Edge and Impact: Close-Combat Weapons from the Khopesh to the Poleaxe

An Egyptian sickle-sword that developed from battle axes, with a hooked blade that could pull an opponent's shield or weapon aside as well as slash. Examples were recovered from the tomb of Tutankhamun, and it faded from use in the late New Kingdom as iron and other sword forms spread.

The thrusting spear of Greek hoplites, two to three meters long with a leaf-shaped head and a butt spike that served as a backup if the shaft broke. Locked together in the phalanx, dory points made frontal cavalry charges difficult, until the longer Macedonian sarissa replaced it under Philip II and Alexander.

A Thracian and Dacian curved blade, made as a two-handed polearm or a shorter sickle-sword. Roman accounts credit it with cutting through legionary shields and helmets, so the Roman army added helmet cross-braces and extra limb guards for the Dacian Wars that ended with Trajan's conquest in 106 CE.

The curved single-edged swords of the Islamic world, including the Persian shamshir, Turkish kilij and Arab saif, with earliest evidence among soldiers in Khurasan in the ninth century. The curve let a rider draw the blade through a target as the horse's momentum carried the cut.

A blunt weapon with a heavy head that sent crushing force straight through mail and plate, which made it a favored sidearm for mounted knights from roughly the eleventh century. Ceremonial maces descended from it still symbolize authority in many parliaments and councils.

A broad European single-edged sword of the thirteenth through sixteenth centuries whose forward weight gave it axe-like chopping power against mail. Few survive; the Conyers Falchion at Durham Cathedral and the Thorpe Falchion are the best known.

The two-handed knightly sword of roughly 1350 to 1550, whose long hilt allowed half-swording, gripping the blade itself for leverage against armor. Fencing manuals by masters such as Johannes Liechtenauer and Fiore dei Liberi record its techniques.

A fourteenth and fifteenth century polearm that grew from the need to breach the plate armor of men-at-arms, pairing an axe blade with a hammer or spike and a top spike for thrusting. It became a preferred weapon for judicial duels and foot combat at tournaments.