Benin Prehistory. The Origin and Settling Down of the Edo

Abstract

Of all the West African societies, the Kingdom of Benin is the one most mentioned in contemporary European literature. Since the end of the 15th century, a great deal of material about Benin has been supplied by sailors, traders, etc., returning to Europe. However, information on the Edo people before this date is very difficult to obtain, as there was no written record and the oral record is at best rather fragmentary. Thus, there is a shortage of information on the early days of the migration and settling down of the Edo in their present-day home. At the same time, a re-investigation of sources dealing with the early history of Benin showed that some information has not been fully exploited yet, although there remain gaps in our knowledge which may never be filled.

Full text

Anthropos (Sankt Augustin). 1999. Vol. 94, № 4/6. P. 542-552
Dmitri M. Bondarenko (Moscow)
Peter M. Roese (Lautertal)
Benin Prehistory: The Origin and Settling Down of the Edo
Introductory
Of all the West African societies, the Kingdom of Benin is the one most mentioned in con-
temporary European literature. Since the end of the 15th century, a great deal of material about
Benin has been supplied by sailors, traders, etc., returning to Europe. However, information on the
Edo people before this date is very difficult to obtain, as there was no written record and the oral
record is at best rather fragmentary. Thus, there is a shortage of information on the early days of the
migration and settling down of the Edo in their present-day home. At the same time, a re-investiga-
tion of sources dealing with the early history of Benin showed that some information has not been
fully exploited yet, although there remain gaps in our knowledge which may never be filled.
First of all, let us set-up in chronological order a number of different statements from the
mythology of the Edo. One of the earliest reports comes from the English trader Cyril Punch who
stayed on the coast and visited Benin City from the end of the 1880s up to the 1890s several times.
He had good contacts to the royal court. He reported: “ ... tradition says the Bini came from a place
north of the Niger originally, and lived under a King Lamorodu.”1
The Benin chronicler J.U. Egharevba collected material in the 1920s and 30s. He writes:
“Many, many years ago, the Binis came all the way from Egypt to found a more secure shelter in this
part of the world after a short stay in the Sudan and at Ile-Ife, which the Benin people call Uhe. Be -
fore coming here, a band of hunters was sent from Ife to inspect this land and the report furnished
was very favourable. ... they met some people who were in the land before their arrival. These people
are said to have come originally from Nupe and the Sudan in waves.”2 In another work Egharevba
specifies that the first wave of migration took place from Sudan via the present day Nupeland in the
7th century AD and the second, from Egypt via Sahara and Ife in the beginning of the 8th century.3
But very soon he declares: “It is known that the Binis came to this Land in 3 waves, and not 2 as
was previously supposed...” The first (without a concrete date) was from Nupe, the second — from

Sudan via Nupe in about the 7th century AD and the last one, without a date again was from Egypt
via Sahara and Ile-Ife.4
At another place Egharevba writes about three migration waves. The first came from Nu-
peland, the second from the Sudan via Nupeland, and the third from Egypt through the Sahara and
Ile-Ife (Ife). This was “... one of those migrations common to many tribes seeking more fertile land
and more secure retreat from an enemy during the Islamic crusade from 600 A.D.”5 The newcomers
united after some time.
But another, a later Bini chronist, prince Eweka, practically recognizing the Egyptian version
the most popular among his compatriots, considers the question open because there are no real
proofs of the exodus from Egypt. He admits that the Edo could be autochtonous in their area being
genetically connected with the population of Nok.6
Glottochronology suggests that the separation between the Kwa peoples’ proto-languages,
including the Edo and the Yoruba happened about 2-3,000 years ago by Darling,7 or even earlier, be-
tween 3,200 and 4,600 or about 5,000 years ago according to Armstrong and Smith.8 Bradbury’s
date is a bit later than 4,000 years ago.9 Never mind, a part of the Yoruba Oduduwa myth (those not
deriving the Yoruba and the whole mankind from Ife created by him descended from the sky) have
much in common with the Edo ones cited above. This fact makes them helpful for our analysis.
Generally, such myths connect the Yoruba origin and migration to Western Africa with basi-
cally the same geographical regions and historical events as those of the Edo connect that people.
Studying Yoruba myths, Talbot has come to the conclusion that the Yoruba had arrived to Nigeria
from Egypt possibly in the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC being pushed out of their motherland
by the Nubian wars of the 19th century BC or by the Hyksos conquest of the country.10 Samuel
Johnson, whose relation of the myth is the most well known has also argued that the Yoruba had re-
settled from Upper Egypt or Nubia. Following Sultan Bello of Sokoto,11 he writes that Lamurudu,
whose subjects they were, was Phoenician Nimrod, the conqueror of Egypt. Those people accompa-
nied him in military campaigns and reached Arabia with him from where they were expatriated for
their devotedness to their religion, paganism or, more probable a kind of Eastern Christianity.12
Biobaku has developed the Egyptian version more than anyone else. He sees the Yoruba
home country in Upper Egypt and introduces the idea of two waves of migration from there to
Western Africa: in about 600 and about 1000 AD The latter, just reflected in the migration under the
leadership of Oduduwa myth was, by Biobaku provoked by the spread of Islam. Having crossed the
Niger in the Nupe area, the Yoruba went south-westwards, founded Ile-Ife and settled there.13
It is worth mentioning that the data of the first wave of the Yoruba migrations by Biobaku
corresponds to that of the last wave of the Edo’s advent in the final, of 1969 concept of Egharevba:
2

