Wie kamen die Benin-Bronzen nach Deutschland?
1897 raubten britische Kolonialtruppen 3500 bis 4000 Bronzen aus dem Königspalast in Benin City und steckten die Stadt in Brand. Rund 1100 Bronzen gelangten als Ankäufe nach Deutschland, allein 440 nach Berlin, das sich damit die zweitgrößte Sammlung weltweit sicherte.
Wo ist das Benin?
Benin [beˈniːn] (französisch Bénin [ beˈnɛ̃]) ist ein Staat in Westafrika. Er grenzt im Westen an Togo, im Norden an Burkina Faso und Niger, im Osten an Nigeria und im Süden an den Golf von Guinea, genauer die Bucht von Benin. Bis 1975 hieß das Land Dahomey.
What do these Benin plaques tell us about the Obas?
The order of their placement on these posts would have told the history of the royal lineage of Benin’s Obas, who traced their dynasty all the way back to Oranmiyan, whose son was the first Oba of Benin. However, the sequence of plaques is lost to us since they were long held in storage when found by westerners in the 19th century.
Where did the Benin Bronzes come from?
Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Head, Guinea Coast, Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, possibly mid 16th or early 17th century. Courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art. The famous Benin bronzes are going home—at least some of them, some of the time.
Where is the Kingdom of Benin?
– [Kathryn] The kingdom of Benin is in present day Nigeria. It was founded around the year 900 and the current reigning king Oba Ewuare II dates his dynasty back to around the year 1250. At its height, Benin controlled a kingdom about the size of New England with two million inhabitants. – [Beth] Oba is the word for king.
Why did the British loot the Benin monuments?
We know that this plaque was one of the artworks looted in the siege because Norman Burrows, a known trafficker in stolen Benin objects, owned it briefly during this time. This act of looting perpetrated by the British was later condemned as a criminal and violent act of British imperialism and colonialism.