In reply to Piotr's excellent post, Michal asked
> What does it mean in context of the first experience of
> Greeks with iron? Does it suggest that there was no early
> (pre 1200 BC) contact between Greeks (Dorians) and Hittite
> Empire, and that Hittites did not contribute directly to
> Doric metallurgy? What was the name for "iron" in Phrygian?
The Dorian movements are commonly believed to have occurred in two
waves. The first from Thesally to Epirus (around Dodona). A second
from Dodona to the Pelopponnese. The first may have been prompted by
raids (Thracians) south from Thrace. The second by the Illyrian
expansion (The Illyrian Dardana seem to have given their name to
Dodona - a temple of Zeus venerated in Greece just behind that of
Olympus). There was thus no contact between Hittites and Dorians at
all. I would suspect that the Dorians got their knowledge of iron
from the Illyrians. Whether there is a word for iron in Illyrian
that has survived, I don't know.
Regards
John