Khopesh
Literally: leg
A sickle-shaped Bronze Age sword that originated in western Asia and was brought to Egypt from the Levant by the Hyksos; it had an edge only on the outer side of its curved end.
Quick Facts
About the weapon
The khopesh is a sickle-shaped sword that developed from battle axes. It did not originate in Egypt but in western Asia in the Bronze Age; it was probably brought to Lower Egypt from the Levant by the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. The name is most likely derived from the Egyptian word for leg, because its shape resembles a beef leg. A typical khopesh measures 50 to 60 cm, though smaller pieces also exist. The crescent shape derives from the so-called epsilon axes and similar sickle-shaped axes. The edge was only on the outer side of the curved end, so a fighter could catch an opponent's arm or pull his shield aside. In the New Kingdom period the material changed from bronze to iron. The khopesh was used most during the wars of the New Kingdom and fell out of use around 1300 BCE. Two khopeshes were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun (JE 61588), and the Louvre in Paris holds a bronze specimen from Palestine engraved with Ramesses II (E 25689). The khopesh is depicted on an ostracon of Ramesses IV, on a relief of Seti I in the hypostyle hall at Karnak, and on the stele of Merneptah, on which the pharaoh receives a khopesh from the god Amun. In art it symbolized power and conquest.