Kopis/Κοπίς & Makhaira/Μάχαιρα (Greek & Etruscan)

[M ELEY]

Not in my ballpark, but incredibly detailed information on these fascinating swords! Future generations of collectors will appreciate your great effort and knowledge on these!

[Teisani]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

...Future generations of collectors will appreciate your great effort and knowledge on these!

Thank you! Thank you!...and to future generations, I prefer my statues in imaculate white marble (bronze is for peasants, yuck!). Oh! and placed in a sunny spot, with no pidgeons around.

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On a more serious note, one reason I started this compilation of available online information on these swords, is because people lump Iberian falcatas with Greek/Italic kopis together. More often falcatas get labeled as kopis, rather than the reverse, because extant kopis are much more rare, and usually not as well preserved (and the ancient Greeks have much better PR than Iberian celts, so more people). But I want to emphasize that kopis and falcatas are very distinct in shape, and possibly in function too.

P.S.: I regret not being able to provide the sources to all of the pictures/info posted. Some of them I have for a while, and just forgot where I acquired them.

[Teisani]

The Combat Archaeology of the Fifth-Century BC Kopis: Hoplite Swordsmanship in the Archaic and Classical Periods by Thomas O. Rover.
https://www.researchgate.net/publica...ssical_Periods

There are some nice videos accompanying the research paper on the author's YouTube channel, here: https://www.youtube.com/@thomasrover9295/videos

In my opinion this is a good example of the "kopis/falcata interchangeability" tendency which makes things confusing for beginners wanting to study these two ancient swords. I really like the reproduction, but it's clearly a falcata, not a kopis.

I also disagree with that statement in the paper that Fig.2 represents two kopis swords at the Met Museum. Unfortunately, the Met Museum seems to state the same here:https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/257576
But judging by their shapes, they are Iberian falcatas.

Still, the paper is full of useful data, a recommended read.