about 600 AD But while the latter connects just it with the Muslim pressure, the Yoruba historian
ascribes it to the second, Oduduwa migration of his people, of about 1000 AD
There is even no necessity to stop for a long time on the obvious fact that if someone of these
two prominent Africans were right, it could have not been Egharevba in any case. Islam only ap -
peared just in the beginning of the 7th century AD (622) in Arabia though in Africa Egypt and espe -
cially Ethiopia played a major role in disseminating of the ideas which made the groundwork for the
emergence of Islam. But Egypt assumed a leading role in the development of the Islamic civilization
not earlier than in the 9th-10th centuries. Towards the brink of the millennia, Islam in the form of
Kharijism and Sunnism made its way with the caravans of merchants into the countries of West and
Central Sudan. In the 10th and mid 11th centuries, the new religion was formally accepted by the
rulers of a number of states in this or that way subordinate to large Christian (Axum, Nubia) and pa-
gan (Ghana, Zaghawa) kingdoms. The movement of Almoravides in the name of jihad, a major event
of this period, resulted in the integration of Sahara, West Sudan, Maghreb and Spain into a political,
religious, and ideological union. Concurrently, the entire regional system of states was reshaped, ef-
fecting the disintegration of the Christian (Axum, the united Nubia) and pagan (Zaghawa, Ghana)
kingdoms that had been hindering the progress of Islam into the heart of Africa.14 It seems reason-
able to come to the conclusion that Islam could start indirectly influencing the territories rather far
south of the area of its immediate spread just at that time, not earlier.
The Biobaku’s and even Johnson’s vision of the problem has quite enough of supporters.15
But the situation is not so simple at all. On the one hand, there are at least not less scholars which do
not see just a grain of historical truth in the myths and criticize Biobaku and his followers severely
enough.16 And further more, this variant of the Oduduwa myth seems to be of late origin, marginal in
the Yoruba consciousness and culture, and even fabricated for political ends in the Oyo Empire.17
But what is of greatest importance for both Edo and Yoruba studies, is that linguistic and ar-
chaeological data indicate these peoples’ presence in West Africa for a much longer period than as-
cribed by the myth and its positive interpreters.
Pointing out that the Edo languages’ “... relationship to a number of languages, including
Igbo and Yoruba is considered to have been derived from a common proto-language located some-
where near the Niger-Benue confluence some 3-6,000 years ago”, Darling continues: “The split into
Proto-Yoruba, Proto-Edo and Proto-Igbo was probably due to easterly and westerly migrations
along the savanna zone, with the southern forest and forest swamplands being penetrated at least 2-
3,000 years ago by the ancestors of today’s Southern Edo...”18 Linguistic data indicate approximately
the same date of penetration into the forest zone for the Yoruba ancestors, too.19 Jungwirth,20
Obayemi,21 and Smith22 expresses similar views. The former records: “Edo ist mit Yoruba entfernt
verwandt, wie auch Itsekiri und Igala mit Yoruba verwandt sind. Interessanterweise soll Igala mit
3

Idoma... verwandt sein. Diese sprachliche Verbindung wurde, wenn Idoma mit Jukun nachweislich in
Beziehung zu setzen ware, ein neues Licht auf die wanderungsmythe der Bini werfen. Auch sie
scheinen aus dem Raum des Niger-Benue Zusammenflusses nach Suden gewandert zu sein.”23 The
Jukun will be dealt with below.
The authors of “Nigerian History and Culture” are sure that the fact that the Kwa group com-
prises languages of the Yoruba, Edo, Igbo, Igala, Idoma, Nupe “... indicates that the ancestors of the
speakers of these languages separated from the same parent stock. ... Furthermore, it can be inferred
from the linguistic evidence that the emergence of these closely related ethnic groups took place in
or near the areas they now occupy”.24 The same idea was also expressed, for example by Arm-
strong.25 “Bini, Ibo, and Yoruba culture, as we know them today, are certainly the product of a long
process of development within what is today Nigeria”, Bradbury concludes.26 But Nigeria is vast.
Alongside with the opinion of the Edo and Yoruba migration from the North-Eastern part of the
present-day country, there exist linguistic concepts of the north-western, though still Nigerian origin
of these peoples.27
But archaeological evidence incline to agree with the north-eastern, the Niger-Benue conflu-
ence area version. As far as just the Edo is concerned, Es’Andah argues firmly that “archaeological
evidence available thus far, contradicts traditions which holds that the Edo came from Egypt via Su-
dan and Ife. Rather it largely support linguistic evidence which suggests that the Edo have occupied
their present location for a period of almost four thousand years.”28 In attempt to explain the contra-
diction between the oral tradition and the evidence of linguistics, Ryder suggests the hypothesis ac-
cording to which the problem can be solved by the admitting of the fact of minor, secondary popula-
tion movements between the savanna and the forest in both directions.29 This idea does not seem un-
plausible: though the forest societies had basically no doubt been evolving escaping any strong out -
side influence till the Europeans’ arrival, the forest-savanna borderline was not the Chinese wall,
too.30 What is important for us now, is that in any case the Kwa live in the forest belt much longer
than it is related by the tradition.
Archaeology also affirms the long period of the Kwa peoples’ presence in the forest zone.
For instance, Eluyemi, rejecting the myth of the Yoruba’s coming with Oduduwa from a distant east-
ern country closer to the end of the 1st millennium AD, states that “the archaeological exploration of
Oke-Ora (one of the seven hills of Ife) shows that Oke-Ora was probably the place of origin from
where Oduduwa descended into the bowl-like ancient city of Ile-Ife. Oke-Ora, archaeologically was
a late stone-age settlement occupied by folks who once lived around Ile-Ife before the knowledge of
metal”.31 But if Oduduwa even was an outsider, it is more probable, Willett, Smith, and Law suppose
that he migrated from much less distant than the Middle East savanna Nupe or Borgu areas at the
Niger-Benue confluence.32
4

