10/13/2009 Banquet of the gods, Book II, on Soma and the Rig Veda,
as relating to an Indo-European rite portrayed on the walls of Etruscan tombs.
Part of a work relating to Etruscan Phrases.

 Recognizing that the period of the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age can vary from one place to another, differing in Britain, Greece and Hattusus (Turkey), we can agree that the Greek invaders of Troy, as well as the Trojans and their allies, in the main used bronze weapons and armor. We can also recognize the date of the event to be about ~1180 B.C., essentially the same time as the destruction of Hattusus in 1189-1190 B.C. As a baseline for Anatolia it is known that the Hittites began using iron weapons ~1500 B.C.- 1300 B.C. (Re: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Age) — the Hittite kingdom was founded under Labarna — ~1650 B.C. and ended under Shuppiluliuma ~ 1200 B.C., with the destruction of Hattusus. Another marker from Anatolia is that of the Assyrian kings who record that they carved roads with bronze implements out of the mountains (of modern Armenia) in their several invasions of the area (See our Assyrian Catalogue: http://www.maravot.com/Phrygian1f.html). Most noteworthy is the testimony of Tiglath-Pileser (1114-1076 B.C.) who invaded the Nairi (aka Urartu and Armenians):

"The mountain of Kashiaru I crossed, and for the second time I went down into the land of Nairî; In the city of Shigishu I spent the night. (499); against the lands of the Nairî..marched over difficult roads and through steep passes whose interior (heart) no king of former days had ever known, unto the lands of distant kings which are on the shore of the Upper Sea, and which had never known subjection.. I traversed the mountains of Elama, Amadana, Elhish, Sherabeli, Tarhuna, Tirkahuli, Kisra, Tarhanabe, Elula, Hashtarae, Shahishara, Ubera, Miliadruni, Shulianzi, Nubanâshe, Shêshe, — sixteen mighty mountains, in my chariot where the country was good, and where it was difficult I hewed my way with pickaxes of bronze. Urumi-trees, trees of the mountain, I cut down, made strong the bridges for the advance of my troops, and crossed the Euphrates...The king of Tumme, the king of Tunube, the king of Tuali, the king of Kindari, the king of Uzula, the king of Unzamuni, the king of Andiabe, the king of Pilakinni, the king of Aturgini, the king of Kulibarzini, the king of Shinibirni, the king of Himua, the king of Paiteri, the king of Uiram, the king of Shururia, the king of Albaia, the king of Ugina, the king of Nazabia, the king of Abarsiuni, and the king of Daiaeni, — in all twenty-three kings of the land of Nairî, gathered their chariots and their hosts from out of their lands and advanced to wage war and combat...Sixty kings of the countries of Nairî. (Tiglath-Pileser I, 236)"

About the time of the destruction of Hattusus and Troy is the record of Tukulti-Urta (1243-1207 B.C.) who said:

"The remote (?) mountains of the Nairî-lands I cut through, according to the record. (Tukulti-Urta I-171)"...Remote (?) mountains, where there were no roads, whose paths no (former) king knew, in the strength of my transcendent might I crossed and forty-three kings of the Nairî-lands boldly took their stand, offering battle. I fought with them, I brought about their overthrow. With their blood I flooded the ravines and gullies of the mountains. All of their lands I brought under my sway. I imposed tribute and gifts (toll) upon them for all time. (Tukulti-Urta I-144)"

 The plunder recorded by the Assyrian kings was great, consisting of Anatolian wares, but mainly horses, mules, copper, bronze, gold and silver. By the time of Sargon (724-705 B.C.) iron is in use among the Nairi as weapons are made of iron:

"sent word to Ursâ of Armenia; besieged, his god was Haldia, with the wife of Urzana; destroyed by Sargon; his gods were Haldia and Bagbartum; Ursâ, king of Urartu, heard of the destruction of Musasis, the carrying off of Haldia, his god, and with his own hands ended his life with his iron girdle dagger (59) "

