian colonists were
installed and io strong fortresses were established round the area whlichi " caused its
people to inhabit dwellings of peace, while Tarhunazi, their ruler, together with his
warriors, I threw into fetters of iron ".4 Whether the Malatya and Guirun regions
were important to the Assyrians as a source of iron ore at this period is not possible
to determine; it is worth noting however, that von Schuler has suggested that the
fortification of the Assyrian province of Kammanu was intended as a strong barrier
against the Kaska with its northern boundary running along a line north from
Nev?ehir and the iron mines of Divrigi.50 The Kaska were then occupying an area
which extended from Urartu on the east to Tabal and Musku in the west. If Divri'i
(see p. I51) was in fact included in the province of Kammanu tlheni tlhe Assyrians
would have gained control of one of the richest iron deposits in Asia Minor and
supplies of ore would have been assured.
The fortress of Sindarara, if correctly identified with modern Sincan 30 km. from
Divrigi, on the route from Divrigi to Zara, would then bc situated witlhin the miost

4" ARAB I, ? 221; sce J. Kinnier Wilson, Iraq 24 Iron implements and piece of armour scale belong to
(I962), io2 f., for the location of Enzite either in the Hittite Empire levels; an iron knife and sickle to the
Harput-Golcuk arca, or territory to the east on the post-Hittite period.
south bank of the Murat Su; also N. Adontz, 48 Garstang and Gurney, op. cit., 52.
Histoire d'Armenie, 8o, for a possible identification of 49ARAB II, ?? 26,60.
Enzite with Tell-Enzit, near Elazig. 50 Die Kalkaer, 68; for the location of these
47 M. van Loon, Middle East Technical Universi4y fortresses see E. Forrer, Provinzeinfeilung, 75-76.
Keban project publications, I (Ankara I 970), 99, Fig. i I.

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 ASSYRIAN SOURCES OF IRON 15I

important iron-bearing area of Turkey today, and Ellibir should be sited nearby.5'
These fortresses may well have been built to guard these important sources of supply.

(5) The iron deposits of Divrigi

To-day the largest and most important iron producing area of Turkey is centred
round modern Divrigi,52 lying on the railway between Sivas and Erzinsan. Here four
rich deposits of magnetite ore are worked, one situated four miles north-west of
Divrigi in the Demir Da'. The Divrigi iron mines were being worked in 1837 when
Ainsworth recorded that he saw " the magnetic or native iron ... in boulders"
some of which were " three foot long by a foot and a half in thickness ", and
observed at Siliski near Divrigi the inhabitants smelting iron in their own houses.
His description of the Dumbag Da', between Divrigi and Sivas, is also worth quoting.
"First we had limestone, with a great variety of diallage rocks, containing oligiste
or specular iron in situ, so that what occurs in boulder heads in the valley might
easily be wrought at the fountain head; then we had granitic and syenitic rocks, one
bed of the former of which, of a light pink colour, I found to be rich in disseminated
gold." 53 To-day, remains of slag attest these earlier workings.

(6) Damascus
In Adad-nirari III's campaign against Syria there is mention of a certain Mari'
who offered as tribute 2,ooo (or s,ooo) talents of iron along with 2,000 of silver, I ,000
of copper and 3,000 multi-coloured garments.54 It has been suggested that Mari'
should be identified with either Hazael or nmore probably his son Benhadad. Whether
the source of this iron was near to Damascus is not known but certainly at this
period, as in much later Arab and mediaeval times, the city of Damascus was an
important centre for the manufacture and distribution of all kinds of iron objects.55

(7) Tabal and Que

Although the kingdom of Tabal in the Anti-Taurus region included the silver
mines of Bulgar Maden and was famous for its craftsmanship in metal there are no
textual references to iron forming part of tribute paid to Assyria. 56 The wealth of this
area however, is shown by the tribute sent to Tiglath-pileser III; io talents of gold
and i ,ooo of silver, while cups and braziers of Tabal are especially listed in Sargon's
booty from Musasir. To-day several sources of iron ore are known within the region
of Tabal.
South-east of Tabal the kingdom of Que, the modern Cilicia, was also included
in the list of tributaries when iron was offered to Tiglath-pileser III. At this period

