Iron Technology: Its Indian Origin and Spread to Mesopotamia and the West
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N. Ganesan
May 13, 2022, 1:10:55 AM5/13/22
to Santhavasantham
மயிலாடும்பாறை கிருஷ்ணகிரி மாவட்டம். அங்கே கிடைத்துள்ள இரும்பு ஊழிக்காலம் பற்றிய காலக்கணிப்பு முக்கியமானது. இதனால், இந்தியர்கள் கண்டுபிடித்ததுதான் இரும்புத் தொழில்நுட்பம், பின்னர் உலகெங்கும் மெசப்பொடாமியா வழியாகப் பரவிற்று என நிறுவ முடியும் எனக் கருதுகிறேன். விந்து என்ற சொல், சந்திரனுக்கு இந்து என்றாகும் வேதத்தில். விடங்கர் (முதலை, பின்னர் அதனால் லிங்கம்) இடங்கர் என்றாகும் சங்க இலக்கியத்தில். அதே போல, கடா >> கிடா, கருமை >> *கிருள்- >> சிருண்பு >> இருண்பு >> இரும்பு என ஆகியுள்ளது. இருள்,இருட்டு, இருள்பு/இருண்பு இரும்பு என்றானது. கண்பு என அவினாசிக் கல்வெட்டு கம்பு தானியத்தை நைவேத்தியத்திற்குக் குறிப்பிடுகிறது. கண்புள்/கம்புள் (நாமக்கோழி, Coot) >> சம்பங்கோழி. கண்பக- >> செண்பக/செம்பக > சம்பக- (ஸம்ஸ்கிருதம்), ....
நா. கணேசன்
மேலும் ஆராய,
Iron Technology: Its Indian Origin and Spread to Mesopotamia and the West
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is becoming increasingly clear that towards the end of the Bronze Age in Northwest India, some 4000 years ago, Iron technology was discovered all over India by heating the iron ore to high temperatures. Due to its strength, the metal was highly prized and over the centuries, iron implements were used to convert the Indian forests to productive Agricultural lands. For the first time, the date of iron was calibrated to 1300 BCE at Ahar, Rajasthan in the year 1979. The iron rich mineral area of Mid-Ganga valley yielded around 2000 BCE. Mangadu near Mettur, Salem, Tamil Nadu gave 1510 BCE for the South. Now, Mayiladumparai near TokaraippaLLi in Krishnagiri district yields much older carbon dates, two samples with 1615 BCE and 2172 BCE as average dating.
Mayiladumparai, Beginning of Agrarian Society, 4200 years old Iron Age culture in Tamilnadu. 8-May-2022, Govt. of Tamil Nadu:
https://archive.org/details/mayiladumparai-excavation-english-08-05-2022/mode/2up
Twenty eight Iron Age sites and their scientific dates:
https://archive.org/details/mayiladumparai-excavation-english-08-05-2022/page/n11/mode/2up
In Tamil, the same report:
https://archive.org/details/mayiladumparai-excavation-tamil-08.05.2022/mode/2up
With so many sites from India proper showing iron technology earlier than 1500 BCE, it becomes the Core region in which Iron technology was discovered. Due to the trade relationship with Mesopotamia, this Indian iron tech spread westward. This can be a future research directions, doing the literature survey of relevant ancient ferrous metallurgy papers.
The Innovation and Adoption of Iron in the Ancient Near East
Nathaniel L. Erb-Satullo
Journal of Archaeological Research volume 27, pages 557–607 (2019)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10814-019-09129-6
Abstract: "Current evidence supports an Anatolian origin for extractive iron metallurgy on a limited scale sometime in the early 2nd millennium BC. However, the first major expansion of iron, both in Anatolia and across the wider Near East, occurred in the late second and early first millennium BC."
The first sentence can be replaced thus: *Current evidence supports an Indian origin for extractive iron metallurgy on a limited scale sometime little before 2000 BCE.*
"Early iron artifacts come in a wide range of forms. Some examples, such as
the (unanalyzed) iron studs associated with gold and lapis lazuli on an ivory box
recovered at Acemhöyük (level III, c. 18th century BC) (Özgüç 1976), are used in
a clearly decorative context. The close association between iron and other costly
materials strongly suggests that it was highly valued. A classic example is the gold
and iron dagger in the 14th-century BC tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the
Kings (Comelli et al. 2016). Old Assyrian trade colony texts found at Kultepe-
Kanesh support this interpretation, recording that iron was as much as 40 times
more valuable than silver by weight (Dercksen 2005, p. 28; Muhly 1980, p. 36)."
