West Africa Lost Kingdoms of Africa


West Africa

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Africa, where the human race began.

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Nearly a billion people live here,

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and it's a continent

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with an incredible diversity of communities and cultures.

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Yet we know less of its history than almost anywhere else on Earth.

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But that's beginning to change.

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In the last few decades, researchers and archaeologists have begun

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to uncover a range of histories

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as impressive and extraordinary as anywhere else on Earth.

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It's a history which has been neglected for years,

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and it's largely without written records.

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But it is preserved for us in the gold and statues, in the culture,

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art, and legends of the people.

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My name is Gus Casely-Hayford.

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Over many years I've studied the history and culture of Africa.

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As an art historian,

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I'm used to drawing stories from mute objects from the past.

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I'm going to discover the history,

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and find out what really happened to the lost kingdoms of Africa.

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Many of the stories of Africa are told here,

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the British Museum in London.

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This is where thousands of artefacts

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collected, bought, and taken from the continent ended up.

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When they were first discovered,

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objects from the ancient kingdoms of West Africa stunned the world.

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None more so than these extraordinary plaques.

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They came from what was once the kingdom of Benin,

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and are around 500 years old.

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When the British came upon these objects in 1897, they thought,

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"There's no way they could have been created by Africans."

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They were amazed at the detail and the intricacy.

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They were seen as being something completely revolutionary

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to the British, and you can understand why.

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These aren't carvings, they're 16th century casts

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in copper-rich alloys of brass and bronze.

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Over 900 plaques are thought to have been made.

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To produce each one, the artist would need to know

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how to make and fire a clay mould,

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and how to melt the metals to pour into it.

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It's an incredibly difficult skill to master.

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The combination of relatively sophisticated science and artistic accomplishment

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baffled most European 19th-century observers.

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They couldn't believe that so-called primitives had been capable

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of producing work of the same standard

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as their European contemporaries.

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These amazing objects just didn't match the Europeans' view

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of West Africans.

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The questions were, where did they get the technology

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to develop this amazing bronze work,

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and where did they find the materials?

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But the clue as to how such artefacts were manufactured

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are there for the finding,

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but I think they will reveal much

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about the West African kingdoms that created them.

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I want to know why they were made, what they mean,

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and what that tells us about the time and place they were produced.

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And there are some symbols that seem to reoccur.

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The leopard, the snake, the crocodile,

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so obviously they were very important.

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I'm going to find out what they mean,

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and why they were so important to these people.

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These recurring images remind me

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of the symbolic motifs in Renaissance art.

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I think they carry hidden layers of meaning,

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beyond the understanding of the imperialistic Brits.

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So what do the bronzes tell us about the kingdom of Benin,

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and its power, and its culture,

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and what does the technology required to make them

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tell us about pre-colonial West Africa?

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I'll travel to modern-day Nigeria,

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where the kingdom of Benin reached its height in the 16th century.

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And I'll reach even further back in time,

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and explore a panoply of ancient cities and kingdoms in West Africa,

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founded many centuries before Benin.

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I'll look for evidence in what's now Mali,

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of how ancient culture and technologies made Benin

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and its bronzes possible.

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The centre of power of the kingdom of Benin was Benin City.

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Today it is one of Nigeria's thriving cities,

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home to over a million Africans.

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The main circle in the centre is dotted with statues,

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public art depicting Benin's history.

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For 600 years, until the late 19th century,

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it dominated this part of West Africa.

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But the kingdom's former scale and power are not immediately obvious,

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unless you know where to look.

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Dr Ekhagusa Aisien, author of several books on Benin's history,

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is taking me to see a 500-year-old feat of engineering.

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At the kingdom's height in the 16th century,

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a series of moats and earthen walls

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protected the city and its surrounding land.

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It was a defensive system, that consisted of a ditch,

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and then a rampart.

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What little survives is overgrown and barely recognisable,

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but archaeologists have found evidence of a vast network

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of trenches and walls up to nine metres high.

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They zigzagged around the city area for an incredible 4,000 miles.

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Benin really was the capital of this part of Africa.

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That is, the eastern part of the west coast of Africa.

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Benin was the principle town.

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It was an important centre of the culture of this part of Africa.

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It was an important centre of the political reach,

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along the huge area

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of the eastern portion of the west coast of Africa.

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The kingdom was governed from a vast palace

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by a hereditary ruler, the Oba.

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His subjects were animists - believers in the idea

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that souls and spirits existed not only in humans,

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but in animals, plants and the earth itself.

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At its height it exerted political, military, and economic control

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over an area stretching almost 40,000 square miles.

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In the 19th century the British saw the kingdom as an opportunity

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to extend their influence in Africa.

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They established a trade agreement,

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but when Benin reneged on it, relations deteriorated.

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A British delegation ignored warnings not to approach the Oba

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and were massacred,

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leaving just two survivors from over 200 people.

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A month later, in February 1897,

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1,200 British soldiers arrived in response.

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The city walls didn't stop the British punitive expedition,

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and the city was razed to the ground.

