The development of the sword was not possible until ancient civilizations discovered how to mine and work metal. Thus, the first swords were probably made of the oldest worked metal, pure copper. The earliest copper mines were in Egypt around 3700b.c., and in Anatolia (in what is now Turkey) around the same time. By about 1900b.c., copper working had spread across Europe, and presumably copper swords were made during this era. Copper alloyed with tin produces bronze, and this metal made stronger weapons than pure copper. The earliest bronze swords were made by the Egyptians in about 2500b.c. They made blades by heating bronze ingots or by casting molten metal in clay molds. Bronze swords were used throughout the ancient world, until bronze was replaced by iron as the metal used to make weapons. The Hittites knew how to smelt iron as early as 3000b.c., but an efficient method of forming the iron into blades was not discovered until somewhere around 1400 b.c. The Hittites were the first to harden iron for blades by heating it with carbon, hammering it into shape, and then quenching it in water. They kept their methods secret for as long as they could, but gradually ironworking spread across the ancient world. The Romans used iron swords with double blades, a weapon for hand-to-hand fighting. A bigger sword, which could be used to fight from horseback, came into vogue in Western Europe by the third century. Both the Vikings and Saxons were renowned sword smiths. They used sophisticated ironworking techniques both in forming and decorating their blades.
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