Also, it stays not absolutely sufficiently proved, but if there really was the continuity of the
most ancient Yoruba and related to Benin Ife culture from that of Nok, now broadly dated 925 + 70
BC - 200 + 50 AD,33 to what a part of authoritative scholars incline,34 it must mean that the Kwa
peoples’ ancestors lived in the Niger-Benue confluence savanna (Nok) region for already a long time
span at least in the 1st millennium BC and, what is more important at the same time were not recent
inhabitants of the forest (Ife) zone by the end of the first half of the 1st millennium AD for the earli-
est excavated artifacts belonging to the Iron Age Ife culture refer to the 6th century AD35 Thus here
we could possibly obtain an additional proof for the idea of the Kwa’s coming to the forest from the
Niger-Benue confluence region three thousand years ago.
One more not first-hand proof for this date and direction of the Kwa migration is that Ijebu
Yoruba “are said to have come via Benin” c. 1000 BC, i.e. they moved westwards.
What is of great value, is the evidence on the appearance of agriculture and metallurgy in the
region The former is to precede the latter chronologically for there is a general assumption among
archaeologists and anthropologists that iron smelting is basically characteristic of societies with pro-
ductive economy. And the time of general transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture is
likely in turn to come after some centuries of a society’s inhabiting a given territory because agricul-
turalists, due to the type of their economy and culture on the whole, are not inclined to distant mi-
grations, especially to another ecological niche. As Armstrong put it just for the region we deal with,
“West African agricultural societies tend to be intensely local in their cultural origin. They move very
little, and when they do migrate they do not go far”.36
So the first Edo-speakers in the forest were still foragers and it no doubt took them time for
all-sided adaptation under new ecological conditions to undergo not merely economic but also corre-
sponding sociocultural and political changes. The Yoruba way of settlements, including towns’ ori-
gin as that of hunters’ encampments37 no doubt reflects the Edo model, too. It is likely that the mem-
ory of the fact of pre-agriculturalist Edo migrations inside their present-day area in a broader sense,
transformed and corrupted by mythologically orientated popular consciousness is preserved in the
quoted above passage from the oral tradition’s relation concerning the band of hunters sent as if
from Ife to inspect the land of the people’s further settling. By the way, the Yoruba have a myth of
the same historical contents, much more extensive, developed and closer to the core of the mytho-
logical corpus of the ethnos. In particular, it relates that Ore, the hunter was on the Earth and lived
on an island in the primordial Ocean before the advent of Oduduwa, in this myth the creator of the
solid soil who came from heaven being this way connected in the mythological consciousness with
the introduction of agriculture.38
As for the mentioning of the city of Ife in this legend, it is very likely that we deal with an ex-
ample of either a mixture of temporal shifts in human memory or an invasion of mythological con-
5

sciousness into the mode of recollecting and passing ethnohistorical events in the memory of genera-
tions. In the first case, Igbafe maybe right in his discussion of the eastern origin of the Edo and the
stop in Ife on their way supposing that “probably,.. tradition of an eastern origin is a mere extension
of that which links the present ruling dynasty in Benin from Ife.”39 In the second case, first of all it is
evident that in the times when the Kwa peoples migrated still being foragers what is reflected in the
story about hunters who were the first to leave Ife for new lands, the city of Ife did not exist. Hardly
it appeared earlier than in the 6th century AD.40 But it is easy to explain this contradiction if one re-
calls that for the Edo (and the Yoruba) Ife is the eternal sacred place of creation of the world and the
appearance of human beings. It is absolutely natural that the mythoritual traditional consciousness of
the Edo simply could not but find a room for Ife’s involvement into the story of their arrival in the
Benin territory. If we do understand under the “migration from the east” that from the savanna re-
gion many centuries BC, not from Egypt in the second half of the 1st millennium AD, the second
version seems much more preferable.
Darling draws the right conclusions insofar as he thinks that yams (Dioscorea spp.) and the
oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) are better growing inside the transition zone between the forest and the
savanna than in the high forest. This may be a hint that the Edo carried those plants along with them
while travelling farther to the south.41 It is really proved that yams and oil palm were first domesti-
cated in the savanna-forest ecotone in the eastern part of West Africa and then spread southwards.42
The Benin territory was partially agricultural by the 1st century BC43 (a few centuries later
than Ife Yoruba44 precisely because they inhabit territories much closer to the forest-savanna border)
and became so primarily during the 1st half of the 1st millennium AD45 though hunting and gathering
stayed rather important means of subsistence for a thousand years more.46
At the same moment, Connah suggests that famous polished stone axes (celts) could witness
about the first steps of forest agriculture in Benin47 as well as in Ife and Ilesha areas where they were
also found. Such a possibility must not be ruled out.48 But besides difficulties of their dating, one
must bear in mind their ritual character (none of those found bear traces of use just as axes). In this
quality they are well known in many parts of the archaic world. Thus, even if later iron axes do
demonstrate the succession from stone prototypes, the latter, quite possibly being produced for ritual
ends also after the introduction of iron tools, hardly can help to determine the date of transition to
agriculture and, last not least, it does not go without saying that those celts were produced by the
Edo.
The time of the beginning of iron working (never mind appeared spontaneously or brought
from somewhere) marks that of the final transition to agriculture as the major means of subsistence
and hence could serve an additional proof for the dating of the end of the whole period of transition
to agriculture (the starting point of it should be some centuries preceding the date of the introduction
6

