Definitely good for chopping carrots and herbs, but you neglected to mention the most basic of foods. Clearly it would have been very good at quickly slicing up a pizza. If you were a soldier in Egypt back in the day imagine the disappointment when lil Caesar's showed up at the tent door with an unsliced pizza! No problem, whip out your khopesh and take care of the tip and the slicing at the same time.
For a moment there I believed that this particular khopesh was THE VERY one from Tutankhamun's tomb. Then I read the description and grew very disappointed very quickly.
The Hebrew language has an interesting reference in it to the Kopesh sword. The seventh letter in the Hebrew alphabet is ז , and is called "Zayin". Zayin is also the word for "weapon". The shape of the letter has changed somewhat over the millennia, but it was originally designed to look like a Kopesh sword, and still kind of does in some fonts. So Hebrew immortalized the Kopesh right in its own alphabet.
+Headrock Actually in modern Hebrew cursive script, zayin is a dead ringer for the khopesh. I can't put text of it here because I don't think cursive Hebrew is supported as text, but just look it up you'll see.
fun fact you got there, the oldest inscription with a kopesh that i remember is an akadian piece of art... i dont remember what it was, but it was a battlefield scene and there were some soldiers with kopesh
It's a coincidence, the Greek κοπίς means "the chopper" and it's a feminine noun (3rd declension) that derives from the verb κόπτω kóptō, "to smite, strike, beat", cognate with the Russian копать, "to dig" (both Indo-European languages). The Egyptian khopesh on the other hand, probably derives from the (Egyptian) word for "leg", as it resembles an animal's leg. Besides, in the Egyptian word the initial consonant is an aspirated kʰ- while the initial κ- in κοπίς is unaspirated. If the Greeks had borrowed the name of the weapon from the Egyptians, they'd probably write it with χ- (χοπίς) as chi in ancient Greek represented the sound of aspirated /kʰ/ Amazing channel you have there Lindybeige.
I once was at a Renaissance Fair, and a guy selling an assortment of weapons tried to tell me that a Kopis and Khopesh are the same sword, only the Khopesh was a little longer. Needless to say, I didn't buy anything from him.
LupusInCaligo I did argue the point, but when he started getting dismissive I dropped it. My point was not that I educated him or destroyed him in argument, but that here was a man forging and selling weapons at a major historical reenacting event and had no clue as to what some of the weapons he was selling were.
Lindy, is it possible for you to do a video about borders in the medieval world? I got interested with that topic, since I knew it wasn't possible to just cover the entire line with troops and whatnot. However, the Polish stopped the plauge from entering their country through strict border control, so there had to be some form of that. I'd love to hear from you how all of that worked.
The plague wasn't stopped from entering Poland. There are no reliable death figures for Poland, but we do know that there are two outbreaks of plague for the country, one in 1349 and one in 1351, and a group of students who visited Bologna towards the end of the plague said this "students saw that in most cities and castlesfew remained alive, and in some all were dead. In many houses also those who had escaped with their lives were so weakened by sickness that one could not give the other a draught of water, nor help him in any way and so passed the time in great affliction and distress. In many places, too, the air was more infected and more deadly than poisoned food, from the corruption of the corpses, since there was no one left to bury them.” (Source: The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death)
John Johnson Many sources and maps of the Black Plague show that the Kingdom of Poland was left mostly untouched, like, for instance, here: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Bubonic_plague_map.PNG or here: boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14105557&postcount=17
Supposedly some of Copernicus' subordinates in Poland are credited with creating butter/marrying butter to bread, since it could be spread on the bread and then during the siege, any fine debris on the bread could be seen and that bread could be avoided--thus avoiding the/a plague from spreading. I can't remember if it was "the" plauge or just "a" plague though--been awhile since I read the story. But yeah supposedly Copernicus was in charge of a Polish castle being sieged or something.
"the air was more infected and deadly than poisoned food". I want to remark that "bad air" as a cause for disease was a superstition of the time. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory
I'd love to have one of these. Dexterity of a sword and the power of an axe. Honestly my favorite sword, and it's complimented very well by a shield (which I suppose is pretty common with one handed swords)
It looks exactly how I'd imagine a one-piece cast axe. You need to save weight yet maintain strength and if for some reason you don't want a shaft (e.g. shortage of decent wood or rapid production) then it is perfect for fighting or daily use.
Hi Lindy love your work.As per your video on the hoplite sword.Reminds me of the reputed origin of the Sam Brown belt.S.B. had lost an arm someplace and designed the belt so he could pull a saber with one hand.Cheerio.
I have been following your videos for a while now, and it would be very interesting to see you do a video about bronze - and the properties of the metal. I think most people do not realize just how good bronze alloys are for weapons and armour, and most would perceive iron as a better metal.
You should watch the episode: "A point about dual-weilding" ; ) So these things remind me of the "Arakh" from HBO's Game of Thrones, the design team there seems to have borrowed from egyptians. I don't think that they put the forefinger above the hilt, you have to think of the fact that people were smaller these days. I only know Roman numbers which were about 1,65-1,70 on average, so really small when you think about it.
I think I remember having read somewhere that unlike most swords, which evolved from the dagger, the kopesh might have evolved from the axe. I might just be making that up, though.
Lindy have you ever played the Total War series games and read through the info dumps? They're all quite super interesting to read, sometimes I just read through the encyclopedia for an hour,
Telemmar númenórëan Oh, yes, Total War are great games, and historically as good as any mainstream game, and possibly better than most, but there are many inaccuracies. If you want to really spend hours reading an incredible amount of historically accurate info while playing a Total War game, try a mod for Rome: Total War called "Europa Barbarorum".
I don´t think tht this is good place for spaming with computer games ;) If you are playing M2TW, we can discus everythink on my channel with comentary battles in pseudo-english.... but not here. Let this be for real history.
