Melee weapons of antiquity: the Egyptian khopesh and its modifications

Cold weapon Ancient Egypt, ancient Europe today belongs to the most ancient civilizational artifacts. Until now, disputes have not subsided about exactly where the first samples of daggers made of metal could appear, with the help of which they not only hunted, but also conducted full-fledged military operations.

A number of historiographic sources say that the first versions of daggers appeared in Ancient Mesopotamia - in the state of Sumer. At the same time, the weapons business in terms of creating such edged weapons received special development in ancient Egypt.

The most famous variants of ancient Egyptian edged weapons include khopesh (with an emphasis on the second syllable). This is a sickle-shaped blade of cutting-cutting-piercing purpose. It is believed that the khopesh itself may be a modification of the so-called battle sickle of the Hyksos. The Hyksos are a people who in the XNUMXth century BC. was able to conquer part of Egypt, but did not extend the rule of his dynasty to the entire Egyptian territory.

The classic Egyptian khopesh is a melee weapon about half a meter long. The classic khopesh, which historians consider more like a battle ax than a dagger, often "appeared" in the images of the pharaohs. Such "axes" were also found during excavations of tombs.

Speaking about the transformation of the Egyptian khopesh, historians argue about whether this name could have migrated to ancient Europe.

The reason for such reflections is the kopis dagger (stress is also on the second syllable), which is typical of the ancient Greeks. In the generally accepted interpretation, he believes that the very word "kopis", which translates as "hack", is associated with a similar pronunciation of the Egyptian word, meaning the limb of an animal. In this regard, the same word was often used in Greek kitchens when talking about long knives for cutting meat.

At the same time, some historians are sure that the Egyptian khopesh and the Greek kopis have, in fact, a single prototype - edged weapons from the aforementioned Sumer, which had numerous modifications.

The plot of Random Hands demonstrates the process of making edged weapons, which, as the author himself writes, "is possibly an Egyptian dagger."

However, what happened in the end clearly has nothing to do with a typical khopesh (kopis).

"Military Review" recalls that the unauthorized manufacture of weapons is punishable by law.

Comments

[novel66]

it seems to be a dagger ... for sailors on the "RA"

[Al_lexx]

The piece of iron or sharpened bronze is not so much interesting as the very fact that this state stood for several thousand years.
Nubian wars and other gave ...

[Luminman]

the very fact that this state stood for several thousand years

It was not one state, but several different kingdoms, replacing each other. And unrelated

[zenion]

And these kingdoms were commanded by the same people. Writing was the same for thousands of years, and so was construction.

[bovi]

by no means the same. The place itself determined that "there will be a strong kingdom" because there was a natural and easy form of re-cultivation of plants.
Writing (hieroglyphs) is not "the most ancient". In general, we are not very good at dating cultural phenomena deeper than 4-5 thousand years. What to date is, and then - opinions based on selected (available) facts. But nothing more than opinions.

[Al_lexx]

Quote: Luminman

It wasn't just one country...

I agree.
But nevertheless, they stood for a long time and even they themselves do not remember when ...
From writing, the oldest on Earth.

[Xlor]

in the State of Sumer

[novel66]

but there is no need to be ironic!

[gridasov]

More than anything else, the level of intelligence of people who created such weapons and use knowledge of geometry attracts attention. Extending the handle increases leverage and impact power. The cutting part along its length increases both the cutting part and at the same time the chopping part. I did not undertake calculations, but I think the dimensions of the various parts of this object and their relative proportionality matter, and not an arbitrary decision.

[SVD68]

Most likely, there was no extension of the handle, this was the replacement of the ax shaft with a metal part. The rounded cutting-chopping part is a replacement for the ax-shaped ax.

[YOUR]

"Military Review" recalls that the unauthorized manufacture of weapons is punishable by law.

Only we have the concept of edged weapons and an article of the Criminal Code for it. Although, in order to recognize melee weapons, you need to match my 17 parameters. Starting from the angle of the point and ending with the hardness of the steel. If at least one parameter does not match, it is not a weapon.
The question is why is it needed at all?

[Nyrobsky]

Quote: YOUR

Only we have the concept of edged weapons and an article of the Criminal Code for it. Although, in order to recognize melee weapons, you need to match my 17 parameters.

Like five parameters. The thickness of the butt of the blade, the length of the blade, the hardness of steel, sharpening, the presence of a guard and sub-finger protrusions. If one of the parameters does not match, then this is not a melee weapon.
And here, on the video, it is a pity that having subjected the blade to restoration, they ruined a rare thing that was unique in its original form. Now it's just a blade with a beautiful handle. Such remakes could also be riveted from other iron.

[volodimer]

Here the shape of the blade itself is interesting. The one in the first photo is a "classic ritual khopesh" with a rectangular section of the initial part and a characteristic bend of the cutting part. These are known. Converted to the video, straight, one-sided, with a thickened tip, for breaking through armor (experts will describe more precisely how to call this element). Judging by the fact that it is broken off, it did not help much.
In the first part of the blade from the guard, it has a significant thickness, on which there are 3 lobes, then along the cutting edge of the rest of the XNUMX lob.
The blade of a clearly interesting shape, whether it had its own separate (like Japanese blades of a similar shape but different lengths) name or not, I think that it is impossible to establish without documentary sources (image + description). The question of the cultural value of the blade, this is for museum workers. The functionality has been restored, but the historical value has been completely lost. It is unlikely that such genuine blades, especially in such a state in abundance, then this is blasphemy.

