Swords of the Bronze Age and Iron Age
It was not until man found copper around 3700 BC that swords could be considered truly effective. Copper on its own was very soft and swords crafted from this material needed frequent sharpening. Copper was smelted with tin to form bronze, which needed far less maintenance then their copper counterparts, and a new era was born. The great civilizations of the Middle East armed their large armies with bronze swords. Swords in early Egypt resembled oversized daggers, and were meant only for thrusting. The first cutting swords had a sickle-shaped blade and were invented around 2500 BC. The Assyrians of the era also carried bronze swords, which were fitted to the soldier"s belt and worn horizontally. These early swords were also rather short and very decorative for the time, usually featuring some sort of ornamentation below the grip. The Greeks of the Bronze age employed much longer swords used solely for thrusting. The earliest Greek swords took the shape of a cruciform , but slowly evolved to a slightly curved shape by about 700 BC.A new age in the history of man was born with the discovery of iron, which was smelted as early as 3000 BC, thus the beginning of the Iron Age. The Hittites are credited as being the first to make swords from this new material, and they conquered vast areas of territory, easily conquering opposing forces using who were using inferior weapons. The swords created with iron were harder and more durable that those crafted from bronze, and created a far better weapon. Although iron had been known for a long time previous to its use as a blade material, smiths found it very difficult to work with. The Hittites discovered, likely by accident, that if carbon was heated along with iron, then put in water to cool, they could make a durable iron blade. They kept this secret closely guarded, and it was many years before this technology reached the Middle East, Africa, and the rest of the developed world. The Romans, famous for their swordsmanship, adopted iron weapons after the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC.
Although bladed weapons had been crafted before metal was around, they were crude and often ineffective at cutting or thrusting. Due to artisans furthering the craft of forging swords in the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, they became an absolute necessity for close combat. Whether mounted on horseback or engaging in hand-to-hand combat on foot, swords became a universal weapon to keep one"s enemy at bay.