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At the Royal Palace, they found artwork

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that they couldn't believe had been created by Africans.

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Around 2000 pieces were taken, sold, and distributed to Western museums.

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The Oba was deposed, and died in exile.

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It was a catastrophic defeat for the kingdom of Benin,

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but that's not the impression you get from the modern monument

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in the centre of the city.

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It shows a Benin warrior

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standing victorious over his dead and dying British enemies.

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I actually see it as a triumph of narrative,

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that we will continue as a nation, whatever.

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Ultimately, it tells the story of a victorious nation,

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victorious in the sense that it proudly tells its stories,

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whether it's in the Benin Bronzes

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or whether it's in monuments like this today.

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In Benin, it seems history isn't written by the victors,

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it's written by the artists.

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And the kingdom of Benin disappeared only for a short time.

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In 1914, the British restored the monarchy to Benin City

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to help administer their Nigerian colony,

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and a modest palace was rebuilt.

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The traditions of the kingdom that have survived,

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are maintained from an enclave in the city centre.

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I've been granted a royal audience,

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an opportunity to attend the Oba's court,

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where hereditary and appointed chiefs gather each day.

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When His Royal Majesty the Oba of Benin enters,

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the Chiefs greet him with, "God save the King".

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THEY ALL GREET HIM

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This is more than a symbolic institution.

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The Oba and his chiefs rule on issues brought to them

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by ordinary people.

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Their judgment carries authority here,

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and the kingdom exists in parallel with the Nigerian state.

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With a leopard at the Oba's feet and standard bearers at his side,

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it's like one of the Benin bronzes come to life.

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This is the kind of occasion

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he believes the plaques were designed to mark.

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Those bronzes were not made for museum pieces.

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Initially, in the absence of photography and writing,

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they were made to depict certain events in the palace,

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or the community, or some festivals.

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That's why you see them,

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they were made as in the absence of photography.

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That's what they were made for initially, yes.

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And how important are the bronze-casters, the smiths,

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the people who actually make these objects?

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They are a guild, a royal guild,

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specifically to be trained in these things in the olden days.

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The bronze casters' guild exists today.

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Their main business is tourist souvenirs,

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but the makers are still an exclusive group of craftsmen,

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with high social status.

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Membership of the royal guild is hereditary.

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Ikponmwusa Inneh's family have been bronze casters

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for as long as anyone can remember.

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The skills that created the 16th century bronzes

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are still evident today.

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You see, it's liquid now. You can see the flame.

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The process begins with a simple clay shape to act as a core.

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So then you cover the core with wax?

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With wax, then you start your details,

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the mouth, the nose, the eye.

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-And then you cover it...

-With the mud.

-With the mud.

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This is the soft mud which we use to cover them,

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so you cover the hole with the mud, soft mud, after the designing.

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The details in the wax will leave their impression on the clay mud.

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When the object is heated, the clay will harden,

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and the wax will melt and drain out.

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Molten metal will fill the space left by the wax.

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Inside the fire is like this pot,

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and with this scrap metal, you load this pot.

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In the 16th century, the craftsmen melted down copper bracelets

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brought by Portuguese traders to create brass and bronze.

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Nowadays, any metal seems to do.

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So you can put something like a car aerial?

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A car aerial, this is scrap metal, and then you put them in here,

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then I'll put it inside the fire here.

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In the furnace,

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the assortment of metal melts at around 1,000 degrees Celsius.

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Ikpnmwusa has some moulds that have been fired

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and the melted wax has been drained away.

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Now the molten metal can be poured in.

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It's just amazing to think that these processes haven't changed

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for hundreds of years.

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-No, no it hasn't changed.

-But the thing is, it still feels...

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-It's still the same.

-..totally relevant as well.

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Very, very. Very, very.

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The same way, 100 years ago, it's the same way today.

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The same processes from one stage to another, from one stage to another,

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it's the same process.

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And, and in terms of the relevance,

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is it still there, do people still feel these are important?

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Very, very. We have more than 100-and-something members

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of bronze-casters along this street.

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-Really?

-Working.

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And they still feel...

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And the younger ones are still coming up.

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Really, and they feel connected to the Oba and the Royal palace?

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-Yes.

-Yes?

-Yes.

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So those old stories and traditions,

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they're as important to you as to your ancestors?

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-It remains this year, next year, and forever.

-Forever more.

-Yeah.

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Once the mould has cooled enough,

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it can be chipped away to leave the metal cast.

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It strikes me that Ikponmwusa and his fellow bronze-casters

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have an impressive range of skills.

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They need to understand pottery,

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metallurgy, and have artistic ability.

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And the same skills would have been required 500 years ago

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to cast the Benin Bronzes, something the Victorians could hardly believe.

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Oh, I'm beginning to see what it is now. It's two hands praying.

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-It's a prayer hand.

-I see.

-It's a prayer hand.

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A Christian ornament,

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which has been created using a centuries-old technique.

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For me, these objects don't reach the standards

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of the 16th-century bronzes.