"There is no substantial evidence of iron smelting (furnaces or slag) in the Middle
East prior to 1000 BC. One early possibility, a pyrotechnological installation at Tel
Yin’am dating to the 13th century BC (Liebowitz 1981, pp. 83–84), has been refuted
on the grounds of low iron content, the mineralogical content of the slag, and other
lines of evidence (Pigott 2003). Another possibility, excavated at 13th-century BC
Kamid el-Loz, is also doubtful (Veldhuijzen and Rehren 2007, p. 190)."
Interestingly in this 2019 paper, the author does not mention early evidence of iron in India.
In fact, the word India does not appear in his paper.
There are many furnace sites in India for iron smelting much older than the above sites.
This points to the Indian origin of Iron going to Mesopotamia and beyond.
(1) Thieme, Paul (1960). "The 'Aryan' Gods of the Mitanni Treaties". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 80 (4): 301–17. (2) Fournet, Arnaud, (2010). "About the Mitanni Aryan Gods", in Journal of Indo-European Studies 38 (1-2), pp. 26-40. comes to mind, with subsequent papers. Fritz Staal has some papers on Greet and India meeting in Asia Minoe, and in the development o geometry (Vedic altar designs, Euclid) ...
Elephant 'piiru/piilu' in Meso language. In my view, the light yellow color based term of the tusk of the elephant gives birth to this name from Dravidian. Just like for panaG-kuruttu (piili), piir-am/akku 'ridge gourd', etc., As in Prakrits, Drav. has vowel length shortening in piraan/piraaTTi (tampuraaTTi in taravaaDu mansions), piir is the Dravidian term from Indus civilization for 'chief/master/head' due to shiny turban (See Peter Mayne, Saints of Sind, London, 1956) from Sind province borrowed into Persian and Arabic for Muslim saints also.
Now it is clear that India has found the smelting technology of Iron even during the Late Bronze Age. The question is how did Mesopotamia learn about the new metal, its strength and uses. Possibly due to interaction with India. In India, both copper and tin were not available readily. Both have to come by Trade routes. Smelting of Iron requires high temperatures and due to expansion of Agriculture towards the end of the Bronze Age, this technology was invented in India.
https://theprint.in/india/iron-age-in-tamil-nadu-dates-back-4200-years-oldest-in-india-excavated-implements-reveal/949224/
https://www.bbc.com/tamil/india-61395155
Exciting times for looking at the invention of Iron technology in the World and its spread. It is long known that Proto-Dravidian name for Iron is *cirumpu (< karu- much like kaTaa is called kiTaa as in kiTaa-veTTu). With word-initial loss of c- it is called irumpu, probably from iruNpu, in Sangam Tamil. iruNpu :: irumpu, like kaNpaka > caNpaka > campaka, the fragrant flower. In sum, the iron technology's core region is ancient India and it spread to the Middle East around the mid-2nd millennium BCE. Future research by expert archaeologists of India and abroad will prove this, I believe.
Kind regards,
N. Ganesan
Houston, TX, USA
https://nganesan.blogspot.com
It is becoming increasingly clear that towards the end of the Bronze Age in Northwest India, some 4000 years ago, Iron technology was discovered all over India by heating the iron ore to high temperatures. Due to its strength, the metal was highly prized and over the centuries, iron implements were used to convert the Indian forests to productive Agricultural lands. For the first time, the date of iron was calibrated to 1300 BCE at Ahar, Rajasthan in the year 1979. The iron rich mineral area of Mid-Ganga valley yielded around 2000 BCE. Mangadu near Mettur, Salem, Tamil Nadu gave 1510 BCE for the South. Now, Mayiladumparai near TokaraippaLLi in Krishnagiri district yields much older carbon dates, two samples with 1615 BCE and 2172 BCE as average dating.
Mayiladumparai, Beginning of Agrarian Society, 4200 years old Iron Age culture in Tamilnadu. 8-May-2022, Govt. of Tamil Nadu:
https://archive.org/details/mayiladumparai-excavation-english-08-05-2022/mode/2up
Twenty eight Iron Age sites and their scientific dates:
https://archive.org/details/mayiladumparai-excavation-english-08-05-2022/page/n11/mode/2up
In Tamil, the same report:
https://archive.org/details/mayiladumparai-excavation-tamil-08.05.2022/mode/2up
With so many sites from India proper showing iron technology earlier than 1500 BCE, it becomes the Core region in which Iron technology was discovered. Due to the trade relationship with Mesopotamia, this Indian iron tech spread westward. This can be a future research directions, doing the literature survey of relevant ancient ferrous metallurgy papers.