Sargon recognizes the existence of Hittites, connected with Carchemish:

"Tarhunzani, the Melidian, planned to offer resistance; repeated: who devastated Urartu and plundered the city of Musasir (99); despoiler of Carchemish of the wicked Hittites, whose strong arm captured Pisiris, who was subject to them and plotted evil; who devastated Urartu, plundered Musasir, in terror (great fear) of whom Ursâ, king of Urartu, ended his life with his own weapon (117)"

 Sargon, connecting the Hittites and Amurru together, also says he:

" conquered the wide land of Amurru and the Hittite-land in its entirety (117)"

 But even earlier Tuklti-Urta (1243-1207) recognizes the Hittites:

"On my accession to the royal throne, in my first year of reign, I carried off 28,800 Hittite warriors from the other side of the Euphrates, and in the Iaurî mountains, my hand conquered the Kurtî and Ukumani as far as Sharnida (and) Mehri. The tribute of their lands and the abundance of their mountains, yearly I received. Kutmuhi, Bushshi, Alzi, Madani, Nihani, Alaia, Teburzi, Burukuzzi, — all of the widespreading Shubarî, with fire I burned. (Tukulti-Urta I-164)"

Tiglath-Pileser I (1114-1076 B.C.) also speaks of the Hittites:

"Assur..commanded me to extend the frontiers of the land: four thousand (men of) Kaski and of Urumi, soldiers of the land of Hatti, who were in revolt and had seized the cities of the land of Shubarti, by their own strength (Tiglath-Pileser I -224;" See also Kutmuhu, Kaski and Urumi)"

The texts relating to the Assyrian invasions of Anatolia are recorded at our Phrygian.html. The invasions of Tiglith Piliser I were after the destruction of Troy and Hattusus. The Assyrian kings mention a people who appear to be the Phrygians, whom the Assyrian records call "Muski." The Muski were so powerful, in opposition to the Assyrians, the records show that  a disputed territory below the Iron Gates, where the Ceyan River reaches the Mediterranean, called Que, exchanged hands between the two regional powers. Sargon (724-705 B.C.) says:

"Hulli paid tribute to Sargon, taken captive; given Hilakki then broke faith with Sargon; sent to Ursâ and Mitâ, king of Muski, ...kings of Tabal who seized some of his territory"

and: "Mutallum wicked Hittite, put trust in Argisti, king of Urartu"

Hence, the Muski were differentiated from the Hittites at the time of Sargon. The records show the Hittites allied with the Aramaeans (Syrians).  However, the Hittites during his time were also allied with Urartu (the Armenians).

The Muski, led by king Mita (Midas, of the Phrygians, probably a dynasty), appear in the records as early as the reign of Assur-nasir-pal (884-859 B.C.); we combined Sargon and Assur-nasir-pal's record together:

"allied with Pisîri; Sargon complained to him over Pisîri's rebellion; later defeated by Sargon (para. 10); in context: who uprooted Kasku, all of Tabalu and Hilakku, who drove out Mitâ (Midas), king of Mushki (99); another context: the lands of Namri, Ellipi, Bît-Hambum, Parsua, the Mannean-land, Urartu (Armenia), Kasku, Tabalum, up to the land of Muski (117); another context: Bît-Burutash, whose king, Ambarissi, had forgotten the favors shown him by Sargon and who had put his trust in the king of Urartu (Armenia) and the land of Muski (with their) powerful armies; who put to flight Mitâ (Midas), king of Muski, restored the captured fortresses of Cilicia (117); another context: I departed, the Tigris I crossed, and I drew near to the land of Kutmuhi, I received tribute from the lands of Kutmuhi and Mushki (Assur-nâsir-pal 442)"

Reading the Assyrian chronicles we can conclude that the Phrygians (Muski) were in place, on the Halys river, replacing the old capital of the Hittites, by ~900 B.C., three hundred years after the destruction of Troy and Hattusus. By 725 B.C the king of the Urartu killed himself with his iron dagger.

