text: Producing sponge iron and then working it was the earliest method used to obtain iron in the Middle East, Egypt, and Europe, where it remained in use until at least the 16th century.
  The advantage of the bloomery technique is that iron can be obtained at a lower furnace temperature, only about 1,100 °C or so. The disadvantage, relative to a blast furnace, is that only small quantities can be made at a time.