Love your videos. I really wish a lot of the people who make the weapons in your videos could have a website specifically for historical weaponry made by artisans. That would be awesome. Being able to buy functional but historically accurate weapons by various people on a single website. It would not only be great for people like me who like collecting weapons but would also be good for them and would also enable the makers of such weaponry and armour to connect and share ideas/theories.
include armor in that and you have me interested. I'm planning to become an armorsmith and it would be amazing to have a sort of network to bring craftsmen, collectors and enthusiasts all together.
Graidon Mabson Fot Historical Accuracy? You'z Trollin? Nah, just naaaahhh! Most of the folks that write reviews have the best of intentions, but lack a bit of experience with historical originals, haven't had the occasion to wielded any exact reproduction, and even if so, probably not putting it through it's paces, such as going from guard to gard sticking with histrocial techniques... What most of the users of this website want is to be proud of "their" sword, an cut jugs or pound tires, ennemies that dont really care about timing, accuracy, recovery of the cut, because they dont fight back! They also want them to be rather inexpensive, so they dont and most wont bother to read anything about actual cross sectional dimensions, taper, etc, as comparing there slo to an historical artifact would show them how far some of the objects of their praises are from their purported models. Hence the strong taste for sword shaped cleavers built like tanks on these parts of the intarwebs That's no problem because 90% of the swords bought due to sbg reviews will also be used to maim jugs and bash tires, for wich the slow but powerfull sharpened iron crowbar suffices!
If you have tens of thousands of troops, would each one want to carry a kitchen cleaver as well? The khopesh blade would be a bit thick for dainty thin slices of cucumber, but it's a perfectly serviceable cleaver.
Possibly. I know that in the Roman army, small units of soldiers would have a rotation of their work detail. You might dig ditches most of the week, but on a particular day you'd have to serve up a meal to the rest of your boys. It's reasonable to assume that, like today, some people had a knack for it and some people didn't. Those who didn't? Well, perhaps they'd chop up the celery root (or whatever the hell was on the menu) with whatever was available. They were a resourceful lot, after all. "Now where did they put that kitchen knife? Ehhh, fuck it." (Starts using his gladius, which he's never cleaned)
johnnytastetest I don't think people back then were too worried about using a barely cleaned gladius (I'm sure it was wiped after a battle at least) - a bit of dirt never hurt anyone, builds a strong immune system after all.
Lindybeige Isn't bronze notorious for losing it's edge quite quickly? (Hence the switch to Iron when it came out?) I can imagine chopping a lot of vegetables or grinding herbs with it would dull it slowly over time as many late night vegetable stews were brewed, reducing its effectiveness in battle.
I wonder if the rounding of the blade is perhaps for supports. The arch formation would add structural benefits when chopping. You can see that the hitting someone would be the stress and the arch would certainly help. Any ideas on that?
the reason for a 3 finger handle is specifically to put your index finger up over the cross to make it much harder to have the weapon pulled out of your grasp. it's life or death fighting, you'll be willing to grab a kind of sharp object by the blade and get a deep cut on your palm over getting killed.
Very insightful section on the kopesh in Mike Loades' book Swords and Swordsmen. By the by, I onced touched a bit of gum under a pub table and ever since I've had the nagging feeling that I've been cursed.
I recall reading somewhere that the khopesh were evolved from axes and would therefore perhaps more accurately be classified as battle axes rather than swords. I still think of them as hacking swords like kopis(es?) and falcatas, though. Also, I think a steel khopesh might be pretty handy in a zombie apocalypse. :P
Canaanite version with the rounded tip, originated from Khopesh designs, is the 'Sappara", and appeared to be a bit longer than the "standard" Khopesh design as the one you're holding. Some of my favorite weapons in history for sure. Also don't forget the uses for it from a chariot.
In the Bible, cucumbers are one of the foods the Israelites complained to Moses that they didn't have in the desert, that they had an abundance of back in Egypt.
The _words_ "kopesh" and "kopis" may be related, even if the swords themselves are not. The word "kopesh" is to be found on the Rosetta stone, for example, suggesting that the word survived the object it originally described. Much like "kendo", for example, which doesn't actually have anything to do with the specific sword "ken". Or the Italian word for sword, "spada", from "spatha", although it no longer means specifically that sword.
The shape is very interesting, it makes me wonder how the weapons was used in combat, as it seems like for such a specific and unusual shape to be used like that for such a long period of time that it must have provided advantages in battle. I think that the back hand attack, or perhaps what could be called a wrap, would give a few extra inches in getting around shields. I also wonder if the front of the blade would be useful in hooking onto a shield and then following up with a stab.
Likely used not too disimilar to a scimitar or sabre, as the blades aren't that different. I'd imagine the back of the tip would do nicely for hooking shields/limbs. It is something I REALLY want to get and try out.
Hey Lindybeige, I know this is an old video, but I was wondering: if you were to choke up on the khopesh like how you showed here, would it be serviceable in grappling or close-in knife work similar to how a large bowie would be used? Given it's length, and the fact that only about half of it is actual blade, I feel like it could work well as a fighting knife as well as a short sword depending on where you hold it. What do you think?
could a khopesh be characterized as an early axe ? or a sword/axe hybrid ? since from what i understood half of it's "blade" is blunt (as an axe shaft is ) and looks like aside from slashing like a sword it could also have a good whack like an axe ?
Khopesh were actually not forged, they were typically cast in bronze and then sharpened and fitted with a handle. This was more to do with the technology of the time than the ideal production method. Casting them did make it much easier to quickly produce a lot of them if you needed to arm an army on short notice. As I’m sure you encountered while forging one, the shape is not particularly easy to hammer forge. I would imagine that you probably used a grinder to give it the right shape, or perhaps you started with a blank already in the shape you were going for.
Lindy, not sure about the etymology of the word Kopesh but in a video I was watching about Greek Pankrateion and they mention that Kopis was the Ancient Greek for "to cut". It would be interesting to see what Kopesh meant.
@Lindybeige Do you think the copes may have been worn through a ring one a belt, or perhaps directly through the belt ?....It's hard to imagine a scabbard for such a weapon...