We can now compare this testimony with that of the Iliad and Odyssey, the Iliad no doubt being the older of the two documents:

Iliad, Book IV, "Pandaros....drew back the string to  his breast, the iron point to the bow"

Iliad, Book  V, of Hera's chariot:  "Hebe fitted the wheels to the car, brazen wheels with eight spokes, at each end of an iron axle-tree. Each had a felloe of gold incorruptible, with a brazen tire fitted all round, wonderful things. Each had a nave of silver turning about the end of the axle-tree."

Iliad, Book VI, of the prayer of Adrastos: " 'Mercy, my lord king, and you shall have a good ransom! There is plenty of treasure in my father's house, bronze and gold and wrought iron." Note that the armory of Odysseus is described similarly; also the battle at the end of the Odyssey begins with a contest of shooting an arrow with Odysseus' bow through the shaft holes iron axe blades.

Iliad, Book, VII, of the payment for wine brought from Lemnos, at the end of the chapter:  "From this fleet the Achaians got their wine, and paid in bronze or iron, or some in hides or oxen on the hoof, or slaves. They made a grand feast..."

Iliad, Book VII, Zeus' call to assembly, beginning of the chapter: "If I see any god going to  help either Trojans or Danaans...I'll catch him and throw him down into Tartaros! A black hole that! A long way down! A bottomless pit under the earth! Iron gates and brazen threshold!.." Note that in the Rig Veda, beginning chapters, the Indo-European heroes of the Rig Veda declare their assault against the indigenous, dark-skinned people who live in cities with "Iron Gates."  (See my Banquet.html.)

Iliad, Book IX, Achilles' answer to Odysseus and the embassy sent by King Agamemnon to persuade Achilles to enter the war: "...I left great wealth behind when I came on this accursed voyage; there is more from these parts, gold and red copper, women and grey steel, which I shall take with me, my share by lot - but my prize, he who gave has taken away, his majesty my lord King Agamemnon."

Iliad, Book X, Diomedes' appeal to Odysseus: " 'Spare my life! I will pay ransom — there is bronze and gold and wrought iron at home; my father would be glad to give a rich ransom, if he could hear that I am alive and your prisoner!"

Iliad, Book XIII, Idomeneus' answer to Meriones, concerning their attack on the Achaean ships: "...Telamonian Aias would yield to no man alive, if he's a man and lives on bread, if steel or stones can break his bones! Even Achilles could not beat him.."

Iliad, Book XIX, Odysseus' speech to Achilles: "...Men soon grow sick of battle when Zeus the steward of warfare tilts the scales, and cold steep reaps the fields, grain is very little but the straw is very much. The bell is a bad mourner, and fasting will not bury the dead..."

Iliad, Book XXIII, the Funeral of Patroclos, funeral games: "Again Achilles brought out a lump of roughcast iron which that mighty man Eetion used to hurl." When he killed Eetion, he brought it away with the rest of the spoils. He rose now and said: "Rise, you who wish to contend for this prize. Any man will have enough here to use for five revolving years, even if his fat fields are far away. No shepherd or plowman will need to visit the city for iron, there will be plenty at home...But when Polpoites raised the lump, he threw it as far beyond all the others as a herdsman sends his cudgel flying over the heads of cattle."

"...Next for the archers Achilles brought forward blue steel - ten axes and ten half-axes" (translator, W. H. D. Rose note: "Dark violet-colored iron" suggests tempered steel. If the meaning is axes made of this metal, possibly half-axes were axes with one blade. But scholiasts tell us that 'axe' meant a certain weight of iron. The axe may have been a sort of currency, when there was no coinage, and the name may have been transferred to a given weight..")