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But these are for the tourists rather than for the Royal Palace.

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Reminders of the quality craftsmanship

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once commissioned by the King now lie in Benin City's museum.

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These are, sadly,

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mostly replicas of bronzes that were taken from here in 1897.

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But even so, I'm struck once again by the intricacy of these objects.

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It's always the detail that shocks me

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when I look at these Benin plaques.

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I mean, the whole thing

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is very much like a historical document as much as a piece of art.

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This is depicting very particular people

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and you can imagine them in all of their finery,

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because you can see it actually depicted here,

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the detail of the textiles,

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the layered textiles that they're wearing.

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Many bronzes depict 16th century Obas and they are records

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of specific events, such as military victories

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which expanded the kingdom.

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This for me will be Oba Esigie

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returning from fighting the Ogana triumphant, with his retinue.

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Oba Esigie bolstered the kingdom with the help of the Portuguese,

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who provided weapons and mercenaries for battles.

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Many of the plaques were made during his reign.

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The Portuguese also brought the metal

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which enabled the bronze-casters to immortalise his exploits.

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But these craft pre-dates the arrival of the Portuguese,

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so there must have been another source of copper

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for the bronze-smiths.

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And while the bronzes were records of the kingdom's histories,

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I think they were also more than that.

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I want to find the origin and meaning

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of the symbols depicted in them, like this magnificent leopard,

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and the snake which appears on the roof of the Oba's palace.

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I also want to find out how the culture and technology spread.

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The answer may lie in West Africa's dynamic and lost civilizations.

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For a thousand years before the rise of Benin,

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West Africa had seen several overlapping kingdoms rise and fall.

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They had no fixed boundaries or singular ethnic identity.

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They were held together by the trade routes they sought to control.

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The 14th century saw one kingdom in particular flourish.

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The empire of Mali, and its city Timbuktu.

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I'm going there to see whether there's any evidence

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that points to the development of Benin craftsmanship 500 years ago.

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In the 1300s, Mali was the most powerful kingdom in West Africa.

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Its emperor, Mansa Musa,

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was at one time thought to be the richest man in the world,

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famed for his vast gold reserves

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and for sending envoys to European courts.

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Timbuktu's wealth and power came because

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it was the hub of the lucrative trans-Sahara trade routes.

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Arab merchants brought goods such as salt, textiles, and new metals

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into West Africa from across the desert.

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Metals are still worked in Timbuktu's back streets.

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Very interesting indeed.

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I'm told that in the 14th century,

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the camel trains brought refined copper from North Africa,

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which made its way south towards Benin.

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But if this was the source of the bronze casters' metal,

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I wonder if there are any other hints

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as to the meaning of the symbols I saw in the plaques.

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The Arabs didn't just bring goods to this part of Africa,

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they also brought Islam.

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It's certainly very different from Benin.

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I've brought a local historian some images of the Bronzes.

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I have here some images of Benin plaques

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which are actually in the British Museum,

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and I'm just wondering if, looking at these images,

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if they played any part in the history,

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or the mythologies of Timbuktu.

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Timbuktu's story-telling is owned by teachers and scholars

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from the libraries and the ancient university,

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not by guilds of craftsmen.

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Timbuktu may have been the source of copper

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for the bronze work further south,

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but not the imagery, the techniques, or symbolism I've seen.

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But further south is another important,

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ancient city of West Africa.

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220 miles from Timbuktu is the city of Djenne.

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Perhaps I can find clues there as to how the culture

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and craftsmanship of Benin may have developed.

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It lies on a natural thoroughfare, the inland delta of the River Niger.

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Djenne was established here around 800AD,

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three centuries before Timbuktu

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and 800 years before the Benin Bronzes were cast.

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This is Djenne, one of the great markets of West Africa.

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And when the market's on, the town here swells

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to more than three times its usual size.

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This is one of the great spectacles of West Africa.

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I've arranged to meet a local historian and guide,

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Amadou Cisse.

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-Hello.

-Nice to meet you.

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Nice to meet you, welcome to Djenne.

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Djenne was flourishing by the 13th century,

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and there's been a thriving market here ever since,

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overlooked by the Great Mosque that dominates the city.

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But it isn't just a local market.

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Djenne has long been connected with far flung destinations,

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and the proof is on the market stalls themselves.

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These are beautiful beads.

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-Those are old beads.

-These are old.

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I know that there have been beads that have been found here

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that are more than 2,000 years old.

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-Of course.

-They may have come from India or China.

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Of course. So they find one bead.

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Then another, and they put it together and make the necklace.

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At its peak, it was without doubt,

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one of the great markets of West Africa.

0:22:410:22:45

The trade from here supported the development, not just of the Mosque,

0:22:450:22:50

but of a huge infrastructure across the area,

0:22:500:22:53

and it drew people from miles around.

0:22:530:22:55

Its strategic position as a trading crossroads

0:22:580:23:00

meant Djenne was contested and conquered

0:23:000:23:03

by several kingdoms throughout its long history.

