 This weapon is closely associated with pharaonic power, divine power. Of all the weapons in history, the sword is perhaps one of the most romanticized and iconic. They come in a mainstay of history, fantasy, and sci-fi genres. As we progress through the history of humanity, it's difficult to not cover the history of the tools of conquest and the weapons by which empires were built and destroyed. So as we advance, we'll be hitting on a few key points on the evolution of the sword and other common weapons, starting today with one of our earliest swords, the copesh. Everything we use comes from 8,000 generations of collective innovation and discovery, but it could an average person figure it all out themselves and work their way from the stone age to today. That's a question we're exploring. Each week I try to take that next step forward in human history. My name is Andy and this is how to make everything. Be sure to subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next step in this journey. The evolution of the sword came from the dagger. Before the discovery of metallurgy, initial stone knives could only get to a limited length before becoming too fragile and prone to snapping. Once metal was mastered, the length of blades was able to expand and the dagger started to emerge. As the skills improved and the stronger properties of bronze were discovered, the size of daggers could get bigger and bigger. At what point a dagger becomes a sword is highly contentious and depends on many different definitions. The first weapons that could possibly consider swords dates to around 3300 BCE in Turkey ranging from 18 to 24 inches long. The first weapons that can be unambiguously called swords emerged around 1700 BCE in Crete with lengths around 27 to 40 inches. We'll be covering this era in a video in a few weeks but today we're digging into this earlier Bronze Age era of short swords and see about making one of the more unique ones became common in Sebalik in Egypt, the Kopash, which emerged sometime around 2500 BCE. To learn more about the specific sword and get some help in casting it, earlier this year we paid a visit to some experts in Austin, Texas. While there we went down to the Gulf of Mexico to source glass wart for an upcoming endeavor on making glass from scratch. This guy right here, the local variety of glass warts, burning these should be usable for making the soda ash for glass. Chapped down some reeds on the banks of the Colorado River for our previous Papyrus video and then connected with our first expert Greg, the sword casting guy, to cast a wide assortment of Bronze Age tools for upcoming projects including a pair of kopesh. Greg can help you out. That's right contact me at swordcastingguy.com. My email address is swordcastingguy.com and if you get 12 or more people who are interested in making a sword I will come to you. I am currently traveling all over the US teaching sword casting classes and I'm about to start going to Europe which I'm super excited about. Speaking of swords, the green flames over here mean we are about to pour so it is time to go. In addition to the kopeshes, we also cast a bronze anvil to help assist in the work hardening of the edges of the blade. That even looks like a ship's anchor. Should try to take that carry on. Why don't ya? Fantastic. Okay. This is kopesh. Now it didn't totally sand cast perfectly which I knew it would not but it is recognizable as King Tut's kopesh. It didn't cast right. Right up here there's a little void. The tip is not perfect. Though a lot of it did. That's actually pretty exciting. That one looks kind of like a Canaanite kopesh. Next, to understand a little better the history behind this unique weapon, we move to our second expert who Greg put us in touch with, Daman Stiff. So I've been training in martial arts for over 30 years with an emphasis and focus on Africa and Middle East for say the last 20 years. Featured on shows like History's Deadliest Weapons, Daman is one of the best experts on these weapons and has spent considerable time and research trying to reconstruct the combat styles of how these weapons were once used. Pretty much when we look at the shape it's like a Klingon weapon. It's like it's from outer space. Glory of the Klingon spirit. So the kopesh in certain circles is pronounced as hapesh. It's very interesting. We don't know much about its origin. We do know in Western Asia and Mesopotamia they had sickle swords similar to the kopesh. It had more than just a battlefield significance to the Egyptians. It had like a spiritual connection to the gods as a sign of favor and a sign of power. There are many scenes that depict like the deities offering the kopesh to the current pharaoh. When we do see the kopesh in action sometimes it's kind of in a more passive role traveling with the soldiers to the battlefield. But in an active role we see it as a smiter. You capture this foe and you're demonstrating your dominance over them and you have these over here and you're going to bring it down to crush them. So this weapon is closely associated with pharaonic power, divine power. The term itself refers to the foreleg of a cow. When Egyptians would sacrifice a cow there was this portion of the leg that was very reminiscent to the shape of this blade. And so they were referred to the sword as a kopesh based off of that portion that they were offered to the gods. The leg symbolized power and strength and stability. So when we're talking about this weapon we see the idea of strength and power. Some Egyptologists have questioned the narrative of whether the kopesh was like brought into Egypt by the Hicksos invasion or if it was something that was developed based off of early like alabaster curved knives that the Egyptians used. There's an axe called the Epsilon axe. So it has like a wooden half that would travel all the way up and you have this like crescent shaped blade with these holes or slots cut in it to kind of take some of the weight off of it. The problem is when you come across someone that is an armor that's made to withstand edge and impact weapons then it becomes an issue. So the Epsilon axe stopped being used on a battlefield and then people started favoring what they call the duckbill axe or the penitentive axe which was able to like cause cussive damage to the person by striking the armor. If this style of axe had fallen out of favor then why would you create a sword that basically serves the same function as an axe and was probably like more costly to like make. It could be that the Kopech also has had like a strong association with that kingly power. Now some people have said because the point here is in line with the wrist it allows the Kopech to thrust and that could be kind of one answer to why this remained functional in New Kingdom Egypt as a battlefield weapon as opposed to the Epsilon axe which if this point could be used for thrusting then you have a function that matches the military advancements that were going on during the Bronze Age. Part of the problem with that is that not all Kopech are uniform in shape sometimes these things are rounded off and they don't have the same kind of excretion point as this. So it's questionable whether or not it could be used for thrusting. For me the elegance of it is that it can cut. The question is like can you parry with a bronze sword in the same way you would do with the steel sword. Would this be used in conjunction with the shield but then how would you use it if it was just just by itself. While making the weapon is cool and everything actually knowing how to properly use it seems just as important. So while there Duman gave me a quick lesson of how to fight with a Kopech sword. Next week's episode will feature this lesson as I learned to fight like an Egyptian. If you're interested in learning these African martial arts check out Duman's gym in Austin where he offers a variety of classes on different African weapons and styles. Now back to finish up my cast Kopeches. While cleaned up and polished let's have to handle. And then use my new anvil to work hard on the edges so hold a strong edge. Then using some leftover juice of walnut husk give it a nice stain. So back in the studio now and finished up these Kopeches. Got them half did and polished off. This is the first one. This is based off of King Tut's Kopech that was found in his tomb and it's more of a ceremonial one. So I didn't actually put an edge on it but did get polished up pretty hard with all the little grooves in it. This is a replica of a Neil Barrage that Greg had. This is kind of a display of power to show off a little bit. And then did not see that. And then this one is more of a traditional one. A workhorse used for actual combat. So I sharpened it and put a bit of an edge on it. And in a little bit we can put that to the test and chop some fruit up, smite them. So thanks again to Greg and Daman for both helping me cast these and for teaching me a little bit of other history and how they potentially were used in actual combat. We're going to be covering some other Bronze Age weapons such as a more traditional sword and spear in upcoming videos and both of them also helped me with that. So you look forward to that in a few weeks to be aware of the sea people. So let's try this out and chop some fruit. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to subscribe and check out other content we have covering a wide variety of topics. Also if you've enjoyed these series, consider supporting us on Patreon. We are largely a fan-funded channel and depend on the support of our viewers in order to keep our series going. Thanks for watching.