of metallurgy. And the time of hunter-gatherers’ migration to the place of future agriculturalists’ set-
tling is to be still earlier.
The Nok culture is entirely the Iron Age one.49 So, if the inhabitants of Nok really were the
ancestors of the Yoruba and hence the Edo, they could represent a part of that ethnic stock which
did not migrate to the forest belt and due to it transcended to agriculture and then iron working ear-
lier than Proto-Yoruba and -Edo being, together with them those places’ inhabitants for a consider-
able period of time preceding the appearance of their Iron Age type culture. Iron is known in the for-
est zone from the 5th century AD50 In the Benin territory concretely, it has probably also been used
since the 1st half of the 1st millennium AD as Connah supposes.51 The first relics of an Iron Age cul-
ture, Ife, as it was mentioned date back to the 6th century AD The first excavated Iron Age settle-
ment in the Edo territory is of the 7th-9th centuries AD though iron appeared there on the brink of
the eras52 what seems logical from the point of view of the aforesaid.
Thus, the earlier ancestors of the Edo came to their final place of inhabitance from the sa-
vanna belt, most probable, the Niger-Benue confluence area in modern Central Nigeria. After about
three thousand years of life in the savanna, they started penetrating into the forest in the 3rd-2nd mil-
lennia BC and finally migrated there in the 1st millennium BC still being foragers. It is also reason-
able to admit that a part of the Edo and Yoruba ancestors did not follow those groups and rested in
the savanna. They could become the founders of the Nok culture of the 1st millennium BC - the early
centuries AD, already characterized by agriculturalist economy. In the forest the transition to agricul-
ture took place later, in the end of the 1st millennium BC - the 1st half of the 1st millennium AD In
the social sphere this radical change was marked by the formation of the extended family community
and its institutions of government. In the middle of the 1st millennium AD on the background of de-
veloped hoe agriculture and iron smelting the conditions for further political centralization and con-
centration of power riped (about sociopolitical processes in early Benin see corresponding chapters
below).
But still what to do with the legend about newcomers from Egypt? It is also worth analyzing
for some elements of the Edo culture, predominantly elitarian, connected with rituals, symbolics, and
art seem to originate from North-Eastern Africa - 1st centuries AD Egypt as well as Nubia and
Meroe, related to the former. The ram which served the common symbol for the Benin (and Igbo-
Ukwu and Yoruba) chiefs, subordinates of supreme rulers could represent a transformation of the
Egyptian Amon. The ibis, a Benin royal symbol has parallels in its portraying in Egypt, too. The Bini
harp resembles those from Meroe. The cross as a sign of dignity is known in Nubia and again Meroe.
But all this should not a priori be considered a result of migrations. From ancient times cultural ties
have embraced the whole continent and even surpassed its boundaries though these relations are not
sufficiently studied yet. Some separate North-Eastern African elements of culture were no doubt able
7

to reach the forest belt in the West of the continent by a chain of North-Eastern, Central, and West -
ern African peoples in the course of more or less considerable time. Furthermore, these few and sep-
arate elements of culture are traced not in Egypt, Nubia, and Meroe, on the one hand and among the
Edo, Yoruba, and kindred peoples, on the other hand only. They (mentioned above and some other)
also present in cultures of ethnoses in between, in particular Western Sudanese ( e.g., the Songhay,
Jukun, Hausa) as well as those living father west like the Akan, Baule and other, and outside the
African continent at all.53 On the contrary to earlier scholars devoted to the Hamitic theory, African-
ists of a few recent decades elaborate more realistic theories of the penetration of the North-Eastern
African culture elements into the forest in the West of the continent. They postulate their gradual
drift as a result of the dialogue of cultures but not a rapid appearance in the area with any newcom-
ers from Egypt, Nubia or Meroe.54
The same with the introduction of iron, if it really was of the Meroe, not Northern African
origin.55
It could well happen to the story of Lamurudu, too. This legend could spread (and did
spread) among many peoples and reach Upper Guinea being then appropriated as prestigious for
tracing origin from him and his followers
It is possible to find an explanation for the fact that North-Eastern culture elements and traits,
including the legend of the Egyptian origin were among prestigious, connected with the upper strata
of the Benin society; an explanation which avoids the idea of subjugation of local inhabitants by in-
vaders. According to the Arutyunov’s theory of penetration of innovations into the culture of the
ethnos, other cultures’ values are regularly introduced into a culture just via the upper strata as pres-
tigious and only then may go down to the popular level.56
But the different armed conflicts in which Egypt was involved in classical times may have ini-
tiated migrations. Among those conflicts was the capture of Egypt by the Assyrians under Esarhad-
don 676 BC, by the Persians under Cambyses 525 BC, Alexander’s invasion 331 BC, and the occu-
pation of Egypt by the Romans 31 BC.
From about the 6th/7th centuries AD, there emerged mysterious leaders in the southern re-
gions of today’s Niger Republic and Northern Nigeria near Lake Chad. Their names still linger on
even today in the traditions of different ethnic groups. These state founding foreigners (or their de-
scendants) penetrated south from Borgu and Hausaland through Nupe, Jukun, Igala, and Yorubaland
and eventually to Benin, Dahomey, and parts of Ghana. However, since especially the northern parts
of today’s Nigeria and some regions below the line Niger-Benue have been subjected by Moslem
conquerers at the beginning of the 19th century (“Jihad” of Uthman Dan Fodia) who left their cul-
tural mark on the conquered peoples, hardly any traditions survived and the few bits and pieces are
difficult to verify.
8