[Nyrobsky]

Quote: volodimer

The question of the cultural value of the blade, this is for museum workers. The functionality has been restored, but the historical value has been completely lost. It is unlikely that such genuine blades, especially in such a state in abundance, then this is blasphemy.

Here I am about it. My friend has a three-sided bayonet from a three-ruler with a cut-off mount, a threaded thread on which a textolite handle is mounted. With this "bayonet" he pricks piglets and is very proud that he has a "bayonet", but alas, this is no longer a bayonet, but a trihedral pointed piece of iron, or sharpening, for slaughtering pigs. He does not understand the difference and argues that - "Well, this is still iron from a bayonet!"

[volodimer]

There is an HP-40, the handle is wooden, it’s not a fact that the original shank around some kind of washer is riveted, painfully poor from the end. I saw similar Zlatoust ones in videos, but although this one has a triangular stamp and the numbers 1942, there are no letters and it is somewhat crooked. Perhaps a small artel, where the stigma was beaten handicraft. Many times I was offered to "ennoble": change the handle, grind, etc. I took it from a man who opened canned food for them not to mutilate it. Maybe the handle is like that, because it was repaired in the field conditions of the war. And someday it will also become known about the stigma "not textbook". Perhaps this is a lone blacksmith after a shift in excess of the norm forged. And now, from the memory of his feat, I’ll make a salve for cutting sausages? No, I just carefully removed the rust and keep it as a memory. "Iron from" is how to cut Lavochkin Kozhedub from Monino and make spoons. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but that's the feeling.
So it is unlikely that this is "an impressive modification of the Egyptian dagger", as the name says.
By the way, the handle turned out to be "usual", but the original one is interesting. it looks like wooden, rhombic, with a notch so that the blade does not get stuck in the armor, but sits securely in the hand during the reverse movement. These little things are completely lost in the alteration.

[Nyrobsky]

Quote: volodimer

By the way, the handle turned out to be "usual", but the original one is interesting. it looks like wooden, rhombic, with a notch so that the blade does not get stuck in the armor, but sits securely in the hand during the reverse movement. These little things are completely lost in the alteration

This is what I mourn. These little things were the main asset.

[serg.shishkov2015]

and I keep the hatchet of the Ilevsky factory! grandfather's village! the plant itself was closed at the beginning of the 20th century, when a bomb was slipped on the local boss, so it's more like the end of the 19th century. on the butt there is a percussion tip in the form of a truncated pyramid. cleaned of rye as best he could and lubricated

[sen]

Curious. The famous Russian gunsmith Professor V.G. Fedorov, there are two articles "Foundations for the device of edged weapons" and "On the issue of changing the currently accepted drafts." They are talking about the saber (saber) of General Gorlov and the sabers of the old masters. All sabers are convex: the curvature is directed towards the cutting, but the axis of the handle of the Gorlovsky saber is secant to the line of the blade and passes through the point, closer to the classical khopesh, and in the sabers of the old masters the axis of the handle is tangent to the line of the blade, while the point is shifted back. V.G. Fedorov, using the example of a curved handle of a carpenter's ax, argues that the shift of the center of gravity relative to the axis of the handle backwards provides "convenience" when cutting due to the automatic stability of the position of the ax or saber. Let's evaluate it. The displacement of the center of gravity relative to the axis of the handle is not more than 2 cm, the actual possible error angle of the grip with the hand of the handle is less than ±5º, then the overturning moment arm does not exceed 1,8 mm, and taking into account the fact that the acceleration of the hand at the moment of impact is insignificant, we can conclude that talking about the influence of the overturning moment relative to the axis of the handle on the "convenience" when cutting is not serious. In addition, there is also an ax for chopping firewood with a straight handle - a cleaver. But still, why does a carpenter's ax have a curved handle? Here the reason is different. Unlike the cleaver, where the blow is applied with a large swing and the whole body, the blow with a carpenter's ax is purely "shoulder". It's a matter of hitting technique. Before the impact, the shoulder is "cocked" due to the "reverse", i.e. movement, with relaxed muscles, of the shoulder with the weapon in the opposite direction from the strike, and the rest of the body, on the contrary, on the course of the strike. And after the weapon is brought to the cut surface, at the moment of contact, the shoulder muscles make a sharp jerk of several centimeters. Thus, the start point of the jerk is on the surface of the cut body, and the end point is in depth (aiming point), by the amount of the jerk. It is important to "touch" through the weapon, "feel" the magnitude of the jerk, and this can be achieved by making the distance between the blade of the weapon and the axis of the handle equal to the magnitude of the shoulder jerk. In the case of a carpenter's ax, reduce to a jerk with a curved handle. For a small axe, such as a tomahawk, where the distance between the blade and the axis of the handle is equal to the shoulder jerk, a straight handle is quite "comfortable". This idea was implemented in khopesh, the axis of the blade of which is shifted forward relative to the axis of the handle using a ledge, which again disagrees with the version proposed by V.G. Fedorov.

[gridasov]

It is worth paying attention to the fact that all the limbs of humans and animals have fulcrum. And these are not just levers, but a kind of effective movement along the radius from the precession point and an increase in the radius allows you to increase the circumferential speed. In this case, the displacement from the main radius has an additional moment of force. Therefore, the issue is the aspect that in this weapon the point of contact is at the level of advancing application from the axis of the hand strike or lagging behind, like a checker with a curved blade. By the way, this mechanism, as in khopesh, is in the pictograms in the margins. But on khopesh, the idea of ​​​​simultaneous displacement of both leading and lagging due to the circumference is implemented. Therefore, the very ideology of resolving the issue is important.