Iron is mentioned with brass as the earliest of known metals. Genesis 4:22. The natural wealth in iron of the soil of Canaan is indicated by describing it as "a land whose stones are iron." Deuteronomy 8:9. The book of Job contains passages which indicate that iron was a metal well known. Sheet-iron was used for cooking utensils. Ezekiel 4:8; cf. Leviticus 7:9. That it was plentiful in the time of David appears from 1 Chronicles 22:3. The market of Tyre was supplied with bright or polished iron by the merchants of Dan and Javan. Ezekiel 27:19. Iron ore is now abundant in northern Palestine.