I don't really know my time periods all that well, but is it possible that there were some Greeks that went to and kinda hung out in Egypt for a time? Historians and philosophers would surely have found some interest in the place. Even if the sword was out of use, it would have been represented in art. A guy sees a few paintings, does up a sketch, brings them back home, and shows them to the local bronze smith, who makes one as a model, and finds it to actually be quite effective. That, or sheer coincidence... Occam's Razor and all that... XD
I think that the greeks, like the romans, borrowed a lot of technologies from their neighbours. I think the kopesh/kopis/makhaira/chinese dao (the machete type of sword) was a popular weapon during the bronze age everywhere.
Hmm well off the top of my head, I know that Herodotus of Halicarnassus, an ancient Greek historian from the 400s BC (essentially the first and I like him better than Thucydides lol) travelled to Egypt at one point. I don't think he says anything about the Khopesh but Greeks certainly did have a presence in Egypt and then Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. The city of Alexandria was a big Hellenistic-Egyptian city with a huge library and lighthouse. Of course the Romans eventually took over. But given that Alexander's cavalry used the Kopis I believe, it could be that at some point the Khopesh was spied as a decorative, ceremonial, or perhaps agricultural thing and the idea was relayed back to Greece and became the Kopis. Though, I as Lindy pointed out, Khopesh could mean "hind leg" or something whereas I think Kopis means "chop" or "chopper" (not helicopter lol!). I have actually been studying ancient Greek so I'll have to look in my Greek lexicon for a word relating to "cutting" or "chopping" or something. Sorry this was kind of long lol.
JuliusAkavirius The Chinese Dao was not popular during Classical Bronze-Age China. It did not exist. The Chinese had pretty much straight swords until the Mongols established the Yuan in 1271 AD - in very recent times. Even then the Dao was considered a draftee/low-level soldiers' weapon, while a true "Gentleman" ever held a straight sword. Most Weapons found in Bronze Age China were either halbert-like or almost guard-less swords.
From what I know ancient Greeks were always open for knowledge and invention of other cultures, especially Egyptians who were among the few cultures as sophisticated as Greeks (in some areas at least). Greeks have travelled to Egypt a lot and it is very likely that they'd borrow some ideas for warfare from them as well.
Holding the weapon of an ancient pharaoh… “I could use this to chop carrots” 🤣 Someone is spinning in their sarcophagus because of this video and I got a good chuckle out of that.
I'm watching them in clumps, at work. He could talk about cardboard, and it would be interesting. I was watching 'Cody's Lab', another addictive channel, and Cody mentioned Lindy's site. I was watching 'Cody's Lab' after seeing him destroy a toilet by flushing a load of Sodium down it (as you do), with Grant Thompson, 'The King Of Random'. And I was watching him, because I had been watching Colin Furze, who mentioned him. That's the problem with channels with excellent content - you can't just watch one.
I expect it was something similar to the carrying cases you get for some composite bows that don't need to be unstrung (you see them a lot in cultures with a fair amount of horse archers, such as the Mongols and Magyars, and they're more related to gun holsters in design principle than sword scabbards) because it's easier with the shape, and you're mainly covering the edge (from damage/cutting you) since rust isn't really a concern with bronze weapons, so you don't need to protect them from the elements like you do steel (and you're in a desert to boot)
That reminds me. Lindybeige, when are you going to ridicule Game of Thrones for its completely ridiculous scenes whenever any level of combat is involved?
Alon Shechter as an asoiaf/got fan, I'd find that very amusing. My personal favorites are when the Lannisters ambushing Eddard throw their javelins so hard they completely impale the Stark guards, and when Tyrion chops a Storm Lord's leg off like it's butter during the Battle of the Blackwater.
Tim Lee I'm a fan too, but the show has some utterly ridiculous stuff. Anything that happens in Essos is particularly offensive, that part where three guys kill all the guards in a damn city, and it's all done in a fairly cramped place surrounded by buildings. You'd think the guards would have an archer or two.
Wish they mass produced the khopesh like machetes. They look to be extremely versatile weapons. You have the point which lines up for a straight thrust, but with a puncture would have more wound than a straight sword. The curve for obvious slashing, and two hooks (one more pronounced than the other), and different grips.
I wonder if there's less a morphological relationship between "kopis" and "khopesh" and more a linguistic one; the Greeks inheriting the "word", but not the "form" of the weapon. Perhaps the word meant something like "Chopper" instead of just "sword".
I have one of those (Same smith and looks like same model) and I just love the thing. It is very blade heavy, but so light that it isn't a bother. Good cutting ability, pretty good thrusting as well. It also has the ability to hook both with the inside of the curve and at the base of the curve. I certainly wouldn't be too upset if I had to take one into battle (though taking a bronze one into battle against steel weapons might be a bit off-putting for me).
+demomanchaos It's amazing right? He made me one a bit custom for almost no extra cash, for my almost comedic dinner plate hands =] As for how it would hold up hit for hit against steel if both had no major faults, indeed it should fail, That said it's quite short and has a naturally strong shape, so I'd rather have it than nothing! =]
+Mike Sloan Steel is quite a bit stronger and will hold an edge better, but bronze was used for quite some while so it can't be all that rubbish. A few days ago I put the khopesh (and my sharpening of it) to the test against some milk jugs. I am happy to report it preformed remarkably well. Each of the two jugs it was put through (I also used my good katana and my rhomphaia for bottle cutting that day) were hit multiple times as the cuts didn't knock the jug off the my stand. The edge held up perfectly and in case of milk jug invasion I am well prepared.
Huh. I always imagined khopesh's being much bigger than that. Well, considering my biggest point of reference is the enemies from God of War, there you go.
well, if kopesh may have meant hind leg, it's possible that the word survived and was picked up as a kind of slang then used to name the kopis... but i'm aware how slim those chances are and in the end it isn't really worth making a conclusion about.
If you turn it around it's also a weak battle axe. Perhaps not in a battle, but if you are a person that carries this weapon and you get in a brawl with someone who is larger than you, it has more reach
Did they have cucumbers in Egypt xD also, did Egyptian soldiers light a lot of fires? I think of Egypt as desert. Perhaps my perception is wrong. Great video.
