Starter quiz
- The Edo people believed that Osun was the god of magic and...
- 'medicine' ✓
- A __________ is a god, goddess or supernatural being that some people worship and believe in.
- spirit
- ghost
- deity ✓
- saint
- priest
-
- The ______ Museum currently holds a brass statue of Osun's head.
- 'British' ✓
- The four ______ on top of the statue’s head represent Osun’s protection and the ability the Oba has to make prophecies.
- 'birds' ✓
- The ______ coming out of the nostrils symbolise Osun's warriors and the Oba's magical ability to defeat and destroy his enemies.
- 'snakes' ✓
- The thunder-stones on the head of the British Museum's Osun statue represent the Oba's power to bring ______, like lightning.
- 'destruction' ✓
Exit quiz
- The earliest Europeans to trade directly with the Kingdom of Benin were the...
- English
- Portuguese ✓
- French
- Spanish
-
- The Portuguese often paid for goods, including enslaved people, using...
- 'manillas' ✓
- The transatlantic slave trade transported enslaved people from West Africa to...
- Europe
- the Americas ✓
- Britain
- north Africa
-
- By the 1800s, the power of the Kingdom of Benin had weakened because...
- there were conflicts within the kingdom ✓
- neighbouring kingdoms had grown stronger ✓
- it had run out of resources
- it had stopped trading with European powers
- European powers wanted to take greater control of West Africa ✓
-
- In 1897, the British overthrew the Oba and the kingdom became part of British...
- 'Nigeria' ✓
- Roughly how many pieces of Edo artwork were sent back to Britain during the British Expedition?
- 1000
- 1500
- 2000
- 2500 ✓
-
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- In the 1500s CE Portugese merchants began to trade goods like guns with Benin in exchange for enslaved people.
- The Dutch, French and English entered this trade in the 1600s CE, making Benin rich and powerful.
- However, by the 1800s CE, the power of Benin had weakened, and the British wanted to control trade in the region.
- In 1897 they invaded the kingdom of Benin, burning Benin City to the ground and making it part of British Nigeria.
- During the invasion thousands of pieces of Edo artwork, including some of those in the British Museum, were looted.
Common misconception
The Kingdom of Benin's trade with Europe solely revolved around the transatlantic slave trade.
While the Kingdom of Benin did participate in the slave trade to some extent, it also engaged in other forms of trade, including the exchange of goods such as ivory, pepper, cloth, and brassware.
Keywords
Enslaved - when a person is enslaved it means that they are forced to be a slave
Transatlantic - transatlantic means crossing the Atlantic Ocean
British nigeria - British Nigeria refers to the time when Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when they achieved independence
Loot - to loot means to steal items from a place during a war but and can also mean the stolen items
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