Question about the Laz Bicagi

[Emanuel]

Hello,

Ever since I first saw the beautiful black-sea yataghan I've wondered about it's orginin. All of the info I've seen on the internet and the meager literature I possess cite the Greek machaira as the most direct model for the yataghan family. Wondering through Stone's book however, I stumbled upon a picture of a bronze Assyrian Sapara. The same picture may be seen on this site http://hindunet.org/saraswati/sapara.jpg
To me this weapon, so much like the original Egyptian kopsh, is much closer in shape to the Laz Bicagi than the machaira, which is so much like the falcatta and khukri. My question is this: how old is the classical yataghan form known to be, and how long has the unmistakable form of the kopsh persisted in Mesopotamia and in Asia-Minor?
Is the Laz Bicagi just a coincidental merge of Tatar sabres with the Ottoman yataghan, or could it be a direct development from the Sapara?

Manolo

- edit -
My apologies, Jim McDougall had already brought this question up http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...black+yataghan
Perhaps moderators should delete this thread.