WEBVTT - Empires and the Benin Bronzes 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:04.680 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:12.319 and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised. The late 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:17.240 afternoon sun was beating down on Admiral Sir Harry Rawson's 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:21.040 back as he ambled through the African city of Edo 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:26.720 on February eighteenth, eighteen ninety seven. Even though he carefully 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:31.280 scanned each street and clocked every window he walked past, 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:35.920 he was almost relaxed. The tension he had been holding 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:41.280 in his body mere hours before had largely dissipated. After 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:46.200 five days of moving through dense forest and facing gorilla 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:51.480 attacks from Eto's soldiers. It was a relief, no a triumph, 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:56.800 to be strolling the streets the Kingdom of Benin's king 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:00.600 or Oba, and everyone else in the Kingdom of Benin's 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:06.120 capital city had fled. That was an unfortunate outcome of 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:11.240 the attack, as Admiral Rawson and his British forces had 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:16.000 hoped to capture the Oba. The campaign was known as 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:20.880 the quote punitive expedition. After all, in the minds of 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:26.080 the British people, the Edo people, especially their Oba, needed 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:32.280 to pay for killing British soldiers earlier that year. But regardless, 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:36.679 the British had the city now. The British forces hadn't 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:40.800 even known the exact location of Edo, and yet here 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:46.279 they were. Admiral Rawson chalked that up to British superiority. 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:52.040 As the British force of twelve hundred people continued to 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:56.520 explore the abandoned city, they took it upon themselves to 0:01:56.600 --> 0:02:01.920 inspect the larger buildings, including the Soba's Palace and the 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:07.520 religious spaces. As Admiral Rawson and his men explored the palace, 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:12.760 they first came upon stores of what they initially deemed 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:18.639 quote cheap rubbish, but in sorting through the piles, they 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:24.919 found quote several hundred unique bronze plaques of really superb 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:32.440 casting castings of wonderful delicacy of detail, some magnificently carved tusks, 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:37.520 and bronze groups of idols. In the buildings clearly meant 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:43.680 for religious ceremonies. They also found quote handsomely carved ivory 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:48.680 tusks placed on the top of very antique bronze heads. 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:53.640 The precious items were swiftly collected and packed up to 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:57.040 be taken out of the Kingdom of Benin and transported 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:01.000 to London for sale. Something had to pay for the 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:06.760 expensive expedition might as well be these. Once they were 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:11.640 done exploring the royal residences and the religious buildings, the 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:16.760 British started destroying the city. On one hand, this was personal, 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.520 the Edo had killed British soldiers and now they were 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:24.400 facing the mighty wrath of the British Empire. But on 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:28.200 the other hand, this was standard practice for the British 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:33.959 in Africa, a scorched earth policy adhering to this maximum 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:38.160 quite literally. After demolishing parts of the palace and some 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:44.000 religious buildings, the British set the city ablaze. Admiral Rawson 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.560 basked in the glow of the fire rolling through Edo 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:51.920 he had more than accomplished his mission. He left behind 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:56.000 a few soldiers to hold the conquered territory until the 0:03:56.000 --> 0:04:00.400 British could return and fortify their new stronghold, and with 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:05.880 the smoke emanating from still smoldering ruins, the admiral set 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:11.040 off back to London. Just four days after they had arrived. 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:15.320 The British had toppled the King of Benin, destroyed the 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:21.160 capital city, and looted the kingdom's most precious religious masterpieces. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:25.480 As they marched back through the forest. They carried with 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:30.680 them what would become some of the most controversial artifacts 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:35.800 of the twenty first century, artifacts that still remain in 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:41.440 the British Museum today, the Benin Bronzes. I'm Danish sports 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:48.560 and this is noble blood. The Benen Bronzes might be 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:52.040 familiar to some of you already. They are some of 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:56.440 the world's most talked about artifacts, and for good reason. 