0:23:030:23:06

Yet Djenne has managed to hold onto particularly local traditions.

0:23:060:23:10

These mud buildings are unlike anything else in West Africa.

0:23:100:23:16

Amadou, this is a beautiful house.

0:23:160:23:17

The architecture of Djenne is unique in the world.

0:23:170:23:22

Amadou says that each architectural feature has meaning.

0:23:220:23:25

The vertical columns indicate that the owner had two wives.

0:23:250:23:29

There's one pillar at the top for each of his five children.

0:23:290:23:33

This symbolism has more in common with the craftsmanship of Benin

0:23:330:23:37

nearly 900 miles away,

0:23:370:23:39

than to the writing traditions of Timbuktu to the north.

0:23:390:23:43

So that was in between the 12th to the 13th Century, people had dream

0:23:430:23:48

of building house in that style of architecture.

0:23:480:23:52

Islam forbids representative images,

0:23:530:23:56

but could architecture be an outlet for artists here?

0:23:560:24:00

Every house tells a visual story.

0:24:000:24:03

It's a mud building. We have to rebuild our house every year.

0:24:030:24:06

When the rains, for example, because it's a mud building,

0:24:060:24:09

in the rainy season we lose part of the wall.

0:24:090:24:12

When there is a new birth in our family,

0:24:120:24:14

or somebody dies, we change the whole architecture every year.

0:24:140:24:18

And so that must mean that there is a whole tradition of masons

0:24:180:24:22

and of people who preserve and conserve these buildings.

0:24:220:24:27

Yes, yes.

0:24:270:24:29

Djenne's masons are all from a hereditary guild,

0:24:290:24:33

just like the bronze casters of Benin. With their special skills,

0:24:330:24:38

the masons maintain their old traditions,

0:24:380:24:42

as well as the ancient beliefs and symbolic codes.

0:24:420:24:45

Amadou's mason friend, Tamusa, makes special bricks,

0:24:470:24:51

mixing the mud with rice, charcoal, and other material.

0:24:510:24:55

In so doing, he infuses them with magical animist powers

0:24:550:25:00

to protect and bring luck to the homeowners.

0:25:000:25:03

Every building of Djenne always starts with this technique.

0:25:030:25:07

So then you have special bricks, five special bricks,

0:25:090:25:15

-made with this mixed into the mud.

-Oh, I see.

0:25:150:25:18

OK, you are doing one on that corner, one to another corner of the house,

0:25:180:25:23

so the four corners of your house have to get these special bricks.

0:25:230:25:27

So one in the middle, in the centre of the house,

0:25:270:25:30

then you build the house.

0:25:300:25:32

This is the animist belief

0:25:410:25:43

that spirits can be found in earthly materials and in animals.

0:25:430:25:48

Could this be part of the same traditions

0:25:500:25:52

illustrated in the snake and leopard symbols of the Benin Bronzes?

0:25:520:25:56

Djenne was not the first city to be established on the inland delta.

0:25:590:26:02

Less than two miles away lie the remains of the oldest known city

0:26:020:26:08

in sub Saharan Africa - Jenne-jeno.

0:26:080:26:11

There, archaeologists have found evidence that animist beliefs

0:26:110:26:16

go back even further in time.

0:26:160:26:18

Amadou and I are going to explore it

0:26:180:26:21

with the help of a government archaeologist,

0:26:210:26:24

who helps preserve the world heritage site.

0:26:240:26:27

I would like to introduce him. He is Mr Samake.

0:26:270:26:29

-Mr Samake. Samake.

-Samake.

-Nice to meet you.

0:26:290:26:32

So he's going to tell us about Jenne-jeno.

0:26:320:26:34

-Yes, of course. He is an expert.

-Really? Wonderful.

0:26:340:26:37

For centuries, Jenne-jeno lay ignored,

0:26:370:26:40

its history and significance completely unknown.

0:26:400:26:45

But just 33 years ago, a team of archaeologists realised that

0:26:450:26:51

this unassuming mound was in fact made up of debris five metres deep.

0:26:510:26:57

It revealed evidence of an ancient city 1,000 years older than Benin.

0:26:570:27:02

Jenne-jeno was first settled around 200BC,

0:27:020:27:05

and was inhabited until the 14th century.

0:27:050:27:09

It's thought that the arrival of Islam may have contributed

0:27:090:27:12

to the demise of the animist settlement.

0:27:120:27:15

Here at the Animist place, there was no room for the Islamic people

0:27:170:27:21

to pray because the Islam recommend to pray by group.

0:27:210:27:24

There wasn't the room for all the religions to pray,

0:27:240:27:28

so then the King decided to build in the 12th century the first mosque.

0:27:280:27:31

He make it biggest. People are curious to see

0:27:310:27:34

that big building, that big mosque,

0:27:340:27:36

and so that since this guy decided to build this mosque

0:27:360:27:40

so then started the decline of Jenne-jeno.

0:27:400:27:42

But the fact that animist beliefs

0:27:420:27:44

were practised in such an ancient city is important.

