The falchion, shaped in the pattern of Ursæ major (?), was thick-backed and weighted with bronze; the blade, in later days at least,[502] was of iron or steel, as shown by the blue colour. Champollion[503] notices blue Swords with golden hilts in the tomb of Ramses III., and a ‘weapon Kops’ with the gold, of which the hilt consists, running up the concave back of the blade. ‘The gold was therefore either sunk into the iron, or gilded on the back. In other cases the Kops of kings was entirely of gold, or, like other Swords, entirely of brass (copper?). In another similar weapon, brass (copper?) and iron were blended in the blade.’ An iron ‘Kops’ was found in a tomb at Gurnah. [Illustration: FIG. 161.—1. EGYPTIAN SLING; 2. UNKNOWN WEAPON; 3. SHEATHED DAGGER; 4. HATCHET; 5. SCORPION, OR WHIP-GOAD.] [Illustration: FIG. 162.—EGYPTIAN DAGGERS.] [Illustration: FIG. 163.—EGYPTIAN DAGGER OF BRONZE IN BRITISH MUSEUM.] [Illustration: FIG. 164.—OFFICER OF LIFE-GUARD TO RAMSES II., APPARENTLY ASIATIC.] [Illustration: FIG. 165.—BRONZE SWORD, FOUND AT AL-KANTARAH, EGYPT.] The Khopsh, a sickle in type, and originally a throwing weapon as well as a cutting arm, was always carried by the Pharaoh, who used it indifferently with the pike (_Taru_), the mace, axe (_Aka_, _Akhu_), battle-axe, or pole-axe (_Kheten_). Officers and privates, ‘lights’ as well as ‘heavies,’ also wielded it in pictures. Those commanding infantry-corps are armed with the simple stick like the Roman centurion and our drill-sergeant of bygone days. [Illustration: FIG. 166.—1. AXE; 2. SPEAR-HEAD; 3. KHOPSH; 4. LANCE-HEAD.] [Illustration: FIG. 167.—BELT AND DAGGER.] [Illustration: FIG. 168.—EGYPTIAN DAGGERS.] The fourth or long-straight Sword, which does not appear in the hieroglyphs, had a two-edged cut-and-thrust leaf-shaped blade from two and a half to three feet long,[504] with a foining point like that of the Somal.[505] These large weapons seem to have been used by foreign mercenaries. The leaf- also becomes a trowel-form, betraying its origin and derivation, the spear-head. The grip was hollowed away in the centre, gradually thickening at either end, and was sometimes inlaid with metal, stones, and precious woods. The pommel of that worn in the Pharaoh’s girdle is surmounted by one or more hawk-heads, this bird being the symbol of Ra[506] (the Sun). The handle is also adorned with small pins and studs of gold, shown through suitable openings in the front part of the sheath. With this weapon the warrior stabs the enemy in the throat, as Mithras strikes the bull behind the shoulder. A modified form was the Sword-dagger, of which two are sometimes represented with the Pharaoh: it was generally carried in the belt. This shape of weapon found its way to the Caucasus;[507] and the Georgian Khanjar, hanging to the girdle in the place of the Sword, is also a survival. [Illustration: FIG. 169.—ASSYRIAN DAGGERS, SHEATHS, AND BELTS. (BRITISH MUSEUM.)]