LA METALLURGIE DU FER DANS L'EGYPTE ANCIENNE: LES DONNEES DE L'ARCHEOLOGIE

Whilst the use of meteoritic iron goes back to the most remote periods in ancient Egypt, small objects made of iron obtained through a process of reduction of native ores appear sporadically during the 18th Dynasty (1543–1292 BC). The making of iron or steel tools does not become common practice before the 1st millennium. The only smelting workshops and forges known so far post-date the 4th century BC. On the whole, the evidence is very scanty and must be used with great caution, as archaeologists in Egypt have so far exhibited a rather limited interest in the question of iron metallurgy.