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Ikegobo
Ikegobo, the Edo term for "altars to the Hand," are a type of cylindrical sculpture from the Benin Empire. Used as a cultural marker of an individual's accomplishments, Ikegobo are dedicated to the hand, from which the people of Benin considered the will for wealth and success to originate. These commemorative objects are made of wood or brass with figures carved in relief around their sides. Ikegobo, like the royal ancestral altars, are settings for spectacular examples of Benin art. The cult of the Hand in Nigeria The cult of the Hand is based on the belief that a man's right hand or arm embodies his capacity for accomplishment. The cult focuses on a man's skill with tools, his economic effectiveness, and his ability to win physical contests. The Hand will also protect him and his household from attacks by malevolent spirits or human enemies. In Benin culture, the hand is worshiped primarily by those who have already achieved outstanding success or wealth. The Benin king ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benin Art
Benin art is the art from the Kingdom of Benin or Edo Empire (1440–1897), a pre-colonial African state located in what is now known as the Southern region of Nigeria. Primarily made of cast bronze and carved ivory, Benin art was produced mainly for the court of the Oba of Benin – a divine ruler for whom the craftsmen produced a range of ceremonially significant objects. The full complexity of these works can be appreciated through the awareness and consideration of two complementary cultural perceptions of the art of Benin: the Western appreciation of them primarily as works of art, and their understanding in Benin as historical documents and as mnemonic devices to reconstruct history, or as ritual objects. This original significance is of great importance in Benin. Importance of Art in Benin Culture The Kingdom of Benin was powerful, but Benin culture has not been given proper recognition by western scholars. The story of how the Kingdom of Benin began as a culture and n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Altar To The Hand Of Ezomo Ehenua (Ikegobo) MET DP234641
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, modern paganism, and in certain Islamic communities around Caucasia and Asia Minor. Many historical-medieval faiths also made use of them, including the Roman, Greek, and Norse religions. Etymology The modern English word ''altar'' was derived from Middle English ''altar'', from Old English '' alter'', taken from Latin ''altare'' ("altar"), probably related to '' adolere'' ("burn"); thus "burning place", influenced by ''altus'' ("high"). It displaced the native Old English word '' wēofod''. Altars in antiquity File:Tel Be'er Sheva Altar 2007041.JPG, Horned altar at Tel Be'er Sheva, Israel. File:3217 - Athens - Sto… of Attalus Museum - Kylix - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009.jpg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edo Language
Edo (with diacritics, ), colloquially called Bini (Benin), is a language spoken in Edo State, Nigeria. It is the native language of the Edo people and was the primary language of the Benin Empire and its predecessor, Igodomigodo. Distribution Most of the Edo language-speakers live in Edo State, Nigeria. A smaller number of speakers are also found in Delta State and Ondo State and in other parts of Nigeria. Edo is an Edoid language. This languages are also spoken in Rivers State and Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Phonology Vowels There are seven vowels, , all of which may be long or nasal, and three tones. Consonants Edo has a rather average consonant inventory for an Edoid language. It maintains only a single phonemic nasal, , but has 13 oral consonants, and the 8 stops, which have nasal allophones such as , and nasalized allophones before nasal vowels. The three rhotics have been described as voiced and voiceless trills as well as a lax English-type approximant. However, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cylinder
A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite curvilinear surface in various modern branches of geometry and topology. The shift in the basic meaning—solid versus surface (as in ball and sphere)—has created some ambiguity with terminology. The two concepts may be distinguished by referring to solid cylinders and cylindrical surfaces. In the literature the unadorned term cylinder could refer to either of these or to an even more specialized object, the ''right circular cylinder''. Types The definitions and results in this section are taken from the 1913 text ''Plane and Solid Geometry'' by George Wentworth and David Eugene Smith . A ' is a surface consisting of all the points on all the lines which are parallel to a given line and which pass through a fixed plane curve in a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benin Empire
The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire ( Bini: '''') was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975. The Kingdom of Benin's capital was Edo, now known as Benin City in Edo State, Nigeria. The Benin Kingdom was "one of the oldest and most developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa". It grew out of the previous Edo Kingdom of Igodomigodo around the 11th century AD, and lasted until it was annexed by the British Empire in 1897. Oral traditions The original people and founders of the Benin Kingdom, the Edo people, were initially ruled by the Ogiso (Kings of the Sky) who called their land Igodomigodo. The first Ogiso (Ogiso Igodo), wielded much influence and gained popularity as a good ruler. He died after a long reign and was succeeded by Ere, his eldest son. In the 12th century, a great palace intrigue e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benin Ancestral Altars