Do we know how they were carried? Were there sheaths or some suspension for them? It seems that a soldier would need to be able to stow it when not in use, but still need a quick deploy solution, but I don't see that happening with a traditional sheath.
1:20 I rather can not imagine myself Ramses The Second who is chopping onions or carrots by his khopesh in the kitchen... And his wife is calling him from porch: "Ramzi! Be hurry up! Muwatallis The Second will came on barbecue soon!"
how can we trust old images as sources of accurate information about the past? what are people going to think of Marvel comics in the future? just wandering...
Is there some advantage to rounding the tip that you can think of? Is it particularly difficult to make it pointed? Because if not, then I cannot see any reason why it would be rounded, and I would be strongly inclined to think that the ones which were rounded were so either because of heavy use (perhaps you'd stab into armour, and the tip would break off, and you'd have to grind it down to a round shape?), or because of artistic considerations on the part of the artists who drew pictures of them. It could be some other explanation as well, but my point is that there would have to be one. Even a small advantage counts for a lot in a highly competitive situation like close combat, and being able to stab has certain tactical advantages, even if your weapon isn't balanced primarily for stabbing.
You just use spear with a shield instead. but if you come close, you could drop your spear and start cutting arms with this ... as you can make a very strong pulling pulling cut on tube like objects(arms).
to sharpen it they'd weaken the overall structural integrity. from what I've heard part of how you would make the edge last longer was to hammer it until it was harder, but this would make it far more brittle. the spine of the blade would be made weaker by sharpening its back as well.
It is a common mistake people make when reproducing a Khopesh … they don't add the 'hooks' at both curved ends probably because they don't know what they're used for. King Tut's was not a full issue Khopesh because he fought from a royal Chariot. Although due to his young age, I don't think he was to any battle at all. A ground fighter would carry a full Khopesh with hooked ends/teeth on the curves to help disarm an enemy or latch onto his weapon.
It also occurs to me that both words "khopesh" and "Kopis" sound an awful lot like the word "chop" perhaps its got something to do with the action the different shapes invite?
There's some speculation that "kopis" actually meant "chopper" in Greek, so I wouldn't be very surprised if they're related, technologically or etymologically.
+Jonathan Hughes I don't expect they're directly related, given the distance in time between them. But I'd put money on all three words being onomatopoeic. _Kopis_, as you touch on, is a very good match for _koptein_, to chop.
Who else is just binge watching 'ole Lindy? This channel is amazing, I am so happy to have found it.
This is my 4th way through
Going through a Lindybinge
Guilty, this channel was a recent find for me must gone through half his library at least by now.
dont you mean beige watching ;)
Tanks? YES! Swords? YES! Mud bricks? YES!
Definitely good for chopping carrots and herbs, but you neglected to mention the most basic of foods. Clearly it would have been very good at quickly slicing up a pizza.
If you were a soldier in Egypt back in the day imagine the disappointment when lil Caesar's showed up at the tent door with an unsliced pizza! No problem, whip out your khopesh and take care of the tip and the slicing at the same time.
badlandskid wth did I just read lol
Dude, this is so anachronistic. Ceasar didn't live in the bronze age, stupid.
Effective Altruist so? It is for comedic value
You didn't get the joke, m8.
Effective Altruist ......oh.
For a moment there I believed that this particular khopesh was THE VERY one from Tutankhamun's tomb. Then I read the description and grew very disappointed very quickly.
The Hebrew language has an interesting reference in it to the Kopesh sword. The seventh letter in the Hebrew alphabet is ז , and is called "Zayin". Zayin is also the word for "weapon". The shape of the letter has changed somewhat over the millennia, but it was originally designed to look like a Kopesh sword, and still kind of does in some fonts. So Hebrew immortalized the Kopesh right in its own alphabet.
+Headrock Actually in modern Hebrew cursive script, zayin is a dead ringer for the khopesh. I can't put text of it here because I don't think cursive Hebrew is supported as text, but just look it up you'll see.
Jan Weber
Yes, I'm aware of that, but the cursive script is a much later form. You'll note I was referring to the original shape of the letter.
oh those Hebrews
fun fact you got there, the oldest inscription with a kopesh that i remember is an akadian piece of art... i dont remember what it was, but it was a battlefield scene and there were some soldiers with kopesh
Fancy finding a @Headrock here.... :D
It's a coincidence, the Greek κοπίς means "the chopper" and it's a feminine noun (3rd declension) that derives from the verb κόπτω kóptō, "to smite, strike, beat", cognate with the Russian копать, "to dig" (both Indo-European languages).
The Egyptian khopesh on the other hand, probably derives from the (Egyptian) word for "leg", as it resembles an animal's leg.
Besides, in the Egyptian word the initial consonant is an aspirated kʰ- while the initial κ- in κοπίς is unaspirated. If the Greeks had borrowed the name of the weapon from the Egyptians, they'd probably write it with χ- (χοπίς) as chi in ancient Greek represented the sound of aspirated /kʰ/
Amazing channel you have there Lindybeige.
wow.
I once was at a Renaissance Fair, and a guy selling an assortment of weapons tried to tell me that a Kopis and Khopesh are the same sword, only the Khopesh was a little longer.
Needless to say, I didn't buy anything from him.
Uhhh nice bro, you totally history'd him!
LupusInCaligo I did argue the point, but when he started getting dismissive I dropped it. My point was not that I educated him or destroyed him in argument, but that here was a man forging and selling weapons at a major historical reenacting event and had no clue as to what some of the weapons he was selling were.
Scipi
I was just joking, you know? :D I was never trying to make you look bad or overreacting or something like that :D Just a bit of sarcasm :)
LupusInCaligo Ah, my apologies. Sarcasm sometimes doesn't translate well through text ^_^
he didnt make them did he? if so he gave bladesmiths a bad reputation and i apologize
Lindy, is it possible for you to do a video about borders in the medieval world?
I got interested with that topic, since I knew it wasn't possible to just cover the entire line with troops and whatnot. However, the Polish stopped the plauge from entering their country through strict border control, so there had to be some form of that.
