Kopis/khopsh etc. - Egyptian swords

ariel · 22nd March 2005, 03:03 PM

Tom is subscribing to the Marxist view of history, whereby everything is driven by suprahuman (economic) necessity and the individual leader is just somebody who was there at the right place and in the right time. A marionette of objective historical forces, so to speak.
Most of us, especially in the post-Cold War days, would only chuckle....
There is no doubt that Alexander was Greek, that he was a formidable leader, and that he actively initiated a chain of events that re-shaped the world. I suggest we stop here and now the silly argument " my ancestor was greater than your (his, their, her etc)...". There is already another internet place where such arguments are hotly debated, with Alexander being the villain and barbarian who destroyed a mighty, cultured, humanistic and generally idyllic Persian culture. Nothing good comes from these arguments, guys, except mutual accusations of cultural insensitivity.
Can we concentrate on the swords? Do Yataghan and Kora descend from the Greek Macedonian Kopis? Was there a reverse migration of the recurved blade back to Asia Minor? Sosun Pattah, anyone? Where does Falcatta fit here? Why does my beloved Laz Bicaq (Black Sea Yataghan) have a configuration resembling Egyptian Khopesh?

22nd March 2005, 03:03 PM	#10
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Tom is subscribing to the Marxist view of history, whereby everything is driven by suprahuman (economic) necessity and the individual leader is just somebody who was there at the right place and in the right time. A marionette of objective historical forces, so to speak. Most of us, especially in the post-Cold War days, would only chuckle.... There is no doubt that Alexander was Greek, that he was a formidable leader, and that he actively initiated a chain of events that re-shaped the world. I suggest we stop here and now the silly argument " my ancestor was greater than your (his, their, her etc)...". There is already another internet place where such arguments are hotly debated, with Alexander being the villain and barbarian who destroyed a mighty, cultured, humanistic and generally idyllic Persian culture. Nothing good comes from these arguments, guys, except mutual accusations of cultural insensitivity. Can we concentrate on the swords? Do Yataghan and Kora descend from the Greek Macedonian Kopis? Was there a reverse migration of the recurved blade back to Asia Minor? Sosun Pattah, anyone? Where does Falcatta fit here? Why does my beloved Laz Bicaq (Black Sea Yataghan) have a configuration resembling Egyptian Khopesh?