The carriers of these pre-Islamic cultures could be, according to Solken, identical with the
Zaghawa. They are: “... ohne Zweifel gleich den Tubu Athiopen und offenbar aus der Verlagerung
der altäthiopischen Garamantia entstanden. Sie und ihre Ableger im Sudan - Kanembu und Kanuri -
sind insgesamt Vertreter des Barbarvölkerkreises, der von der alten Phazania bis in den Mittelsudan
reichte und tief nach Süden und weit nach Westen hin kulturbefruchtend ausgestrahlt hat, angeregt
durch Hochkulturträger vom Typus eines Abd-ul Dar, eines “Kanaaniters” Namudu, dessen Namen-
sattribut sogar in der mauretanischen Tagant und in Futa Toro genannt wird, eines Bana Turumi und
der anderen Turaleute Kisra, Amina, Bakwa Turunku, Aguza und Tazar, die im letzten alle aus der
“Stadt Kisras” stammen, einst im Lande Badar oder Haiburra gelegen, d.h. in der Erythräe oder in
einem ihrer alteren innerafrikanischen Pflanzstaaten.”57
The above mentioned Namudu (Namarudu, Lemerudu, Lamorodu, Lamurudu, etc) is of in-
terest in view of Benin and in a broader sense, eventually Kisra. As the mentioning of the single per-
son Lamorodu shows one has to distinguish between leading persons and ethnic groups. Johnson, as
was already mentioned saw in Lamurudu Nimrod, the Phoenician conqueror of Egypt which further
went to Arabia but was expatriated from there with his followers. The Namudu migration from Ara-
bia took place, according to old traditions, shortly after the birth of the Prophet Mohammed (ca. 570
AD), i.e. Namudu eventually left the common home Haiburra (Haibirra) or Badar (Badr, Bedr) be-
fore Kisra. Namudu is described as the leader of a caravan which set out from Birnin Kissera via Ku-
gome (Zinder) and Chirkao (Kanche) and finally reached Daura. At his place Namudu ordered a well
to be dug and appointed the snake Ki as the guard.58
Daura is actually situated in Northern Nigeria, however, as has been shown, the name Na-
mudu-Lamerudu-Lamorodu can be traced right down to Benin, as well as Yorubaland. The astonish-
ing fact in view of this statement is that local informants never mentioned Lamorodu again. Since
Kisra may eventually be identical with Namurudu or, he may have been his son or brother, some
comments about him may be appropriate. Kisra is also mentioned, as the below statement of Krieger
shows, in connection with the introduction of bronze casting. “Neben der Vermutung, dass vielleicht
Perser, Juden oder Griechen die Giesskunst im Niltal eingefuhrt haben und diese dann westwarts ver-
breitet wurde, steht endlich die von der nigerianischen Lokaltradition unterstutzte Annahme, dass die
Kunst im 7. Jahrhundert durch eine aus dem Osten kommende Einwanderungswelle unter dem
Staatsgrunder Kisra gebracht worden sei.”59
Whereas we know only little about Namudu in view of the regions which are of interest for
us, the material about Kisra is much more substantial. One of the most interesting researches,
backed-up by his own fieldwork, to find traces of Kisra was undertaken by Mathews (1926). He
states: “The Kisra legend... is common in the Northern Provinces of Nigeria from Wukari on the Be-
nue River to Illo and Bussa on the Niger. It tells of a magician king of that name who was driven out
9

of Arabia by the Prophet and who founded a series of pagan states in the Western Sudan. It has been
stated that the Jukun of Wukari have no knowledge of the Kisra tradition. But this is not so. The
Aku Oka (the Priest-King, or rather, Divine King, of the Jukun) keeps a sword and a spear which are
said to have been left at Wukari by Kisra. The sword is called butren, “the sword of olden time”, and
the spear is called ishigh, which is not the usual word for a spear in Jukun and is applied to this spear
alone. ... The Jukun say that they came from the East (Egypt or Mecca) and in Bornu and Katsina
both Kororafa and Wukari (its off-shoot) are said to have been founded by descendants of Kisra. The
Kakau of Songhai assert that about 600 A.D. there was a great migration from east to west across
the Sudan called the Kisra Migration. The “Kisra” are made out to be Persians who fought against
Rum (the Byzantines) and were driven west, entering Nigeria by way of Lake Chad.”60
Brentjes writes in this context: “616 besetzten persische Truppen Ägypten und zogen den Nil
aufwarts bis nach Nubien. Im fernen Nigeria fanden noch im 19. Jahrhundert deutsche und englische
Ethnographen Legenden uber einen Zug Chosraus zum Niger - wahrscheinlich waren versprengte
Einheiten nach der Niederlage vor Konstantinopel im Niltal abgeschnitten worden.”61
It is very much likely that Kisra can be seen in context with the Sassanidian ruler Chosrau
(Chosroes, Khosrow) II Parviz (590-628 AD) since the latter is called in Arabic Kisra as well. There
is a remarkable similarity of a type of sword from Benin with the Khopesh, a weapon very common
among the Babylonians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, etc.62
The above statements have been selected from among a vast number of references. However,
for the time being it is not possible to draw proper conclusions in the context. Egharevba’s state -
ments could eventually contain a bit of truth as the Edo reached their present habitations from a
north-easterly direction.
The importance of the east in the Edo picture of the Universe is underlined by the fact that
just there they situate the supreme deity, Osa (or Osanobua).63 It seems natural for them that the cre-
ator of the world should live where the sun rises and the new day begins.
And Ben-Amos points in connection with Osanobua and the Ogiso, rulers of the 1st dynasty
in Benin, to the east: “The east is the cardinal direction associated with the creator god, Osanobua,
and with the creation of land, which first rose out of the primordial waters in a place which today is
the Igbo town of Agbor to the east of Benin. All the sites where once the Ogisos built their palaces
and ancient quarters are on the eastern side of the present city.”64
Jungwirth reports in view of the indicated direction: “Interessanterweise deuten alle Aussagen
des Ohenso von Ugbekun, der Priester aller Altäre der Ogiso, darauf hin, dass der erste Ogiso aus
dem Nord-Osten gekommen ist. Andererseits erinnern die Erzählungen über den ersten Ogiso an Ur-
sprungsmythen der Yoruba. Dass es sich aber nicht um Yoruba-Könige handelt, wird durch den Titel
Ogiso angedeutet.”65
10