I'd love to hear from you how all of that worked.
The plague wasn't stopped from entering Poland. There are no reliable death figures for Poland, but we do know that there are two outbreaks of plague for the country, one in 1349 and one in 1351, and a group of students who visited Bologna towards the end of the plague said this "students saw that in most cities and castlesfew remained alive, and in some all were dead. In many houses also those who had escaped with their lives were so weakened by sickness that one could not give the other a draught of water, nor help him in any way and so passed the time in great affliction and distress. In many places, too, the air was more infected and more deadly than poisoned food, from the corruption of the corpses, since there was no one left to bury them.”
(Source: The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death)
John Johnson
Many sources and maps of the Black Plague show that the Kingdom of Poland was left mostly untouched, like, for instance, here:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Bubonic_plague_map.PNG
or here:
boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14105557&postcount=17
Supposedly some of Copernicus' subordinates in Poland are credited with creating butter/marrying butter to bread, since it could be spread on the bread and then during the siege, any fine debris on the bread could be seen and that bread could be avoided--thus avoiding the/a plague from spreading. I can't remember if it was "the" plauge or just "a" plague though--been awhile since I read the story. But yeah supposedly Copernicus was in charge of a Polish castle being sieged or something.
"the air was more infected and deadly than poisoned food". I want to remark that "bad air" as a cause for disease was a superstition of the time.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory
I'd love to have one of these. Dexterity of a sword and the power of an axe. Honestly my favorite sword, and it's complimented very well by a shield (which I suppose is pretty common with one handed swords)
It looks exactly how I'd imagine a one-piece cast axe. You need to save weight yet maintain strength and if for some reason you don't want a shaft (e.g. shortage of decent wood or rapid production) then it is perfect for fighting or daily use.
Hi Lindy love your work.As per your video on the hoplite sword.Reminds me of the reputed origin of the Sam Brown belt.S.B. had lost an arm someplace and designed the belt so he could pull a saber with one hand.Cheerio.
The "hind leg" idea makes more sense considering how similar to modern prosthetic legs it is.
***** If I lose my leg, I want a modified bronze khopesh to be my prosthetic.
the Kopesh also had a slight hook at the bottom of the curve, possibly for hooking and then pulling down a shield?
I have been following your videos for a while now, and it would be very interesting to see you do a video about bronze - and the properties of the metal.
I think most people do not realize just how good bronze alloys are for weapons and armour, and most would perceive iron as a better metal.
Those things would look pretty sweet to dual wield with a loin cloth and ninja mask.
A khopesh in one hand, a katana in the other...
InterestedMe Or better yet, the best of both worlds... A KATANAPESH!
You should watch the episode: "A point about dual-weilding" ; )
So these things remind me of the "Arakh" from HBO's Game of Thrones, the design team there seems to have borrowed from egyptians.
I don't think that they put the forefinger above the hilt, you have to think of the fact that people were smaller these days. I only know Roman numbers which were about 1,65-1,70 on average, so really small when you think about it.
HamsterPants522 Could mere metal contain such destructive power?
M. Vipsanius Agrippa "HBO's Game of Thrones" you would say George Martin Song of Ice and Fire. The TV series are awesome but the root is the root.
I think I remember having read somewhere that unlike most swords, which evolved from the dagger, the kopesh might have evolved from the axe. I might just be making that up, though.
Kopis and Kopesh are independent swords, no connection with them. except that they are both chopping weapons
Such a cool friggin' sword, the khopesh.
Lindy have you ever played the Total War series games and read through the info dumps? They're all quite super interesting to read, sometimes I just read through the encyclopedia for an hour,
Oh, I would love to see Lindy's thoughts on some of the design decisions made by Creative Assembly.
Possibly he can finding there mistakes (like things that cannot worked). And beleve me, they are there :)) At least in my M2TW.
Telemmar númenórëan
Oh, yes, Total War are great games, and historically as good as any mainstream game, and possibly better than most, but there are many inaccuracies. If you want to really spend hours reading an incredible amount of historically accurate info while playing a Total War game, try a mod for Rome: Total War called "Europa Barbarorum".
I don´t think tht this is good place for spaming with computer games ;) If you are playing M2TW, we can discus everythink on my channel with comentary battles in pseudo-english.... but not here. Let this be for real history.
Love your videos. I really wish a lot of the people who make the weapons in your videos could have a website specifically for historical weaponry made by artisans. That would be awesome. Being able to buy functional but historically accurate weapons by various people on a single website. It would not only be great for people like me who like collecting weapons but would also be good for them and would also enable the makers of such weaponry and armour to connect and share ideas/theories.
include armor in that and you have me interested. I'm planning to become an armorsmith and it would be amazing to have a sort of network to bring craftsmen, collectors and enthusiasts all together.
www.sword-buyers-guide.com
Graidon Mabson I don't think that was exactly the sort of website being proposed.
HamsterPants522
Probably not exactly, but it's pretty close.
Graidon Mabson
Fot Historical Accuracy?
You'z Trollin?
Nah, just naaaahhh!
Most of the folks that write reviews have the best of intentions, but lack a bit of experience with historical originals, haven't had the occasion to wielded any exact reproduction, and even if so, probably not putting it through it's paces, such as going from guard to gard sticking with histrocial techniques...
What most of the users of this website want is to be proud of "their" sword, an cut jugs or pound tires, ennemies that dont really care about timing, accuracy, recovery of the cut, because they dont fight back!
They also want them to be rather inexpensive, so they dont and most wont bother to read anything about actual cross sectional dimensions, taper, etc, as comparing there slo to an historical artifact would show them how far some of the objects of their praises are from their purported models.
Hence the strong taste for sword shaped cleavers built like tanks on these parts of the intarwebs
That's no problem because 90% of the swords bought due to sbg reviews will also be used to maim jugs and bash tires, for wich the slow but powerfull sharpened iron crowbar suffices!
Another fantastic video.
I would love to see an updated version of this if possible. hell, i'd love to see more coverage on what is my favourite weapon I've ever laid eyes on.