The Odyssey

The Odyssey, Chapter 1, Athena addressing the House of Odysseus: "Very well, I will tell you all about it. My name is Mentes; I am the son of a clever father, Anchialos, and I rule over a nation of seamen, the Taphians. I have come here now with ship and crew, voyaging over the dark face of the sea to places where they speak other languages than ours; just now to Temese for bronze, and I have a cargo of shining steel..."

The Odyssey, Chapter XIX, Odysseus speaking to Telemachos: "...You know the saying: "Bare steel in sight draws men to fight!' "

"Odysseus from his heart pitied his weeping wife, but he kept the eyes under his eyelids hard as horn or iron without a quiver, and stealthily hid his own tears."

"The faithful old woman answered: 'Eh love, what a thing to say! Tha knowst my temper, stubborn and stiff! I'll be as hard as stone or iron! and hark a minute...' "

"Odysseus answered...for Odysseus will return here ready for all events, before these men shall handle the bow and string it and shoot through the iron heads."

The Odyssey, Book XXI, first paragraph: "...where her husband's treasures were kept, bronze and gold and wrought iron. There was the great bow with a double back-springing curve..."

The Odyssey, Book XXIV, testimony of the soul of Amphimedon on Odysseus' battle with his wife's suitors: "...and the cunning schemer told his wife to bring out the bow and iron axes andpropose a contest, which was the beginning of our unfortunate death."

 Conclusion:

The testimony from the Assyrian records, as they specifically refer to Anatolia, has bronze axes and adzes being used under Tiglath-Pileser (1114-1076 B.C.), just about 80 years after the destruction of Hattusus. If he had had iron implements at his disposal no doubt he would have used them to carve his roads in the rough and impassable mountains of Armenia. The hewn path was so narrow the kings complained that they had to get out of their sedan chair and walk. By the time of Sargon (724 B.C.) iron was in use: "Ursâ, king of Urartu killed himself with his own iron dagger.."

Both the Iliad and the Odyssey carry references that in my opinion are not interpolations by later poets. Homer was remembering a time when bronze weapons and armor, tripods, etc., were mainly in use, but iron and steel were also available and treasured. In the treasuries is wrought iron, and Athena (Mentes) says she had a ship trading in bronze from Temese (probably Tamasas, Cyprus) and loaded with steel. In the funeral games of the Iliad a prize is a chunk of wrought iron that is used as in a stone toss in the modern Olympics and popular in Scottish games. Also, a reference to a "gate of iron" gives us the testimony that iron was utilitarian. The hunk of iron also is described in the context that it would be of value to plowmen (suggesting that plowshares were then being made of iron).

The period of the Trojan War, lasting ten years, about 1180 B.C. was on the cusp, between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, demonstrating the use of both materials, but definitely biased towards the use of bronze. Armor and particularly helmets were made of hammered bronze, together with their shields. Iron was available, no doubt, but probably in limited supply. The fact that Athena (Mentes) is in a ship loaded with bronze and steel tells us that both materials were in demand. Some scholars have suggested that about this time tin was not as abundant, thus driving a greater use of the more brittle iron. Also, the process of making wrought iron required higher heat and special furnaces; and hammering the iron to make steel was not developed to the point that they could make breastplates and helmets out of steel. Though there are references to the shiny bronze helmets with their nodding plumes, helmets with boars tusks (as in the Mycenaean warrior vase) are described.

The geography of the Mycenaean era is well known to the author and he counts as Trojan allies not only the Phrygians but also the Thracians and people across the Helespont all the way into modern Macedonia. As a side note we can recall that Alexander the Great argued before the Athenians that he, a Macedonian, was Greek, though they did not count his kind as Greek. The division of who is Greek and who is not Greek, that was counted in the Iliad continued to apply into the time of Alexander. It is also curiously noted that scholars say that Achilles, Agamemnon, Menelaous, Atreus, etc., are not Greek names. This, for instance, is pointed out in "Who were the Greeks?" by John Linton Myres, univ. of Cal. Press, 1930. In his substantial volume Myers also notes that much of the pottery found at Troy was Gray Minyan ware like that introduced in Orchomenos. The Gray Minyan ware at Troy can account to the long period of time that the Achaean Greeks and the Trojan allies were camped outside of Troy (wikipedia.org links Gray Minyan ware to the Middle Helladic period and found in Greece as early as 200-2150 B.C., down to 1500 B.C.