The east plays a certain role in the Edo calender which eventually corresponds to the above
said. Egharevba notes: “There are four days in the week representing the four corners of the earth.
Eken the east, Orie the west, Aho the south, Okuo the north. Eken is a day of rest.” “People do not
as a rule go to the farm on that day, but they may do any work in the home. Councils are usually held
on this day...”66 While the days associated with the south and the north were market ones, another
native writer amplifies, “... Eken and Orie, which also mean the rising and the setting sun, belonged
to the gods. It was dangerous to travel on these two days in case one met the gods.”67
The subject should not be concluded without mentioning one of the oldest sites of discovery
of bronzes inside the West African forest. T. Shaw made some astonishing discoveries at Igbo-Ukwu
(east of the Niger, Awka District). Prominent among the findings is the burial chamber of a dignitary
which was dated to about 900 AD.68 There is no evidence of connections between the Igbo-Ukwu
culture, whose origins are not known up till now, and Benin. The Igbo-Ukwu bronzes show no
stylistic similarity to those known from Ife and Benin. Nevertheless, two features are remarkable: the
facial marks depicted on a bronze head are nearly as prominent as we know them from the Ife heads.
Furthermore, there are some snake representations similar to those known from Benin. However,
this is not unusual in West Africa.
Bibliography
Ademakinwa, J.A.
1958 Ife, Cradle of the Yorubas: A Handbook on the History of the Origin of the Yorubas.
Vol. I. Lagos.
Aderibigbe, A.B.
1983 Biobaku: The Scholar and His Works. Studies in Yoruba History and Culture: Essays
in Honour of Professor S.O. Biobaku. (ed. G.O. Olusanya), pp. 4-25. Ibadan.
Agiri, B.A.
1975 Yoruba Oral Tradition with Special Reference to the Early History of Oyo. Yoruba
Oral Tradition. Poetry in Music, Dance and Drama. (ed. W. Abimola), pp. 157-97. Ibadan (Ife
African Languages and Literature Series 1).
Aimiuwu, O.E.I.
1971 Oduduwa. Nigeria Magazine, No 107-109, pp. 85-90. Lagos.
Alagoa, E.J., F.N. Anozie and N. Nzewunwa (eds.)
1988 The Early History of the Niger Delta. Hamburg.
Apter, A.
11

1992 Black Critics and Kings. The Hermeneutics of Power in Yoruba Society. Chicago - London.
Armstrong, R.G.
1962 Glottochronology and African Linguistics. The Journal of African History. Vol. III, No 2, pp.
283-90. London.
Armstrong, R.G.
1964 The Use of Linguistic and Ethnographic Data in the Study of Idema and Yoruba History. The
Historian in Tropical Africa. (eds. J. Vansina, R. Mauny, L.V. Thomas), pp. 127-44. London etc.
Arutyunov, S.A.
1973 Statika i dinamika neevropeiskoi bytovoi kultury. (Statics and Dynamics of Non-European Ev-
eryday Culture). Osnovnye problemy afrikanistiki. (ed. Yu.V. Bromley), ss. 37-50. Moskva.
Atanda, J.A.
1972 Government of Yorubaland in the Pre-colonial Period. Tarikh, Vol. IV, No 2, pp. 1-12. Lon-
don - New York.
Bascom, W.
1969 The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria. New York.
Beier, U.
1955 The Historical and Psychological Significance of Yoruba Myths. Odu, No 1, pp. 17-25.
Ibadan.
Beilis, V.A.
1977 Problemy ispolzovaniya ustnoi traditsii dlya rekonstruirovaniya istorii narodov Afriki (Prob-
lems of Use of the Oral Tradition for Reconstructing the History of African Peoples). Istochnikove-
deniye afrikanskoi istorii. (ed. A. Davidson), ss. 67-93. Moskva.
Ben-Amos, P.
1980 The Art of Benin. London.
Berzina, S.Ya.
1992 Meroe i okruzhayushchii mir I-VIII vv. n.e. (Meroe and the Surrounding World. I-VIII Cen-
turies A.D.) Moskva.
Biobaku, S.O.
1955 The Origin of the Yorubas. Lagos.
Biobaku, S.O.
1958 An Historical Sketch of the Peoples of Western Nigeria. Odu, No 6, pp. 24-28. Ibadan.
Boahen, A., J.F.A. Ajayi, and M. Tidy
1986 [1965] Topics in West African History. Harlow.
Bondarenko, D.M.
12

1995 Benin nakanune pervykh kontaktov s yevropeytsami. Chelovek. Obshchestvo. Vlast. (Benin
on the Eve of the First Contacts with the Europeans. Man. Society. Authority). Moskva.
Bradbury, R.E.
1964 The Historical Uses of Comparative Ethnography with Special Reference to Benin and the
Yoruba. The Historian in Tropical Africa. (eds. J. Vansina, R. Mauny, L.V. Thomas), pp. 145-64.
London etc.
Brentjes, B.
1967 Die iranische Welt vor Mohammed. Leipzig.
Connah, G.
1969 Ife. Lectures on Nigerian Prehistory and Archaeology. (ed. T. Shaw), pp. 47-53. Ibadan.
Connah, G.
1972 Archaeology in Benin. The Journal of African History. Vol. XIII, No 1, pp. 26-36. London.
Connah, G.
1975 The Archaeology of Benin. Excavations and Other Researches in and around Benin City,
Nigeria. Oxford.
Connah, G.
1987 African Civilizations: Precolonial Cities and States in Tropical Africa. An Archaeological
Perspective. Cambridge - New York.
Coursey, D.G.
1980 The Origins and Domestication of Yams in Africa. West African Culture Dynamics: Archae-
ological and Historical Perspectives. (eds. B.K. Swartz, Jr. and R.E. Dumett), pp. 67-90. The
Hague etc.
Crowder, M.
1978 [1962] The Story of Nigeria. London.
Darling, P.J.
1984 Archaeology and History in Southern Nigeria. The Ancient Linear Earthworks of Benin and
Ishan. Pt. I-II. Oxford.
Davidson, B.
1959 The Lost Cities of Africa. Boston - Toronto.
Deschamps H.J. (ed.)
1984 [1970] Istoriya Tropicheskoi Afriki (s drevneishikh vremyon do 1800 g.) (Histoire generale
de l’Afrique Noire des origines a 1800). Transl. by G.A. Matveyeva and Ye.N. Kalshchikov.
Moskva.
Egharevba, J.U.
1949 Benin Law and Custom. Port Harcourt.
13