Do you think that ancient soldiers spent a significant portion of their time chopping vegetables, and didn't have a separate tool for doing so?
Who would want to pay for that many vegetables cutting knives!?
If you have tens of thousands of troops, would each one want to carry a kitchen cleaver as well? The khopesh blade would be a bit thick for dainty thin slices of cucumber, but it's a perfectly serviceable cleaver.
Possibly.
I know that in the Roman army, small units of soldiers would have a rotation of their work detail. You might dig ditches most of the week, but on a particular day you'd have to serve up a meal to the rest of your boys. It's reasonable to assume that, like today, some people had a knack for it and some people didn't. Those who didn't? Well, perhaps they'd chop up the celery root (or whatever the hell was on the menu) with whatever was available. They were a resourceful lot, after all.
"Now where did they put that kitchen knife? Ehhh, fuck it." (Starts using his gladius, which he's never cleaned)
johnnytastetest I don't think people back then were too worried about using a barely cleaned gladius (I'm sure it was wiped after a battle at least) - a bit of dirt never hurt anyone, builds a strong immune system after all.
Lindybeige
Isn't bronze notorious for losing it's edge quite quickly? (Hence the switch to Iron when it came out?) I can imagine chopping a lot of vegetables or grinding herbs with it would dull it slowly over time as many late night vegetable stews were brewed, reducing its effectiveness in battle.
I wonder if the rounding of the blade is perhaps for supports. The arch formation would add structural benefits when chopping. You can see that the hitting someone would be the stress and the arch would certainly help. Any ideas on that?
The Khopesh was also used for hooking the enemy's weapon and twisting it out of his hand
One of my favourites!
I wouldn't recommend Dothraki weapons. They don't cut through the thick plates of Westerosi knights
i fight with a arakh for around 2 years it works fine.
the reason for a 3 finger handle is specifically to put your index finger up over the cross to make it much harder to have the weapon pulled out of your grasp. it's life or death fighting, you'll be willing to grab a kind of sharp object by the blade and get a deep cut on your palm over getting killed.
Very insightful section on the kopesh in Mike Loades' book Swords and Swordsmen. By the by, I onced touched a bit of gum under a pub table and ever since I've had the nagging feeling that I've been cursed.
The curse of chewingumen.
Get it?
Like tutankhamun.
._.
HA
"This is THE kopesh found in Tutankhamun's tomb"
*Made by Neil Burridge*
I recall reading somewhere that the khopesh were evolved from axes and would therefore perhaps more accurately be classified as battle axes rather than swords. I still think of them as hacking swords like kopis(es?) and falcatas, though.
Also, I think a steel khopesh might be pretty handy in a zombie apocalypse. :P
Thanks for posting this Lindybeige!
Very nice video. I have been curious about the kopesh for a long time.
* looking forward to your new line of culinary merch! *
Canaanite version with the rounded tip, originated from Khopesh designs, is the 'Sappara", and appeared to be a bit longer than the "standard" Khopesh design as the one you're holding. Some of my favorite weapons in history for sure. Also don't forget the uses for it from a chariot.
It throws off my sense of scale for weapons compared to Lloyd because he's so tall
I'd have thought the curved edge of the knife is a way of not bashing your fingers when hacking away at wood and so on.
Next on my purchase list!
Do the gunblade next. j/k Love this channel :P
Did they have carrot and cucumber in ancient Egypt?
Carrot possibly. They originated in nowadays afghanistan.
In the Bible, cucumbers are one of the foods the Israelites complained to Moses that they didn't have in the desert, that they had an abundance of back in Egypt.
The _words_ "kopesh" and "kopis" may be related, even if the swords themselves are not. The word "kopesh" is to be found on the Rosetta stone, for example, suggesting that the word survived the object it originally described. Much like "kendo", for example, which doesn't actually have anything to do with the specific sword "ken". Or the Italian word for sword, "spada", from "spatha", although it no longer means specifically that sword.
The shape is very interesting, it makes me wonder how the weapons was used in combat, as it seems like for such a specific and unusual shape to be used like that for such a long period of time that it must have provided advantages in battle.
I think that the back hand attack, or perhaps what could be called a wrap, would give a few extra inches in getting around shields. I also wonder if the front of the blade would be useful in hooking onto a shield and then following up with a stab.
Likely used not too disimilar to a scimitar or sabre, as the blades aren't that different. I'd imagine the back of the tip would do nicely for hooking shields/limbs. It is something I REALLY want to get and try out.
Hey Lindybeige, I know this is an old video, but I was wondering: if you were to choke up on the khopesh like how you showed here, would it be serviceable in grappling or close-in knife work similar to how a large bowie would be used? Given it's length, and the fact that only about half of it is actual blade, I feel like it could work well as a fighting knife as well as a short sword depending on where you hold it. What do you think?
The ending music was sort of awkward honestly. And what happened to the silly jokes in the end anyway? :c
What music would you have preferred? Back to the jazz? The sound of wind over the plains blowing tumbleweed?
Lindybeige Clearly we must go on a musical journey through time and space.
Lindybeige Please do a video with wind over the plains blowing tumbleweed. PLEASE! (including the silly jokes) :3
Lindybeige this one would be just fine
/watch?v=8vISdvJLMUM&list=PL2BCDA8AD96BBEC87
Thank you iv bin curious of that weapon for a very long time.
could a khopesh be characterized as an early axe ? or a sword/axe hybrid ? since from what i understood half of it's "blade" is blunt (as an axe shaft is ) and looks like aside from slashing like a sword it could also have a good whack like an axe ?
+George Physentzides i remember seeing somewhere(i can't remember where) that the Khopesh was probably a sword that would mimic an axes functions.
this is amazing Ive just the weekend forged one
Khopesh were actually not forged, they were typically cast in bronze and then sharpened and fitted with a handle. This was more to do with the technology of the time than the ideal production method. Casting them did make it much easier to quickly produce a lot of them if you needed to arm an army on short notice. As I’m sure you encountered while forging one, the shape is not particularly easy to hammer forge. I would imagine that you probably used a grinder to give it the right shape, or perhaps you started with a blank already in the shape you were going for.