In Troy the camps raised before the walls were permanent shelters. Achilles' house, or hut, for instance, was made of timber, with a thatched roof of reeds, and a wooden bar on the door (sic., He didn't have an iron bar on the door.) During the ten-year-long encampment one could expect that the hosts around the walls of Troy had established towns. A standard earth moat and bailey walled the Greek encampment and their ships.

By Sargon's time (724-705 B.C.) the Urartu (Armenians) — and we can also presume the Muski (Phrygians) — had iron daggers, swords, spears, and arrows. The Iliad and the Odyssey's use of some iron and steel but mainly bronze suggests that the Trojan War dates from an earlier time, when the warriors fought chiefly with bronze and their treasuries were filled with gold, silver, bronze and some iron. The iron axe heads brought out of Odysseus' storehouse, in fact, suggests that the several axe heads were part of a hoard, perhaps akin to a hoard of 268 axe heads found in Britain in 2008 (See dailymail.co.uk, January 21, 2008, "Bus driver unearths £80,000 hoard of Bronze Age axe heads with metal detector."

Another key to the time of the Trojan War is Phrygia, certainly on the Halys river by 900 B.C., using references to the Phrygians (Muski) in the Assyrian chronicles.

We can put the record of the Iliad and Odyssey in the years just following the Trojan War, probably about 1100 B.C., the era of Tiglath-Pileser I. The story involves the revenge of Orestes over his mother's murder of Agamemnon and also the revenge of Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, on Achilles' murderer. The generation of 1100 B.C. would include, no doubt, the Etruscans who are reported by Herodotus to have migrated from Lydia to Northern Italy owing to a long drought. About 1200 B.C. there were droughts and it was a time of greater sunspot activity. By 1000 B.C. the Etruscans, or early Villanovans, were becoming a new power in Italy.

Neither the Iliad nor the Odyssey knows about the Etruscans (Tyrrheni). Because Odysseus visits Italy and the book refers to Sicily, since it does not mention the Etruscans — who were the dominant power, known as the pirates of their day — we can conclude that the Etruscans had not yet landed in Italy when Odysseus was coming home from the Trojan War. This puts Homer's books into the period 1180- 1100 B.C. or at the latest 1100 B.C. to 1000 B.C. However, 1000 B.C. is too late, since the Etruscan settlements were well established in Italy by then. They were like most refugees, even today, who flee in their boats to new lands. For instance, after the NATO invasion of Afghanistan 8 years ago, refugees continue to land in boats on the shores of Indonesia, mostly in transit to Australia. Nearly 50 years ago Vietnamese left their home in boats, fleeing to foreign shores, many making their final refuge in the US. The migration of these people continues.

Allowing 50-100 years for emigration and the founding of new Etruscan settlements in Italy, we can safely say that their migration probably began ten to twenty years after the fall of Troy (1180 B.C. - 20 = 1160 B.C.) and continued for at least a generation or 50 years, setting their settlements by 1100 B.C. This coincides with the accepted date of their foundation in Italy and also the Etruscan tradition that their civilization would last a thousand years. The Etruscans, incidentally, were known for their iron works of Populonia and mines and factory offshore on the island of Elba at Portoferrario. Also the Etruscans were masters in gold work, as the Florentines are so today.