"I P. Naster, L'Asie mineure et l'Assyrie, 51. 55 For the Lebanon as a source of iron at the time of
52 Tentatively identified by Garstang and Gurney Nabonidus, see A. L. Oppenheim,JCS 2I (I967), 237.
with Hittite Pahhuwa, op. cit., 35. 58 B. Landsberger, Sam'al, 19, n. 39, discusses the
F3 . R. Chesney, The Euphrates expedition during the
boundaries of Tabal in the 8th century B.C. For
years 1835-7, Appendix by Ainsworth, 526-7. recent work in this area see T. Ozgus Kultepe and its
54 S. Page, Iraq 30 (I968), I44, compares the Vicinity in the Iron Age (Ankara, I971),
amounts given on the Calah slab, the Saba'a stele
and the Rimah stele.

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 I52 K. R. MAXWELL-HYSLOP

and at the time of Sargon it seems

became an Assyrian province, may have been comparable to that of Kizzuwadna
many centuries earlier.57 Tarsus, the valley of the Seyhan river and the Cilician
gates route would have provided a natural access to the iron deposits in the FaraUa
and Nigde areas, and it is clear that by the end of Sargon's reign most of the important
iron-bearing areas in Asia Minor and Nortlh Syria and the trade routes leading to
them had been brought under direct Assyrian control.

Conclusion

The lack of documentary information concerning the organization of Assyrian

supplies of bloom-iron and the meagre archaeological and metallurgical evidence
for the methods of smelting, forging and distribution in the areas discussed above is a
serious hindrance to further study. Survey and exploration of all the possible
sources of iron ore needs to be undertaken; the discovery of iron smelting hearths or
forging furnaces in Anatolia or Assyria would yield invaluable data for solving at
least some of the problems of early Assyrian iron-working. The enormous quantities
needed by the Assyrian military machine at the height of its power, combined with
the need for good quality bloom-iron which could be forged by blacksmiths into
ploughshares, hoes, pickaxes, mattocks, adzes, spades and all the tools used in
agriculture, is illustrated by the vast quantity of iron, (about 150 tons) including
many wrought iron pieces found by Place in a single storehouse in Sargon's palace
at Khorsabad.58 Axes, chisels and knives for carpenters, hammers and chisels for
stonemasons employed on Assyrian building operations were more efficient when
made of iron, while a steel tool would have been a far more precise instrument than its
equivalent in bronze, especially when used for decorative metal work. Metallo-
graphic studies of extant examples of these tools need to be undertaken; but the
poor condition of many of the objects precludes definitive scientific conclusions.
Examination of decorated bronzes could also yield information as to the kind of tool
employed; the identification of the technique of engraving as opposed to chasing
would provide evidence for the use of steel gravers.59 Compared with Iran, Assyria
has produced relatively few large iron objects; the sword found by Professor
Mallowan at Nimrud is one of the few extant examples, in iron, of one of the most
important weapons of the Assyrian army, but we have still to identify an early stage
of iron technology in Assyria which would correspond to that of the smiths who
made the distinctive Iranian swords decorated with human heads and lions which
have been the subject of intensive study.60 Nevertheless, by the end of the 8th

5' For Cilicia as a distribution centre for iron in the
Neo-Babylonian period, see W. F. Albright, BASOR
120 (1950), 22 if.
58 For a similar iron bar from Delphi with small
hole probably intended for a cord so that several bars tools.
could be easily transported see R. Pleiner, Iron
working in Ancient Greece (Prague, 1969), Figs. 5,Hyslop
For details of a repair to the iron storehouse at Assur,
see R. H. Pfeiffer, State letters of Assyria (America
Oriental Society, Series 6, 1935), no. 146= HABL
no. 91.
51 We have no precise information as to the date
of the introduction of steel in Western Asia; its use
in Roman times is well attested; Chalybic steel was
used for files and borers, Sinopic steel for carpenters'
Il Nimrud and its Remains II, 441; K. R. Maxwell-
7. and H. Hodges, Iraq 28 (1966), 164-176;
C. S. Smith The Techniques of the Luristan smith (ACS
symposium on Archaeological Chemistry, Atlantic
City, Sept. s968); R. Pleiner, Ar Anz i969, 41 ff.

