Bronze is relatively easy to make, requiring temperatures of about 400° Celcius to melt.
But it is harder and less prone to break than stone.
'Classic' bronze was a mix of about 90% copper and 10% tin; 'mild' bronze 94% copper and 6% tin.
The first was used to make for many household tools and weapons; the latter for armor and shields.
The Chinese used bronze with a 20% tin content, which is harder but more brittle.
Bronze allowed the construction of hard and durable spear points, axes and swords.
It also made sturdy body armor feasible.
This increased the importance of melee weapons somewhat.
Bronze was supplanted by iron, but the transition was gradual,
with bronze armor and wapons co-existing with iron ones for many centuries.
When gunpowder was invented in Medieval times, for a long time bronze was preferred over iron for the construction of cannons.
War Matrix - Bronze weapons
Middle East Period 3500 BCE - 3000 BCE, Weapons and technology