All things considered, I think the Iliad and Odyssey faithfully recall the period ~1200 B.C. and probably have few interpolations by later bards retelling the story. The documents were almost holy, or sacred, and the oral tradition of the early Indo-Europeans emphasized an accurate memorization of a book. The Rig Veda, preserving the ancient and otherwise dead Sanskrit language, is a good example of such a process. Another example is the tradition in passing down the Moslem's holy book, the Koran. Children from an early age are required to memorize the entire book and to recite and write it in its original language, Arabic. A translation of the book into another language has to be authorized by Islamic scholars.

I have looked for interpolations of later bards, for they would know things the Mycenaeans would not have known. But I have had no success. The Odyssey's knowledge of Sicily, for instance, seemed to be an interpolation. But the Sikels are mentioned in the records of Rameses II among the Sea-Peoples that invaded Egypt during his time (~1200 B.C.). The Tyrrheni (Tyrsi), Sardinians (Shardana) and Palestinians, Philistines (Pulusti) are also listed. (See wikipedia.org, Sea Peoples article in progress)

The Iliad does not refer to the Tyrrheni, but Herodotus says they were from Lydia and the Iliad refers to the Lydians as Maiones (Μαίονες). An important mirror, which I have labeled "Script DM" "The Divine.mirror.html," shows a goddess involved in the story of Helen of Troy who has the attributes of Artimus / Diana the virgin huntress. Her Etruscan name is Mean, linking the story back to Lydia.

In my current investigation of the date of the Iliad and Odyssey I am comparing the mythology recorded by the Etruscans to known Greco-Roman myths. The Etruscan versions have some unique twists in the Greek stories.

Thus, after my prolix I can only answer that the "iron age" was not a wholesale, overnight type of event. People adapted to the use of iron according to their needs and the availability of resources and expertise. I think the coming of the Iron Age to the peoples of the Iliad and Odyssey was more of a trickle. And it may be that another reason why the Etruscans rooted themselves in northern Italy is due to the need for iron and their ability to exploit the iron on Elba, etc. For they were well known traders and pirates in their time, taking after the Mycenaeans before them (The story of Dionysus begins with his abduction by Tyrrhenian pirates as a youth.)

Rig Veda references to iron:

Book 1, Hymn CXXI Indra

9. Thou hurledst forth from heaven the iron
missile, brought by the Skilful, from the
sling of leather,

Book 1, Hymn CLXIII The Horse

9. Horns made of gold hath he: his feet are
iron: less fleet than he, though swift as
thought, is Indra.

Book 7, Hymn XCV Sarasvati

1. This stream Sarasvati with fostering
current comes forth, our sure defense,
our fort of iron.
As on a car, the flood flows on, surpassing
in majesty and might all other waters.
2. Pure in her course from mountains to
the ocean, alone of streams Sarasvati
hath listened. (18)

Book 8, Hymn LXXXV Indra

3. The mightiest force is Indra's bolt of iron
when firmly grasped in both the arms
of Indra...
4. I count thee as the Holiest of the Holy,
the casterdown of what hath never been
shaken...

Book 9, Hymn I Soma Pavamna

2. Friend-queller, Friend of all men, he hath
with the wood attained unto
His place, his iron-fashioned home.

Book 9, Hymn LXXX Soma Pavamana

2. Thou, powerful Soma, thou to whom the
cows have lowed, ascendest bright with
sheen, thine iron-fashioned home. (24)

Rig Veda references to releasing the Himalayan waters, down the now dry Sarasvati river — indicating a wetter climate than today.

Book 1, Hymn XXXII Indra

1. I will declare the manly deeds of Indra,
the first that he achieved, the Thunder-wielder.
He slew the Dragon, then disclosed the waters,
and cleft the channels of the
mountain torrents.
2. He slew the Dragon lying on the mountain:
his heavenly bolt of thunder
Tvastar fashioned.
Like lowing kine in rapid flow descending
the waters glided downward to the ocean. (26)

(continued)

Notes:

(1) Based on an email to Peter Thomas, Romania, October 10, 2009