0:27:440:27:48

It means that spirits like those in the masons' bricks have been

0:27:480:27:52

a profound part of West Africans' lives for many centuries.

0:27:520:27:56

But Jenne-jeno's significance is not just metaphysical.

0:27:560:28:01

Artefacts found here have convinced archaeologists

0:28:010:28:04

that Jenne-jeno was the region's first major trading crossroads,

0:28:040:28:09

possibly from the time of its settlement around 200BC.

0:28:090:28:13

Evidence of craftsmanship is scattered everywhere,

0:28:130:28:16

and it's a technology with a distant link

0:28:160:28:19

to the manufacture of the Benin Bronzes - pottery.

0:28:190:28:22

Can you tell me from these shards of pot

0:28:220:28:25

what periods are represented here?

0:28:250:28:28

I mean if, if you pick up...

0:28:280:28:29

There seems to be pottery of so many different types.

0:28:290:28:33

So many different kinds of decoration.

0:28:330:28:36

850 to the 11th century.

0:28:360:28:39

Only 850 into the 11th century, people had used this technique.

0:28:390:28:45

When this city was being abandoned,

0:28:490:28:51

these were the kinds of pots that they were making?

0:28:510:28:53

Yes, in the 14th century it was completely abandoned.

0:28:530:28:56

So this is Jenne-jeno at its height

0:28:560:28:58

-when people are demanding sophisticated pottery.

-Exactly.

0:28:580:29:01

They are probably trading with people

0:29:010:29:04

from right across the region

0:29:040:29:06

and obviously the pottery reflects all of that economic might.

0:29:060:29:12

Jenne-jeno wasn't just making pottery,

0:29:120:29:15

required for the casting technology of Benin.

0:29:150:29:17

Oh. This is metal.

0:29:170:29:20

It's a piece of metal.

0:29:200:29:22

So that's from 800 after Jesus Christ.

0:29:220:29:25

-That's iron.

-Iron, yeah.

0:29:250:29:27

Smelted iron.

0:29:270:29:28

The excavations have revealed evidence of blacksmithing here.

0:29:280:29:32

The iron industry of Jenne-jeno

0:29:320:29:34

is one of the earliest known in sub-Saharan Africa.

0:29:340:29:39

And the continuity of remains makes archaeologists believe that

0:29:390:29:42

there was a guild system here,

0:29:420:29:44

just like the masons of Djenne and the bronze casters of Benin.

0:29:440:29:48

This early evidence of metalworking and a guild system

0:29:500:29:54

means that the craftsmanship seen in the Benin Bronzes

0:29:540:29:57

developed in West Africa over many centuries.

0:29:570:30:00

But there are no iron ore mines near Jenne-jeno.

0:30:000:30:04

And whilst there were animist practises here,

0:30:040:30:07

I still haven't found evidence of the symbolism

0:30:070:30:10

seen in Benin craftsmanship.

0:30:100:30:12

But 70 miles away is a living example of an animist community.

0:30:120:30:18

I'm travelling to the Dogon country to see how, and why,

0:30:180:30:21

their culture and traditions endure,

0:30:210:30:23

and whether there's any link to the Benin Bronzes.

0:30:230:30:27

The Dogon live in a succession of small villages

0:30:310:30:35

clinging to the lower reaches of the Bandiagara Escarpment.

0:30:350:30:38

It's a spectacular 150-mile-long sandstone ridge

0:30:400:30:44

that rises above the savannah.

0:30:440:30:47

I've come here with a local guide, Kene Dolo.

0:30:500:30:55

Archaeologists believe Jenne-jeno may have got its iron ore

0:30:560:31:00

from deposits near the escarpment,

0:31:000:31:02

and its no surprise that there's a long tradition of ironwork here.

0:31:020:31:07

In fact, archaeologists have dated iron smelting in West Africa

0:31:090:31:13

to around 500BC.

0:31:130:31:15

And like the Benin craftsmen and the Djenne masons,

0:31:170:31:20

blacksmiths have a special place in Dogon society.

0:31:200:31:23

In this village we have only one family blacksmith.

0:31:230:31:28

-One family?

-Only one family.

0:31:280:31:30

-And that is because they are a very important caste family.

-Right.

0:31:300:31:35

This is passed down from father to son, is it? These traditions?

0:31:350:31:38

And is this the father over here?

0:31:380:31:40

Yes. It is his father.

0:31:400:31:42

So they would know about the history

0:31:420:31:44

-and these guys, they bring them to life.

-Right.

0:31:440:31:46

You take these ingredients, the ore which is from the earth.

0:31:460:31:51

-You take the coal...

-Yes.

0:31:510:31:54

..which is from the earth.

0:31:540:31:55

-You take the air. The transforming of these raw materials...

-Yes.

0:31:550:32:00

..just into something which is useful.

0:32:000:32:03

Filling them with a kind of spirit.

0:32:040:32:07

Yes, the blacksmiths have a lot of secrets in their life.

0:32:070:32:12

They have important magic.