I heard from one source that the kopesh could have been used to hook onto an enemy's weapon and disarm them.
The curse of king Tut's tomb is being pelted with sword pommels and being ended rightly.
Lindy, not sure about the etymology of the word Kopesh but in a video I was watching about Greek Pankrateion and they mention that Kopis was the Ancient Greek for "to cut". It would be interesting to see what Kopesh meant.
@Lindybeige Do you think the copes may have been worn through a ring one a belt, or perhaps directly through the belt ?....It's hard to imagine a scabbard for such a weapon...
Yay, the khopesh, my favorite poorly-described weapon from Unearthed Arcana :D
He died later in a mysterious fashion after handling a blade taken from an Egyptian tomb.
I don't really know my time periods all that well, but is it possible that there were some Greeks that went to and kinda hung out in Egypt for a time? Historians and philosophers would surely have found some interest in the place. Even if the sword was out of use, it would have been represented in art. A guy sees a few paintings, does up a sketch, brings them back home, and shows them to the local bronze smith, who makes one as a model, and finds it to actually be quite effective.
That, or sheer coincidence... Occam's Razor and all that... XD
Or maybe there were still a few around in Egypt after they went out of use, in the same way you might see a few old family heirlooms as decorations.
I think that the greeks, like the romans, borrowed a lot of technologies from their neighbours. I think the kopesh/kopis/makhaira/chinese dao (the machete type of sword) was a popular weapon during the bronze age everywhere.
JuliusAkavirius The Kopis isn't entirely a bronze age weapon by the way though :) . I believe it was popular with Alexander the Great's cav)
Hmm well off the top of my head, I know that Herodotus of Halicarnassus, an ancient Greek historian from the 400s BC (essentially the first and I like him better than Thucydides lol) travelled to Egypt at one point. I don't think he says anything about the Khopesh but Greeks certainly did have a presence in Egypt and then Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. The city of Alexandria was a big Hellenistic-Egyptian city with a huge library and lighthouse. Of course the Romans eventually took over. But given that Alexander's cavalry used the Kopis I believe, it could be that at some point the Khopesh was spied as a decorative, ceremonial, or perhaps agricultural thing and the idea was relayed back to Greece and became the Kopis. Though, I as Lindy pointed out, Khopesh could mean "hind leg" or something whereas I think Kopis means "chop" or "chopper" (not helicopter lol!). I have actually been studying ancient Greek so I'll have to look in my Greek lexicon for a word relating to "cutting" or "chopping" or something. Sorry this was kind of long lol.
JuliusAkavirius The Chinese Dao was not popular during Classical Bronze-Age China. It did not exist. The Chinese had pretty much straight swords until the Mongols established the Yuan in 1271 AD - in very recent times.
Even then the Dao was considered a draftee/low-level soldiers' weapon, while a true "Gentleman" ever held a straight sword.
Most Weapons found in Bronze Age China were either halbert-like or almost guard-less swords.
Very informative, thanks man!
From what I know ancient Greeks were always open for knowledge and invention of other cultures, especially Egyptians who were among the few cultures as sophisticated as Greeks (in some areas at least). Greeks have travelled to Egypt a lot and it is very likely that they'd borrow some ideas for warfare from them as well.
Holding the weapon of an ancient pharaoh… “I could use this to chop carrots” 🤣
Someone is spinning in their sarcophagus because of this video and I got a good chuckle out of that.
I'm watching them in clumps, at work. He could talk about cardboard, and it would be interesting. I was watching 'Cody's Lab', another addictive channel, and Cody mentioned Lindy's site. I was watching 'Cody's Lab' after seeing him destroy a toilet by flushing a load of Sodium down it (as you do), with Grant Thompson, 'The King Of Random'. And I was watching him, because I had been watching Colin Furze, who mentioned him. That's the problem with channels with excellent content - you can't just watch one.
I always thought they were a lot bigger but it looks so small and so light whith you holding it.
I am wondering how they sheathed the weapon as the blade itself is too awkward for a scabbard.
I expect it was something similar to the carrying cases you get for some composite bows that don't need to be unstrung (you see them a lot in cultures with a fair amount of horse archers, such as the Mongols and Magyars, and they're more related to gun holsters in design principle than sword scabbards) because it's easier with the shape, and you're mainly covering the edge (from damage/cutting you) since rust isn't really a concern with bronze weapons, so you don't need to protect them from the elements like you do steel (and you're in a desert to boot)
I own a khopesh with a scabbard and your wrong awkward not at all we semitics designed an awesome sword'
UEO Navy Egyptians designed this not semites
My favorite style of sword.
I keep thinking "arakh" because of Game of Thrones.
That reminds me.
Lindybeige, when are you going to ridicule Game of Thrones for its completely ridiculous scenes whenever any level of combat is involved?
Alon Shechter as an asoiaf/got fan, I'd find that very amusing. My personal favorites are when the Lannisters ambushing Eddard throw their javelins so hard they completely impale the Stark guards, and when Tyrion chops a Storm Lord's leg off like it's butter during the Battle of the Blackwater.
Tim Lee I'm a fan too, but the show has some utterly ridiculous stuff.
Anything that happens in Essos is particularly offensive, that part where three guys kill all the guards in a damn city, and it's all done in a fairly cramped place surrounded by buildings. You'd think the guards would have an archer or two.
I'd like to see somebody choreograph a duel with these.
Wish they mass produced the khopesh like machetes. They look to be extremely versatile weapons. You have the point which lines up for a straight thrust, but with a puncture would have more wound than a straight sword. The curve for obvious slashing, and two hooks (one more pronounced than the other), and different grips.
And again, the void of ignorance fades for a some while.
You see those warriors from Hammerfell? They've got curved swords. Curved. Swords.
I wonder if there's less a morphological relationship between "kopis" and "khopesh" and more a linguistic one; the Greeks inheriting the "word", but not the "form" of the weapon. Perhaps the word meant something like "Chopper" instead of just "sword".
