This is going to be very simple, guys (and girls)! As above, we’re going to talk about types of swords! So this is for ancient swords and that means pretty much Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. Let’s start with Mesopotamia, ’cause that’s where civilization starts.
Bronze knives and daggers were common in Mesopotamia, but bows and slingshots were the common weapons in the region. The Assyrians used curving sickle-shaped swords and daggers, but straight iron swords were also common. The Assyrians were the first major iron-wielders. During this time, the Persians, Medes, and Sakas began using akinakes, short gold or bronze daggers.
The Egyptians used even more curved swords called khopesh or khepesh, take your pick. These swords however lost against the iron weapons of the Assyrians, but won against the Hittites of Turkey. The Canaanites and the Aramaeans of Syria used the khopesh too. It was based on the epsilon axe, a big axe that bore resemblance to the Greek letter epsilon ε.
The Mycenaeans of Greece used three kinds of swords: A sort of dirk or dagger, a machete, and a rapier-like longsword. These were used to great effect against European peoples who hadn’t developed swords yet. However, these blades fell out of fashion after the Mycenaean downfall shortly after the Trojan War
So that’s it! Next post will cover European swords, and then the next may cover American bladed weapons (even tomahawks, though they aren’t swords). Bye!
Anay Ganesh 