The Innovation and Adoption of Iron in the Ancient Near East
Nathaniel L. Erb-Satullo
Journal of Archaeological Research volume 27, pages 557–607 (2019)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10814-019-09129-6
Abstract: "Current evidence supports an Anatolian origin for extractive iron metallurgy on a limited scale sometime in the early 2nd millennium BC. However, the first major expansion of iron, both in Anatolia and across the wider Near East, occurred in the late second and early first millennium BC."
The first sentence can be replaced thus: *Current evidence supports an Indian origin for extractive iron metallurgy on a limited scale sometime little before 2000 BCE.*
"Early iron artifacts come in a wide range of forms. Some examples, such as
the (unanalyzed) iron studs associated with gold and lapis lazuli on an ivory box
recovered at Acemhöyük (level III, c. 18th century BC) (Özgüç 1976), are used in
a clearly decorative context. The close association between iron and other costly
materials strongly suggests that it was highly valued. A classic example is the gold
and iron dagger in the 14th-century BC tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the
Kings (Comelli et al. 2016). Old Assyrian trade colony texts found at Kultepe-
Kanesh support this interpretation, recording that iron was as much as 40 times
more valuable than silver by weight (Dercksen 2005, p. 28; Muhly 1980, p. 36)."
"There is no substantial evidence of iron smelting (furnaces or slag) in the Middle
East prior to 1000 BC. One early possibility, a pyrotechnological installation at Tel
Yin’am dating to the 13th century BC (Liebowitz 1981, pp. 83–84), has been refuted
on the grounds of low iron content, the mineralogical content of the slag, and other
lines of evidence (Pigott 2003). Another possibility, excavated at 13th-century BC
Kamid el-Loz, is also doubtful (Veldhuijzen and Rehren 2007, p. 190)."
Interestingly in this 2019 paper, the author does not mention early evidence of iron in India.
In fact, the word India does not appear in his paper.
There are many furnace sites in India for iron smelting much older than the above sites.
This points to the Indian origin of Iron going to Mesopotamia and beyond.
(1) Thieme, Paul (1960). "The 'Aryan' Gods of the Mitanni Treaties". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 80 (4): 301–17. (2) Fournet, Arnaud, (2010). "About the Mitanni Aryan Gods", in Journal of Indo-European Studies 38 (1-2), pp. 26-40. comes to mind, with subsequent papers. Fritz Staal has some papers on Greet and India meeting in Asia Minoe, and in the development o geometry (Vedic altar designs, Euclid) ...
Elephant 'piiru/piilu' in Meso language. In my view, the light yellow color based term of the tusk of the elephant gives birth to this name from Dravidian. Just like for panaG-kuruttu (piili), piir-am/akku 'ridge gourd', etc., As in Prakrits, Drav. has vowel length shortening in piraan/piraaTTi (tampuraaTTi in taravaaDu mansions), piir is the Dravidian term from Indus civilization for 'chief/master/head' due to shiny turban (See Peter Mayne, Saints of Sind, London, 1956) from Sind province borrowed into Persian and Arabic for Muslim saints also.
Now it is clear that India has found the smelting technology of Iron even during the Late Bronze Age. The question is how did Mesopotamia learn about the new metal, its strength and uses. Possibly due to interaction with India. In India, both copper and tin were not available readily. Both have to come by Trade routes. Smelting of Iron requires high temperatures and due to expansion of Agriculture towards the end of the Bronze Age, this technology was invented in India.
https://theprint.in/india/iron-age-in-tamil-nadu-dates-back-4200-years-oldest-in-india-excavated-implements-reveal/949224/
https://www.bbc.com/tamil/india-61395155
Exciting times for looking at the invention of Iron technology in the World and its spread. It is long known that Proto-Dravidian name for Iron is *cirumpu (< karu- much like kaTaa is called kiTaa as in kiTaa-veTTu). With word-initial loss of c- it is called irumpu, probably from iruNpu, in Sangam Tamil. iruNpu :: irumpu, like kaNpaka > caNpaka > campaka, the fragrant flower. In sum, the iron technology's core region is ancient India and it spread to the Middle East around the mid-2nd millennium BCE. Future research by expert archaeologists of India and abroad will prove this, I believe.
Kind regards,
N. Ganesan
Houston, TX, USA
https://nganesan.blogspot.com
வேந்தன் அரசு
May 13, 2022, 1:33:13 AM5/13/22
to vallamai
அயில் எனும் சொல் அயஸ் என மருவியிருக்குமோ?
வெள்., 13 மே, 2022, முற்பகல் 10:40 அன்று, N. Ganesan <naa.g...@gmail.com> எழுதியது:
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