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

bookandswordblog · 18th March 2026, 04:11 AM

Hi,

excellent list! The place to learn about these war knives is academic publications in German, Greek, and sometimes the Slavic languages. Unfortunately many of those are rather pricey. The best place to start for Greek-style kopides with known archaeological contexts is Marek Verčík, Die barbarischen Einflüsse in der griechischen Bewaffnung (Rahden-im-Westf.: Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH, 2014)

I have a further reading list at Where to find kopis and machaira swords.

Daniela Agre's book on Golyamata Mogila including a long kopis is available on academia.edu

At the risk of stating the obvious, xiphe and most kopides had scale tangs (full-width tangs, Griffplatten). Therefore it was impossible to remount the blade on an arbitrary style of hilt the way a Persian shamshir blade or European palasch blade is often mounted on a Tulwar hilt. The cutler would have to chisel off the tang, have a new tang forge-welded on and forged to shape, repair the damage to the blade, and then rehilt it.

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18th March 2026, 04:11 AM	#36
bookandswordblog Member Join Date: Mar 2026 Posts: 6	Hi, excellent list! The place to learn about these war knives is academic publications in German, Greek, and sometimes the Slavic languages. Unfortunately many of those are rather pricey. The best place to start for Greek-style kopides with known archaeological contexts is Marek Verčík, Die barbarischen Einflüsse in der griechischen Bewaffnung (Rahden-im-Westf.: Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH, 2014) I have a further reading list at Where to find kopis and machaira swords. Daniela Agre's book on Golyamata Mogila including a long kopis is available on academia.edu At the risk of stating the obvious, xiphe and most kopides had scale tangs (full-width tangs, Griffplatten). Therefore it was impossible to remount the blade on an arbitrary style of hilt the way a Persian shamshir blade or European palasch blade is often mounted on a Tulwar hilt. The cutler would have to chisel off the tang, have a new tang forge-welded on and forged to shape, repair the damage to the blade, and then rehilt it.