0:32:120:32:14

The blacksmiths don't just magically transform iron ore into metal.

0:32:160:32:20

They also work in wood, carving masks and figures.

0:32:200:32:24

They have been essential in keeping Dogon traditions alive

0:32:240:32:28

since at least the 13th century.

0:32:280:32:30

Some of the blacksmith's handiwork is appearing this evening

0:32:300:32:33

in a ritual called dama, part of a funeral ceremony.

0:32:330:32:37

HE SINGS

0:32:390:32:42

The Dogon may date back as far as 10,000BC, no-one is certain,

0:32:480:32:54

but these are traditions

0:32:540:32:55

that developed over many centuries at least.

0:32:550:32:58

Could this be the system of symbols I'm looking for?

0:33:000:33:03

The beginning of an artistic tradition that leads to the bronzes?

0:33:030:33:08

This ceremony is to lead the soul of a recently deceased elder

0:33:080:33:12

to his final resting place.

0:33:120:33:14

It certainly contains echoes of the plaques.

0:33:140:33:18

This is the spirit mask, the spirit.

0:33:230:33:27

This colour is the, it is the death...

0:33:270:33:30

-Death.

-Death colour.

-Death.

0:33:300:33:33

If somebody is dead they put on this colour of clothing...

0:33:330:33:36

indigo.

0:33:360:33:37

They represent the Heron, the...the format.

0:33:420:33:46

The feet they represent the Heron feet. It is elegant.

0:33:460:33:50

-They are very elegant, just like herons.

-Yes, yes.

0:33:500:33:54

This is a vibrant illustration of animist practises.

0:33:540:33:58

In wearing the masks and the costumes, the Dogon take on

0:33:580:34:01

the character of the spirit they believe each animal possesses.

0:34:010:34:05

Dogon tradition says that they migrated

0:34:050:34:08

to the escarpment centuries ago from the Manding mountains 400 miles away

0:34:080:34:12

because of the spread of Islam.

0:34:120:34:14

They sought somewhere they felt secure

0:34:140:34:17

to continue their animist traditions without the fear of being converted.

0:34:170:34:21

-These are snakes?

-Yes, these are snakes. The two masks. Yes.

0:34:230:34:27

And all this group is the lizard mask.

0:34:350:34:40

So what's happening here?

0:34:400:34:42

Er...they're dancing to goodbye the bad spirits

0:34:420:34:45

to go away from the village because it touches the ground.

0:34:450:34:49

To clean the village.

0:34:490:34:51

-Bad things go away.

-Oh, this is warding away evil.

-Yes, yes.

0:34:510:34:57

For centuries, Dogon culture has withstood pressures from conquerors,

0:35:030:35:07

empire-builders and missionaries.

0:35:070:35:09

This breath-taking performance is art,

0:35:090:35:13

spirituality and symbolism all rolled into one.

0:35:130:35:17

And I've seen dancing all over Africa,

0:35:210:35:24

but that was absolutely the most spectacular I have ever seen.

0:35:240:35:28

THEY SHOUT AND CHANT

0:35:280:35:31

In the morning, Kene takes me to see

0:35:400:35:42

another way Dogon culture is represented,

0:35:420:35:46

as part of the design of a granary belonging to the chief

0:35:460:35:49

and spiritual leader, the Hogon.

0:35:490:35:52

Oh, look at that.

0:35:570:35:59

This is the granary door.

0:35:590:36:01

-I see.

-The door for the granary.

0:36:010:36:04

You see? This is the Hogon.

0:36:050:36:08

Yes, it is the oldest person in the village.

0:36:080:36:11

All this group of masks represent the Kananga mask.

0:36:110:36:16

Oh, the mask with the lizard on the top.

0:36:160:36:18

-Yes.

-These are the lizards...

0:36:180:36:20

-It is a lizard.

-..being led in the dance by these men here.

-Yes.

0:36:200:36:23

And this is the head of the lizard...

0:36:230:36:25

-I see.

-..and this direction represents the sky...

0:36:250:36:28

The door isn't just about spiritual belief.

0:36:280:36:32

It also commemorates the trek undertaken by the Dogon people

0:36:320:36:36

from their original homeland around the 13th century.

0:36:360:36:41

This is the eight family Dogon coming from Manding to here.

0:36:410:36:45

-So these are the original people who migrated...

-Yes.

0:36:450:36:48

-..all the way from the Manding...

-Yes, yes.

0:36:480:36:51

..down here to the Dogon lands.

0:36:510:36:52

They walk to Manding by foot to build here.

0:36:520:36:55

This is a piece of history? This is history...

0:36:550:36:57

-Yes, yes.

-In wood?

0:36:570:36:59

Yes, in wood, and it is acacia wood. We take some...

0:36:590:37:03

some piece to make a door with Dogon history to...to give the informa...

0:37:030:37:10

the whole information to the, er, young generation.

0:37:100:37:14

To the young people.

0:37:140:37:15

Yes, who didn't lose our culture.

