Benin City
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Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, southern Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano, and Ibadan. It is situated approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Benin River and 320 kilometres (200 mi) by road east of Lagos. Benin City is the centre of Nigeria's rubber industry, and Palm oil production is also a significant industry.
Aerial view of Benin City
Drawing of Benin City made by a British officer, 1897
Suleiman Braimoh
Image: Ameosa Motors, Benin City Edo State,
Benin Bronzes
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The Benin Bronzes are a group of several thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Edo State, Nigeria. Collectively, the objects form the best examples of Benin art and were created from the fourteenth century by artists of the Edo people. The plaques, which in the Edo language are called Ama, depict scenes or represent themes in the history of the kingdom. Apart from the plaques, other sculptures in brass or bronze include portrait heads, jewelry, and smaller pieces.
Ancestral shrine in Royal Palace, Benin City, 1891: the earliest-known photograph of the Oba's compound. Note 'bronze' heads at both ends of the shrine.
A 16th-century Benin Bronze depicting a Portuguese soldier, with manillas in the background
An idealised depiction of Benin City by a Dutch artist in the 1686 French edition of Olfert Dapper's Description of Africa (1668).