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

[Teisani]

I found a high resolution photo of the Vasil Bozhkov Museum (Васил Божков) makhaira. It says "makhaira sword of the 4th century BC, with a unique hilt with an exquisite hilt representing the figure of a galloping horse with a copper-inlaid bridle".


Mahaira from Zlatinitsa - Malomirovo

2. Mahaira from Zlatinitsa - Malomirovo

The Iron Sword /Inv. No. NAIM – 8621, Reg. 2/ was discovered in situ in 2005 during regular archaeological surveys of the Big Mound between the villages of Malomirovo and Zlatinitsa, Elhovsko by the team of the "Strandja" Archaeological Expedition, led by Daniela Agre. The sword was part of the rich funeral gifts of a Thracian ruler. It was placed next to his left arm. It is forged from a single piece of metal. Its dimensions are: length 81 cm, incl. handle 13.6 cm long, maximum blade width 6.5 cm. The handle is a combination of bone and wood, shaped like the head of a bird of prey. It was placed in a wooden scabbard. Typologically, it belongs to the swords - mahairi /crooked single-edged sword/, also known by the Thracian name "skalme" and by the ancient Greek name "kopis", and according to the archaeological material in the grave, its dating is the beginning of the 2nd half of the 4th century BC This type of personal assault weapon is one of the primary close combat weapons in Thrace. The mahairata is seen as a typical Thracian weapon, mentioned by ancient authors such as Homer, Herodotus and Thucydides, also depicted on the monuments of the Thoreutics and in tomb frescoes. The closest analogues of this sword are the swords from the Bashova Mogila and the Great Mogila at Duvanlii, as well as two mahairs from sub-tomb burials from the necropolis of Kabyle. The significance of this sword lies in the fact that, as part of the funeral gifts, according to the discoverer and researcher Daniela Agre, it belonged to the first-born son of the Thracian king Kerseblept - Iolaus. It is currently stored in the NAIM fund at the BAS.

More info about the Bulgarian finds here



Plus a few more, regarding which I have no further info.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kabile_001.jpg

[Teisani]

This is not necesarily related to kopises.
If you like ancient objects, but don't have the budget to travel around, then this flickr account might interest you.
Enjoy! https://www.flickr.com/photos/dandiffendale/

This one is very nice as well
https://www.flickr.com/photos/prof_r.../albums/page10

[bookandswordblog]

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.