0:37:150:37:18

Here, 800 miles from Benin, is a living example

0:37:180:37:22

of the same kind of history and story telling

0:37:220:37:24

as we find in the bronzes.

0:37:240:37:26

The techniques may be simpler

0:37:260:37:28

but the purpose seems strikingly similar.

0:37:280:37:31

The determination to record cultural heritage is common to the Dogon,

0:37:330:37:37

the Benin craftsmen, the Djenne masons

0:37:370:37:40

and the guilds of blacksmiths in West Africa.

0:37:400:37:44

The need to maintain their identity was vital when kingdoms,

0:37:440:37:48

new religions and centres of power were fluctuating over the centuries.

0:37:480:37:53

But I want to know whether the animist symbols the people use here

0:37:530:37:56

shed light on those used in the kingdom of Benin.

0:37:560:38:00

I've made an appointment to see some elders

0:38:000:38:03

in a neighbouring Dogon village

0:38:030:38:05

a mile along the Bandiagara Escarpment.

0:38:050:38:07

-Hello, hello.

-I have brought my sketches of the symbols used

0:38:100:38:14

in the Benin Bronzes to show the elders.

0:38:140:38:16

We're meeting in the Togu'na,

0:38:160:38:18

a men-only gathering place in the centre of the village.

0:38:180:38:22

Do you have, erm, any traditions with leopards? Leopards?

0:38:230:38:28

-Which man?

-This man.

0:38:330:38:35

Really? You're from the leopard clan.

0:38:350:38:38

-SPEAKS IN LOCAL LANGUAGE

-So this one is you.

0:38:380:38:41

Voila.

0:38:410:38:43

If in the village, in his family if one, er, person

0:38:520:38:55

have to die soon, the leopard comes in the night to the roof,

0:38:550:39:00

-he climb into the roof and "Mmm..."

-Oh, really?

0:39:000:39:04

"Mmm", and you know bad news is coming for the family.

0:39:040:39:09

So, something bad is going to happen, someone's going to die.

0:39:090:39:13

To the Dogon, the figure of the leopard certainly has meaning

0:39:130:39:17

and symbolism beyond the physical.

0:39:170:39:19

I wonder if the same is true of the snake.

0:39:190:39:22

-In Benin...

-Yes.

0:39:220:39:25

-..this design of snake...

-Yes.

0:39:250:39:27

..originally was found on the roof of the Royal Palace.

0:39:270:39:30

These are snakes around a woman's face.

0:39:300:39:34

-This is bronze. Metal.

-Ah, bronze.

0:39:400:39:44

Here the snake protects the village leader.

0:39:530:39:55

It seems to have a protective function in Benin too.

0:39:550:39:59

500 years and 800 miles away from the Benin Bronzes,

0:39:590:40:02

the Dogon people attach meaning to the snake and the leopard

0:40:020:40:07

that chime with those on the plaques.

0:40:070:40:10

And there is also evidence of indigenous development

0:40:100:40:13

of metalworking skills throughout the region.

0:40:130:40:16

But the bronze-casters of Benin

0:40:160:40:18

needed to know about more than metallurgy.

0:40:180:40:20

To create a cast, they first had to make a mould.

0:40:200:40:24

That required the knowledge to manipulate clay.

0:40:240:40:28

And high above the Dogon villages

0:40:310:40:34

is evidence of how it was used 2,000 years ago.

0:40:340:40:38

Kene has taken me to the plateau of the escarpment.

0:40:380:40:42

-2,000 years ago, all this place, it was a forest.

-Really?!

0:40:420:40:49

-In this time of year there more rains than now...

-Really?

0:40:490:40:51

More rains than now. All this green.

0:40:510:40:54

The people live here go to hunting. They get many, many animals.

0:40:540:40:59

Elephant, porky pig, you have monkey.

0:40:590:41:03

The people who lived on the Bandiagara Escarpment

0:41:030:41:06

2,000 years ago were the Tellem.

0:41:060:41:08

They are believed to have been red-skinned pygmies,

0:41:090:41:12

and they built dwellings into the rock face itself.

0:41:120:41:15

The belief endures that the Tellem had the power of flight,

0:41:220:41:25

and I'm beginning to understand why.

0:41:250:41:28

It does look quite precarious.

0:41:280:41:31

Nestled under the cliffs are one of the wonders of West Africa.

0:41:390:41:44

Kene this is amazing. What are these buildings?

0:41:450:41:48

This is the Tellem building.

0:41:480:41:51

The Tellem lived here 2,000 years ago.

0:41:510:41:57

Here it is a Tellem granary.

0:42:000:42:01

The granaries were built using rich mud from termite mounds.

0:42:010:42:07

This material, and the natural shelter provided by the cliffs,

0:42:070:42:11

means they are extremely well-preserved.

0:42:110:42:13

In some of building, they put the fruit from the tree because

0:42:130:42:20

we have the forest close to them,

0:42:200:42:22

and they take a lot of fruit, er, eat some, and the rest you keep inside.