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.719 These pieces of art, which include items cast in bronze 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:05.520 and brass as well as ivory carvings, are as of 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:11.640 this episode scattered across the world in private collections and museums, 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:17.279 including most notably the British Museum. Nigeria, the modern state 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:21.760 which encompasses the Kingdom of Edo, has been working diligently 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:25.640 to try to get these pieces back for almost a century. 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.800 But while some of the bronzes have been returned, most 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:34.000 known Benin Bronzes still reside in the hands of others. 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:40.080 These pieces have made incredible journeys from their creation to 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.320 their use by the Kingdom of Edo as ceremonial and 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:47.880 religious objects, to their seizure as looted items, to their 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:53.520 status as hotly contested artifacts across the Globe today will 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:58.159 trace that story, and that begins in the back alleys 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:03.359 of Benin City. Benin City or Edo, was the capital 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:06.760 of the Kingdom of Benin, not to be confused with 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:11.200 the modern nation of Benin. The Kingdom of Benin ruled 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:15.279 over a portion of the Niger River delta from around 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:19.720 eleven eighty a d. To eighteen ninety seven a d. 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:24.279 The kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Edo, began 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:29.760 as a city state and relied on simple tributary relationships. 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:34.960 The Oba or king would offer military protection in exchange 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:40.240 for tributes. As a reference point, their system was strikingly 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:46.480 similar to European fiefdom. The kingdom started developing into a 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:53.200 highly centralized empire in the fourteenth century. With this centralization 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:58.799 of power under way, Oba Aguolo was able to create guilds, 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:03.719 including those fours metal workers and brass casters, which still 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.760 to this day have their headquarters and workshops located in 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.640 a back alley in Edo. But we can point to 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:16.400 this fifteenth century creation of guilds as a turning point 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:21.280 in the development of Edo art. The artisans of Edo 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:25.280 would make pieces of art out of brass, bronze, ivory, 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:29.800 and coral works of art which are collectively known as 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:34.040 the Benin Bronzes. The Moniker the Benin Bronzes is a 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.920 bit deceiving, however, the name is used to refer to 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:42.720 these sculptures and reliefs made from the thirteenth century onward 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.920 in the Kingdom of Benin. Regardless of what material the 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.720 works are made out of. The pieces that are categorized 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:57.440 as Benin Bronzes are incredibly diverse. There are some exaggerated faces, 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:02.520 some individuals, and some scenes groups together, the works depict 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:07.960 court life, military victories, and important trade relationships, the story 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:12.000 of a people's history told through art. If you've never 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:14.760 seen them, I urge you to look up the Benien 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:18.520 Bronzes to get a sense of the artistic style and 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:26.239 their conventions. Fundamentally, Edo art was meant for the court, 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:31.960 and it served two purposes. First, these sculptures and engravings 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:36.680 were meant to record history. For the Edo people, history 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:40.400 was an oral tradition, but they used these pieces of 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:45.760 art to supplement their stories. For example, some images represented 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:50.040 battles in their successful conquest of their neighbors, while other 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:55.000 sculptures preserved the likenesses of important rulers and members of 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.680 the nobility. Wrapped Up in that purpose were of course, 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:05.200 political motivations. Politicians, kings, and noblemen trying to make themselves 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:10.680 seem more important Obas would commission pieces that depicted them 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:15.160 in a positive light. Not to get meta, being that 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:18.720 this is a history podcast, but what is chosen to 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:23.000 be remembered as history is never objective. The Obas, the 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:26.760 kings of the Kingdom of Edo knew that and certainly 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:32.160 used that to their advantage. The bronzes also served as 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:36.320 religious objects central to the beliefs of the Edo people. 