Benin ancestral altars are adorned with some of the finest examples of art from the Benin Kingdom of south-central Nigeria. The role of ancestral altars in Benin culture According to anthropologists Kulcher and Melion, art objects or visual images do not merely encode memory but actively engender modes of recollection. A Benin ancestral altar is such a locus for constructing memory. Its purpose was to establish in the most lasting way possible that the deceased had successfully fulfilled his social destiny or ''akhonmioto''. Therefore, the role of the objects on ancestral altars was to construct memory and affirm social identity. Additionally, altars serve as a site through which a living leader communicated with his ancestor via the latter's commemorative head. Ancestral altars ensure dynastic continuity and facilitate the consistent continuity of ideals of leadership. Paternal ancestral altars, ''aru erha'', consist of a raised mud platform set against a wall. A series of el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oba Ewuare
Ewuare (also Ewuare the Great or Ewuare I) was the Oba (king) of the Benin Empire from 1440 until 1473. Ewuare became king in a violent coup against his brother Uwaifiokun which destroyed much of Benin City. After the war, Ewuare rebuilt much of the city of Benin, reformed political structures in the kingdom, greatly expanded the territory of the kingdom, and fostered the arts and festivals. He left a significant legacy and is often considered the first King of the Kingdom of Benin. Rise to power Prior to Ewuare, the Oba of Benin was limited in their power and authority by the ''uzama'', a group of hereditary chieftains throughout the kingdom. The ''uzama'' were able to appoint the Oba of Benin upon the death of an Oba and could limit any efforts by the Oba. The rise of Ewuare to a position of power is chronicled by Benin's oral history. Ewuare was born as the third son of the Oba Ohen. At this point, Ewuare was known by the name Prince Ogun. Ohen was deposed and stoned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south in the Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of , and with a population of over 225 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world's sixth-most populous country. Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Nigeria is a federal republic comprising of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja, is located. The largest city in Nigeria is Lagos, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the second-largest in Africa. Nigeria has been home to several indigenous pre-colonial states and kingdoms since the second millennium BC, with the Nok civilization in the 15th century BC, marking the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oba (ruler)
Oba means ″ruler″ in the Yoruba language, Yoruba and Bini languages of West Africa. Kings in Yorubaland, a region which is in the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria and Togo, make use of it as a pre-nominal honorific. Examples of Yoruba bearers include Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ogunwusi of Ile-Ife, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, Aladelusi of Akure Kingdom, Akure, and Oba Rilwan Akiolu, Akiolu of Lagos. An example of a Bini bearer is Oba Ewuare II of Kingdom of Benin, Benin. The title is distinct from that of Oloye, which is itself used in like fashion by subordinate titleholders in the contemporary Yoruba Nigerian Chieftaincy, chieftaincy system. Aristocratic titles among the Yoruba The Yoruba chieftaincy system can be divided into four separate Nobility, ranks: royal chiefs, noble chiefs, religious chiefs and common chiefs. The royals are led by the obas, who sit at the apex of the hierarchy and serve as the fons honorum of the entire system. They are joined in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hand
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "hand" and fingerprints extremely similar to human fingerprints) are often described as having "hands" instead of paws on their front limbs. The raccoon is usually described as having "hands" though opposable thumbs are lacking. Some evolutionary anatomists use the term ''hand'' to refer to the appendage of digits on the forelimb more generally—for example, in the context of whether the three digits of the bird hand involved the same homologous loss of two digits as in the dinosaur hand. The human hand usually has five digits: four fingers plus one thumb; these are often referred to collectively as five fingers, however, whereby the thumb is included as one of the fingers. It has 27 bones, not including the sesamoid bone, the number o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Art
African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, such as: African American, Caribbean or art in South American societies inspired by African traditions. Despite this diversity, there are unifying artistic themes present when considering the totality of the visual culture from the continent of Africa. Pottery, metalwork, sculpture, architecture, textile art and fibre art are important visual art forms across Africa and may be included in the study of African art. The term "African art" does not usually include the art of the North African areas along the Mediterranean coast, as such areas had long been part of different traditions. For more than a millennium, the art of such areas had formed part of Berber or Islamic art, although with many particular local characteristics. The Art of E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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