0:42:220:42:28

So this would be a way of storing food, grain,

0:42:280:42:31

so that in a difficult year...

0:42:310:42:33

-Right.

-..you would be OK.

-Yes.

0:42:330:42:35

-It's not just about survival, it's about flourishing.

-Yes.

0:42:350:42:39

These structures are not just beautifully built,

0:42:430:42:47

they have been decorated, too.

0:42:470:42:50

The outer surface of these granary stores

0:42:500:42:52

are just covered in these finger marks.

0:42:520:42:55

It's just wonderful to be able to actually place your fingers

0:42:550:42:59

in the marks made by someone possibly 2,000 years ago.

0:42:590:43:02

It suggests that the people who lived here

0:43:020:43:06

could think about more than simple basic needs.

0:43:060:43:09

This is a kind of renaissance.

0:43:090:43:12

A moment when things changed.

0:43:120:43:14

With the development of these granary stores,

0:43:140:43:18

the Tellem no longer just had to be hunters and gatherers.

0:43:180:43:22

They bought themselves the time to create art.

0:43:220:43:26

Archaeologists have found carved head-rests,

0:43:260:43:30

jewellery and even metalwork here.

0:43:300:43:33

The Tellem vanished from this area centuries ago.

0:43:330:43:36

No-one knows why.

0:43:360:43:39

But the fact that jewellery and decoration

0:43:390:43:42

appeared here 2,000 years ago is significant.

0:43:420:43:46

It shows that there was indigenous development of an artistic culture

0:43:480:43:52

in West Africa many generations before

0:43:520:43:55

the bronze casts of Benin were made.

0:43:550:43:58

And nearby, some astonishing discoveries

0:44:040:44:07

have revealed further evidence of craft.

0:44:070:44:10

They may force experts to re-write the history

0:44:100:44:13

of West Africa's development.

0:44:130:44:15

At a place called Ounjougou,

0:44:190:44:20

the past hasn't been dug up by archaeologists.

0:44:200:44:23

It's has been revealed by nature.

0:44:230:44:26

It's hard to believe, but within living memory

0:44:260:44:29

it was impossible to stand where I'm standing now.

0:44:290:44:33

The water levels of these two rivers used to be much, much higher,

0:44:330:44:36

but after a huge storm, the rivers broke their banks.

0:44:360:44:42

They changed course and what they revealed in the mud

0:44:420:44:46

has changed archaeology.

0:44:460:44:49

The river erosion created an archaeologist's dream -

0:44:540:44:58

the cross-section of history in layers of sediment.

0:44:580:45:01

In 2002, an international team began finding evidence

0:45:010:45:05

of pre-historic human activity.

0:45:050:45:07

Adamo Dembele is from Mali's cultural mission,

0:45:080:45:11

which works to preserve the country's archaeological heritage.

0:45:110:45:16

The archaeologists carbon dated the pottery fragments

0:45:540:45:57

to 11,400 years ago.

0:45:570:46:01

People were using pottery here 8,000 years before it appeared in Britain.

0:46:020:46:08

The fragments are 2,000 years older

0:46:100:46:13

than any other pottery found in Africa.

0:46:130:46:16

They are the same age as the oldest-known pottery in the world.

0:46:190:46:22

That fairly modest piece of ceramic tells a revolutionary story.

0:46:260:46:31

I mean, this is a material that must have transformed

0:46:310:46:34

the lives of the people here.

0:46:340:46:36

It allowed people to transport things, to store things.

0:46:360:46:39

I mean, this really is revolutionary.

0:46:390:46:42

The discovery of such ancient pottery here

0:46:440:46:47

means that West Africa was way ahead of its time.

0:46:470:46:51

When West Africans began developing the skills

0:46:510:46:54

that would eventually create

0:46:540:46:56

some of the most exquisite art in the world,

0:46:560:46:58

Europe was just emerging from the last Ice Age.

0:46:580:47:01

The British recognised the extraordinary quality

0:47:050:47:09

of the Benin Bronzes when they took them in 1897.

0:47:090:47:12

But they thought that Africans were incapable of creating them.

0:47:120:47:15

It's only recently that the full and extraordinary history

0:47:150:47:19

of West African craftsmanship has begun to emerge.

0:47:190:47:22

Now we can see how the bronzes give us an insight not just

0:47:220:47:26

into the kingdom of Benin, but into a wider history.

0:47:260:47:30

With fluctuating centres of power, cultural identity in West Africa

0:47:300:47:35

was more important than a sense of nationhood.

0:47:350:47:38

The bronzes show us the power of the Oba

0:47:380:47:40

and the spirits that protected him and his people,

0:47:400:47:43

and they're the culmination of important, indigenous developments

0:47:430:47:47

over thousands of years throughout this part of the continent.

0:47:470:47:53

The kingdoms of West Africa share many important aspects - pottery,

0:47:530:47:58

ironwork, but also a history of telling their story through art.

0:47:580:48:02

These things were, and always will be, truly African.

0:48:020:48:06

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:48:110:48:15

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0:48:150:48:18

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