I have one of those (Same smith and looks like same model) and I just love the thing. It is very blade heavy, but so light that it isn't a bother. Good cutting ability, pretty good thrusting as well. It also has the ability to hook both with the inside of the curve and at the base of the curve. I certainly wouldn't be too upset if I had to take one into battle (though taking a bronze one into battle against steel weapons might be a bit off-putting for me).
+demomanchaos Where did you get it?
DICKBUTT PENISDRAGON Neil Burridge cast it, and runs www.bronze-age-swords.com/
demomanchaos
Thanks for the link.
+demomanchaos It's amazing right? He made me one a bit custom for almost no extra cash, for my almost comedic dinner plate hands =] As for how it would hold up hit for hit against steel if both had no major faults, indeed it should fail, That said it's quite short and has a naturally strong shape, so I'd rather have it than nothing! =]
+Mike Sloan Steel is quite a bit stronger and will hold an edge better, but bronze was used for quite some while so it can't be all that rubbish.
A few days ago I put the khopesh (and my sharpening of it) to the test against some milk jugs. I am happy to report it preformed remarkably well. Each of the two jugs it was put through (I also used my good katana and my rhomphaia for bottle cutting that day) were hit multiple times as the cuts didn't knock the jug off the my stand. The edge held up perfectly and in case of milk jug invasion I am well prepared.
i would love to see video about Shotel - very interesting weapon.
Maybe some variants had their point sharpened to bypass shields similar to the design of a shotel.
Avid is usually the best software for general editing. it's a bit un-intuitive but once you get around that it is super easy to use
Damn straight.
I don't know, it looks more like a tool than for war. Kind of like the machete is a tool that is also sometimes used as a weapon.
Huh. I always imagined khopesh's being much bigger than that. Well, considering my biggest point of reference is the enemies from God of War, there you go.
well, if kopesh may have meant hind leg, it's possible that the word survived and was picked up as a kind of slang then used to name the kopis... but i'm aware how slim those chances are and in the end it isn't really worth making a conclusion about.
If you turn it around it's also a weak battle axe. Perhaps not in a battle, but if you are a person that carries this weapon and you get in a brawl with someone who is larger than you, it has more reach
King tatu-tatu
Such a strange thought that you might use the same tool to cut your veggies that you would use to slice up your enemies as well.
Did they have cucumbers in Egypt xD also, did Egyptian soldiers light a lot of fires? I think of Egypt as desert. Perhaps my perception is wrong. Great video.
Hi lindybeige, could you make a video about the Turkish Kilij?
Khopesh is a semetic word meaning stag's leg.
Do we know how they were carried? Were there sheaths or some suspension for them? It seems that a soldier would need to be able to stow it when not in use, but still need a quick deploy solution, but I don't see that happening with a traditional sheath.
Love the editing software nurdery. What would the Kohpesh be made of?
1:20 I rather can not imagine myself Ramses The Second who is chopping onions or carrots by his khopesh in the kitchen... And his wife is calling him from porch: "Ramzi! Be hurry up! Muwatallis The Second will came on barbecue soon!"
looks exactly like the dragon priest dagger from Skyrim
how can we trust old images as sources of accurate information about the past? what are people going to think of Marvel comics in the future? just wandering...
Is there some advantage to rounding the tip that you can think of? Is it particularly difficult to make it pointed?
Because if not, then I cannot see any reason why it would be rounded, and I would be strongly inclined to think that the ones which were rounded were so either because of heavy use (perhaps you'd stab into armour, and the tip would break off, and you'd have to grind it down to a round shape?), or because of artistic considerations on the part of the artists who drew pictures of them.
It could be some other explanation as well, but my point is that there would have to be one. Even a small advantage counts for a lot in a highly competitive situation like close combat, and being able to stab has certain tactical advantages, even if your weapon isn't balanced primarily for stabbing.
Some early swords had rounded tips to strengthen them against damage. They are working with fairly fragile materials until steel comes along.
Awesome stuff as usual. Can you use metric as well for measurements. Makes it easier than looking it up.
I regard the use of imperial units as part of the education of my viewers. They will have to know them one day.
1:30 - Yeah, you could probably use it in place of a sickle for harvesting grain.
the dothraki made this weapon great
how would the scabbard for a The Khopesh look? i've always wondered...
FINALLY!
You just use spear with a shield instead. but if you come close, you could drop your spear and start cutting arms with this ... as you can make a very strong pulling pulling cut on tube like objects(arms).
Diana from League uses something like that, but is 1.5 handed (like a katana)
I was wondering if the back side was sharpened as well. It looks like it would make sense to be double edged.
to sharpen it they'd weaken the overall structural integrity. from what I've heard part of how you would make the edge last longer was to hammer it until it was harder, but this would make it far more brittle. the spine of the blade would be made weaker by sharpening its back as well.
Looks like the dragon priest dagger from Skyrim
I'm sure going to save for one of these :o
It is a common mistake people make when reproducing a Khopesh … they don't add the 'hooks' at both curved ends probably because they don't know what they're used for. King Tut's was not a full issue Khopesh because he fought from a royal Chariot. Although due to his young age, I don't think he was to any battle at all. A ground fighter would carry a full Khopesh with hooked ends/teeth on the curves to help disarm an enemy or latch onto his weapon.
Ima just chop some carrots with my khopesh
He was cursed with repeated growing success in his channel
It also occurs to me that both words "khopesh" and "Kopis" sound an awful lot like the word "chop" perhaps its got something to do with the action the different shapes invite?
There's some speculation that "kopis" actually meant "chopper" in Greek, so I wouldn't be very surprised if they're related, technologically or etymologically.
+Jonathan Hughes I don't expect they're directly related, given the distance in time between them. But I'd put money on all three words being onomatopoeic. _Kopis_, as you touch on, is a very good match for _koptein_, to chop.
Did you know that from King tuts toom the main thing that we know is that he loved the hunt and the chase and that he was the king at boshcraft
I think you mean Minecraft.