Egharevba, J.U.
1956 Bini Titles. Benin City.
Egharevba, J.U.
1960 [1934] A Short History of Benin. Ibadan.
Egharevba, J.U.
1964 The Origin of Benin. Benin City.
Egharevba, J.U.
1965 Chronicle of Events in Benin. Benin City.
Egharevba, J.U.
1966 Fusion of Tribes. Benin City.
Egharevba, J.U.
1969 Descriptive Catalogue of Benin Museum. Benin City.
Eluyemi, O.
1990 Thirty Years of Archaeology in Ife. Nigeria: Thirty Years of Independence. . (ed. N.B.
Kochakova), ss. 76-86. Moscow.
Es’Andah, B.W.
1976 An Archaeological View of the Urbanization Process in the Earliest West African States.
Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. Vol. VIII, No 3, pp. 1-20. Ibadan.
Eweka, E.B.
1989 The Benin Monarchy (Origin and Development).Benin City.
Fabunmi, M.A.
1985 An Anthology of Historical Notes on Ife City.Ikeja.
Fagg, B.E.B.
1959 The Nok Culture in Prehistory. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. Vol. I, No 4, pp.
288-93. Ibadan.
Fagg, B.E.B.
1962 The Nok Terracottas in West African Art History. Actes du 4-e Congres Panafricain de Pre-
histoire. Sect. III, pp. 445-50. Tervuren.
Fagg, W.B.
1963 Nigerian Images. London.
Fagg, W.B.
1970 African Sculpture. Washington.
Falola, T., A. Mahadi, M. Uhomoibhi, and U. Anyanwu
1989 History of Nigeria.Vol. 1. Ikeja.
Hodgkin, T.
14

1975 [1960] Nigerian Perspectives. An Historical Anthology. London.
Igbafe, P.A.
1974 Benin in the Pre-colonial Era. Tarikh. Vol. V, No 1, pp. 1-16. London.
Johnson, S.
1921 The History of the Yorubas. London.
Jungwirth, M.
1968 Benin in den Jahren 1485-1700. Ein Kultur und Geschictsbild. Wien.
Kobishchanov, Yu.M.
1987 Rasprostraneniye islama v Afrike. (The Spread of Islam in Africa). Moskva.
Kochakova, N.B.
1986 Rozhdeniye afrikanskoi tsivilizatsii (Ife, Oyo, Benin, Dagomeya). (Birth of an African Civi-
lization (Ife, Oyo, Benin, Dahomey). Moskva.
Krieger, K.
1955 Terrakotten und Steinplastiken aus Ife, Nigeria. Berliner Museen. Berichte aus den ehemali-
gen Preussischen Kunstsammlungen. Neue Folge. Jahrg. I-V, S. 32-38, 1951-55. Berlin.
Laitin, D.
1986 Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change among the Yoruba. Chicago - Lon-
don.
Law, R.
1973 Traditional History. Sources of Yoruba History. (ed. S.O. Biobaku), pp. 25-40. Oxford.
Law, R.
1977 The Oyo Empire c. 1600 - c. 1836. Oxford.
Lawal, B.
1975 Yoruba-Shango Ram Symbolism: From Ancient Sahara or Dynastic Egypt? African Images:
Issays in African Iconology. (eds. D.F. McCall and E.G. Bay), pp. 225-251. New York - London.
Lucas, G.O.
1948 The Religion of the Yorubas. Lagos.
Mathews, A.B.
1950 The Kisra Legend. African Studies. Vol. IX, No 3, p. 144-47. Johannesburg.
Mauny, R.
1952 Essai sur l’histoire des metaux en Afrique Occidentale. Bulletin de l’Institut Francais
d’Afrique Noire. Ser. B., No 14, pp. 574-83. Dakar.
McCall, D.F.
1975 The Hornbill and Analogous Forms in West African Sculpture. African Images: Issays in
African Iconology. (eds. D.F. McCall and E.G. Bay), pp. 268-324. New York - London.
15

Mirimanov, V.B.
1973 Pervobytnoye i traditsionnoye iskusstvo. (Primitive and Traditional Art). Moskva - Dresden.
Mirimanov, V.B.
1986 Iskusstvo Tropicheskoi Afriki. Tipologiya, sistematika, evolyutsiya. (Art of Tropical Africa.
Typology, Systematics, Evolution). Moskva.
Mitchel, N.C.
1961 Yoruba Towns. Essays on African Population. (eds. K.M. Barbour and R.M. Prothero), pp.
279-301. London.
Morgan, W.B.
1959 The Influence of European Contacts on the Landscape of Southern Nigeria. Geographical
Journal. Vol. CXXV, No 1, pp. 48-64. London.
Murray, K.C. and F. Willett
1958 Ore Grove at Ife, Western Nigeria. Man. Vol. LVIII, No 187, p. 137-141. London.
Obayemi, A.
1976 [1972] The Yoruba and Edo-speaking Peoples and Their Neighbours Before 1600. History of
West Africa. Vol. I. (eds. J.F.A. Ajayi and M. Crowder), pp. 196-263. London.
Olaniyan, R. (ed.)
1985 Nigerian History and Culture. Harlow.
Oliver R. and Fagan B.
1978 Africa in the Iron Age.Cambridge.
Omoregie, S.B.
1972 Emotan and the Kings of Benin. London.
Ozanne, P.
1969 A New Archaeological Survey of Ife. Odu. N.S., No 1, pp. 28-45. Ile-Ife.
Posnanski, M.
1969 Yams and the Origin of West African Agriculture. Odu. N.S., No 1, pp. 101-6. Ile-Ife.
Roese, P.M.
1992 Kriegführung und Waffen im alten Benin (Südnigeria). Ethnographisch-Archaologische Zeit-
schrift. Bd. XXXIII, Ht. 3, S. 364-92. Berlin.
Roese, P.M. and A.R. Rees
1994 Aspects of Farming and Farm Produce in the History of Benin (West Africa). Ethno-
graphisch-Archaologische Zeitschrift. Bd. XXXV, Ht. 4, S. 538-72. Berlin.
Roth, H.L.
1968 [1903] Great Benin. Its Customs, Art and Horrors. London.
Ryder, A.F.C.
16