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:41.720 The Edo religion involved belief in an invisible, supernatural world 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:47.400 full of gods and spirits. In addition to traditional ancestor veneration, 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:53.400 one important aspect of their religion was divine kingship, which 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:58.640 combined their belief in spirits as well as ancestor worship. Obas, 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.920 both living and dead, were seen as holding the power 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:07.679 of life and death. Every new Oba, once the former 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:11.640 Oba his father had passed and he rose to the throne, 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:16.160 was tasked with putting together an altar for the recently 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:20.920 deceased king. On this altar would be carved ivory tusks 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:26.000 and brass heads cast to represent the former Oba or 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:30.920 the former queen the new Oba's mother. These altars also 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:36.040 included statues of leopards, as they were symbols associated with 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:42.240 kingship and power. The Obas of Benin did have substantial 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:47.160 power in the region. The kingdom began expanding in earnest 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:52.080 starting in the sixteenth century. What brought the kingdom more 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:57.760 power was their trade relationships with European countries like Portugal, 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:02.760 England and France. Their location on the Niger River delta 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:07.679 primed them to act as middlemen between European traders and 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:12.480 other African states further inland, especially with regards to the 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:17.560 slave trade. The Edo benefited greatly through the slave trade. 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:21.319 When the Edo would expand their kingdom and take prisoners 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.800 of war, they could turn around and sell those prisoners 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:30.880 to European traders. So military expeditions allowed the Edo not 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:34.720 only to expand their sphere of control, but also to 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:39.920 trade with the Europeans. In the seventeenth century, the Edo 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:44.480 Empire started to contract, having reached its largest in the 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:48.200 sixteenth century, when it extended from the coast of the 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:52.320 Bite of Benin almost to Acra in the west. The 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:56.640 kingdom recovered some of its previous power in the eighteenth century, 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:01.800 but declined somewhat again in the nineteenth All this being said, 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:06.800 by the nineteenth century, despite no longer being the powerhouse 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.800 it once had been, the Kingdom of Ito was still 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:14.080 powerful and controlled much, if not all, of the palm 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:19.160 oil trade through the Niger Delta. Unfortunately, it was their 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.960 control of those trade routes in the region that put 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.840 the kingdom at odds with the British. And when you 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:31.160 were at odds with the British Empire in the nineteenth century, 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:34.800 there was little that could be done to save you. 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:43.000 In the nineteenth century, European nations were coming up against 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:48.520 the economic necessities of the Industrial Revolution. In order for 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:52.920 their economies to continue growing and thereby allow their state 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:58.720 to become more powerful, countries like Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:03.680 Portugal and Italy had to find new markets and new resources, 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:07.400 but they couldn't look to Europe for those as industrial 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:12.520 economies had already consumed the entire continent. So these European 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:18.160 governments looked to Africa. Obviously, this is an oversimplification, but 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:22.599 I think it's a helpful overview. Having colonized or established 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:26.040 strong trade monopolies in most of the rest of the world. 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:32.040 Europeans felt that Africa could satisfy their economic quote needs. 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:37.480 Many countries already had trade relationships with nations in Africa, 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:43.600 where they traded things like ivory, palm oil, and enslaved people. 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:48.480 European states had trade relationships with African states south of 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:51.840 the Sahara for hundreds of years, but in the eighteen 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:57.200 eighties the European outlook towards the entire African continent changed 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:03.400 as the European quote scramm for Africa ensued. In the 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:08.679 late nineteenth century, European countries had led colonial excursions into 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:13.480 various parts of Africa. For example, Britain assumed control over 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:18.560 Egypt and South Africa, while Belgium, or more specifically, King 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:23.320 Leopold of Belgium horrifically took over the Congo region of 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:26.880 the African interior, which we covered on this podcast a 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:30.440 while back in the episode The Red Paint on Leopold 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:35.360 the Second. But as each European country gained a foothold 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.440 in one part of the continent, the other European nations 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:43.680 grew all that more eager to establish their own colonies, 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:48.200 if for no other reason than preventing other countries from 