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 ASSYRIAN SOURCES OF IRON I53

century B.C. the standard of Assyrian iron technology as shown by the stone masonry
of Sennacherib's aqueduct at Jerwan, along with the information given by reliefs
such as the transport of a lamassu,61 and that of the slaves in a quarry attest the skill of
Assyrian stonemasons and carpenters. The inscription on the quarry relief mentions
the use of iron axes and adzes by foreign slaves for cutting an albaster block,62 while
Sennacherib's soldiers are portrayed using a double axe for tree-cutting (Fig. I).

Fig. 1. Sennacherib's soldiers cutting trees using a double axe.

(Drawn by T. A. Madhloom, after A. H. Layard, Monuments of Nineveh I, P1. 76).

If Kaska tribesmen had any part in the development of early Assyrian ironworking
decisive evidence is needed. Von Schuler has suggested that permanent Kaska
settlements existed alongside the nomadic tribesmen who were primarily concerned
with the movement of sheep between winter and summer grazing grounds. It is
probable that many of the early ironsmiths in Anatolia were itinerant, moving
round numerous small mining and smelting centres where sufficient supplies of ore
and charcoal were available, and the knowledge of roasting and subsequent smelting
the ore in a bloomery furnace has been developed.63 The mention, in a Hittite treaty,

61 Seton Lloyd, Sennacherib's aqueduct at jerwan;

Lake district of England and in Yorkshire where the
E. Strommenger, The Art of Mesopotamia, 449 f.,
Pls. 232, 233 (BM. Nos. I!2482I-2) A. Paterson,
Palace of Sinacherib, Pls. 32-33.
62 Ibid., Pbs. 34-35.
63 In Europe up to the 14th century A.D. the
Waldschmied using local supplies of charcoal roasted
and smelted the iron ore, and many farmers had their
own small forges to make agricultural tools. A
different pattern is known in medieval times in the
monastic houses had to ensure a plentiful supply of
ore for the manufacture of tools. In Furness the
monks sent the ore to the fells by pack horse to be
smelted in small bloomeries which were often sited in
exposed positions to obtain the maximum amount of
wind. The plentiful amount of charcoal in the valleys
of the fells, the remains of bloomeries round Coniston
and the slag heaps visible to-day in this area attest
seasonal activities of local ironworkers, many of whom

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 I54 K. R. MAXWELL-HYSLOP

of the tools of a Kaskan fugitive having to be returned to his master while the man
was retained by the Hittite, suggests that the tools were valuable objects, and this is
more likely to refer to metalworkers' or miners' tools than to those of other artisans,
whose tools would be less important to their original owners. It looks as if, in the
eyes of the Kaska, the tools were more important than the man. The transport of
ore to charcoal-burning areas in the wooded mountain valleys may well have
involved tribes such as the Kaska who could have combined charcoal-burning with
swineherding; there is evidence for the latter activity.ff4 But as yet we have no
evidence to connect the Kaska with mining, smelting or forging, and much work is
needed on the subject of Hittite iron before further progress can be made on the
problems concerning Assyrian sources of supply.

were farmers or shepherds. (H. S. Cowper, Notes
from Hawkshead (1899); R. F. Tylecote, op. Cit., 290):
Reference to itinerant smiths who might move their
furnaces occur in a charter regulating the iron mining
activities of the Cistercians of Jervaulx dated 128I
A.D. (Calendar of Charter Rolls 1300-1326, p. 96). In
I 145 Jervaulx had been granted the right to dig and
use iron and lead ore if they found it on their pasture
in the forest of Wensleydale (Early rorkshire Charters
IV, ed. Sir Charles Clay, no. 24, p. 26).
64 Von Schuler op. cit., 76-7, and 120, lines 52-56.

Acknowledgemnent: I should like to express my warm deposits; and to Dr. T. A. Madhloom for his
thanks to Mrs. Diane Gurney for her skill and admirable drawing of the Assyrian soldiers, Fig. i.
patience in drawing the map of the Anatolian iron

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