Metallurgy

Of the dozens of metals that are known to modern science, only six - copper, gold, silver, lead, tin, and iron - were utilized with any frequency in their unalloyed form in the ancient Near East. Other metals, such as zinc, antimony, arsenic, and nickel, were rarely or never known in their pure form at this time, but nevertheless played a critical role as components of the broad array of alloys that were discovered and developed by Near Eastern metallurgists. These metallurgical innovations - one of the major indigenous technological advances of the ancient Near East - led not only to the production of a huge range of novel utilitarian and decorative items, but also to the development and spread of materials, techniques, and concepts that changed ancient society and continue to shape even the modern world.