1985 De la Volta au Cameroun. Histoire generale de l’Afrique. (ed. T.D. Niane). Vol. IV, pp. 371-
404. Paris.
Schuz, E.
1969 Der problematische Ibis der Benin-Bronzen. Tribus, No 18, S. 73-84. Stuttgart.
Shaw, T.
1972 Early Agriculture in Africa. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. Vol. VI, No 2, pp.
157-63. Ibadan.
Shaw, T.
1978 Nigeria. Its Archaeology and Early History. London.
Shaw, T.
1979 Unearthing Igbo-Ukwu. Archaeological Discoveries in Eastern Nigeria. Ibadan.
Shnirelman V..A.
1989 Vozniknoveniye proizvodyashchego khozyaystva. (The Emergence of Productive Economy).
Moskva.
Smith, R.S.
1973 Yoruba Warfare and Weapons. Sources of Yoruba History. (ed. S.O. Biobaku), pp. 224-49.
Oxford.
Smith, R.S.
1988 [1969] Kingdoms of the Yoruba. London.
Sölken, H.
1954 Innerafrikanische Wege nach Benin. Anthropos. Bd. IXL, S. 809-933. St. Augustin.
Talbot, P.A.
1926 The Peoples of Southern Nigeria. A Sketch of Their History, Ethnology and Languages.
Vols. I, II. London.
Wescott, R.W.
1956 Did Yoruba Come from Egypt? Odu, No 4, pp. 10-15. Ibadan.
Willett, F.
1967 Ife in the History of West African Sculpture. London.
Willett, F.
1970 [1960] Ife and Its Archaeology. Papers in African Prehistory. (eds. J.D. Fage and R.A.
Oliver), pp. 303-26. Cambridge.
Willett, F. 1971 [1964] Ife in Nigerian Art. Anthropology and Art. Readings in Cross-Cultural
Aesthetics. (ed. C.M. Otten), pp. 354-65. Garden City (New Jersey).
Willett, F.
1973 Archaeology. Sources of Yoruba History. (ed. S.O. Biobaku), pp. 111-39. Oxford.
17

Willett, F.
1977 [1971] African Art. An Introduction. London.
Willett, F.
1982 [1971] Nigeriya. Zheleznyi vek Afriki. (The African Iron Age). (ed. P.L. Shinnie; transl. by
G.V. Tsypkin), ss. 5-29. Moskva.
18

1 Roth, 6
2 Egharevba 1960, 1; also see: Egharevba 1956, 1
3 Egharevba 1965, 8-9
4 Egharevba 1966, 7-9
5 Egharevba 1969, Preface; also see: Egharevba 1964, 6
6 Eweka, 9-10
7 Darling I, 63
8 Armstrong 1962; Smith 1988, 11
9 Bradbury, 150
10 Talbot I, 276; II, 2
11 See: Hodgkin, 78-79
12 Johnson, 7-8
13 Biobaku 1955; Biobaku 1958, 24-25
14 Kobishchanov, 14-40
15 E.g.: Lucas; Davidson, 141-43; Atanda, 1; Crowder, 38; Falola et al., 57-58
16 E.g.: Beier, 17-20; Wescott; Ademakinwa, 37-38; Law 1973, 30-32; Agiri, 160-61; Obayemi, 200, 213; Beilis, 82;
Aderibigbe, 13-15; Deschamps, 233; Boahen et al., 63; Kochakova, 31-32, 177-81; Smith 1988, 9-10; Apter, 15-17
17 Aimiuwu, 85; Fabunmi, 22-23; Kochakova, 179; Laitin, 224, n. 4; Connah 1969, 47-48; Deschamps, 233
18 Darling I, 63
19 Agiri, 162-63
20 Jungwirth, 102
21 Obayemi, 200-01, 255
22 Smith 1988, 156
23 Jungwirth, 102
24 Olaniyan, 17
25 Armstrong 1964, 127-28
26 Bradbury, 150
27 Bascom, 8-9; Alagoa et. al., 91
28 Es’Andah, 12
29 Ryder, 372-73
30 See: Bondarenko, 5-7
31 Eluyemi, 80; also see: Obayemi, 213
32 Willett 1971, 357-58; Smith 1973, 226; Law 1977, 28-29
33 Oliver and Fagan 1978, 330-31
34 B.E.B. Fagg 1959; B.E.B. Fagg 1962; W.B. Fagg 1963; W.B. Fagg 1970; Willett 1967, 110-21, 125-27; Willett
1970, 322-24; Willett 1971, 354-58; Willett 1977, 72-76; Willett 1982, 11-21; Mirimanov 1973, 264-70; Mirimanov
1986, 50-55;Oliver and Fagan 1978, 338
35 Willett 1971, 323; Willett 1973, 130, 137; Willett 1977, 269
36 Armstrong 1964, 128
37 Mitchel, 283
38 Beier, 21-22; Murray and Willett; Willett 1967, 123-24
39 Igbafe 1974, 2
40 Willett 1977, 269
41 Darling I, 214
42 Posnanski, 106; Shaw 1972, 159-60, 163; Coursey, 85; Shnirelman, 234
43 Shaw 1978, 68
44 Ozanne, 32
45 Ryder, 371; Connah 1987, 140-41
46 Morgan, 52; Roese and Rees
47 Connah 1975, 112
48 Roese and Rees, 541-42
49 Willett 1982, 11
50 Ryder, 371
51 Connah 1972, 37
52 Darling, II, 302
53 Lawal; McCall; Deschamps, 231-32; Berzina, 157-58, 161-62
54 See, e.g.: Schuz; Berzina, 144-54, 157-58, 161-62
55 See, e.g.: Berzina, 135-42 vs Mauny; Oliver and Fagan 1978, 331-33
56 Arutyunov
57 Sölken, 891-92
58 Further details see: Solken, 835-36
59 Krieger, 33
60 Mathews, 144
61 Brentjes, 172
62 Roese 1992, 375

63 Talbot, II, 37
64 Ben-Amos, 13
65 Jungwirth, 68
66 Egharevba 1949, 81; also see: Egharevba 1960, 84
67 Omoregie, 9-10
68 Shaw 1979