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:53.640 becoming more powerful. As tensions arose, it soon became clear 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:57.440 that unless they did something, war would break out over 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:01.200 the issue. In eighteen eighty four and eighteen eighty five, 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:05.440 in order to avoid war in Europe, Attovon Bismarck of 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:11.040 Germany convened the Berlin Conference, where the seven major European 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:20.000 powers met to discuss quote the Africa problem. At this conference, 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:24.600 the representatives of the Western powers took a map and 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:30.800 divided up the African continent amongst themselves. Essentially, they decided 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:34.960 who was to pursue control over which specific portions of Africa, 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:39.200 with no regard for the nations and tribes and kingdoms 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:44.320 who already inhabited the land. As I said, European countries 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:49.040 had already begun to colonize Africa, but the Berlin Conference 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:52.960 formalized those efforts. I could go off on a tangent 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:58.200 to discuss the rationale that supported this incredibly racist entitlement 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:02.280 to the continent, But instead, I think, for the purposes 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:06.280 of this story, it'll be most illuminating to put Great 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:10.640 Britain and their colonial efforts specifically in modern day Nigeria 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:15.880 under a microscope, so to speak. After the Berlin Conference, 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.240 Great Britain walked away with a fair amount of the 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:26.640 European continent designated as theirs. Included in quote their territory 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:30.680 was the land of the Niger Delta, where the Kingdom 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:35.880 of Edo already held power. The British already had an 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:40.040 established trade relationship with the Kingdom of Edo, which at 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:43.080 this point in time was almost entirely the trade of 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:47.920 palm oil, but had, as I mentioned previously, included human 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:54.600 trafficking for the Transatlantic slave trade and trade of ivory. Ultimately, 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:59.080 not much changed after the Berlin Conference in that particular region, 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:03.560 as the British and their company, the Niger Coast Protectorate, 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:09.040 were already heavily engaged in regional trade. The biggest change 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:14.920 was an increase in Britain's determination to take formal control. 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:18.440 The Kingdom of Itdo was one of the last independent 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:22.800 states in Africa, which posed a problem for the British. 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:27.440 The British had sent along many emissaries throughout the eighteen sixties, 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:32.000 eighteen seventies and eighteen eighties to try to convince the 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:37.600 Obas to become their protectorate, but the obas Oba Adolo 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:43.600 and then his son Oba Ovan Amarin had repeatedly refused that. 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:48.080 Being said, the Obas had signed trade treaties which the 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:52.359 British hoped they could leverage and turn into control of 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:59.560 the almost eight hundred year old kingdom seven centuries after 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:03.280 its found By the nineteenth century, Edo or Benin City 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:09.199 was a capital full of courthouses, mausoleums, religious compounds and palaces. 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:14.480 Not to mention people, the expansive metropolis bore evidence of 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:19.120 every era of royal power and type of religious observance. 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:23.240 I want to note here that much, if not all, 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:25.960 of what we know about the Kingdom of Benin in 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:29.520 the nineteenth century and the punitive expedition of a eighteen 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:34.560 ninety seven, comes from the British perspective, and almost all 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:39.679 of those records are tainted by racist and imperialist notions. 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:44.520 For example, many descriptions of the Kingdom of Edo describe 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:50.560 gratuitous descriptions of human sacrifice that the Edo supposedly practiced. 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:55.600 According to Admiral Rawson, the British commander at the opening 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:59.840 of this episode, the capital Edo stunk quote of human 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:05.080 blood sacrifices and corpses everywhere, with one area of the 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:10.199 city quote simply strewn with bodies in every stage of decomposition, 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:15.439 skulls and bones end quote. Rawson was not alone in 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:19.960 describing evidence of human sacrifice. It was pervasive in British 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:24.000 writings about the Kingdom of Edo. Now, I won't dispute 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:28.720 that the Edo practiced human sacrifice, but many historians assert 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:33.240 that the British over emphasized the practice in their writings 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:38.879 in order to provide justification for their colonial expeditions. In 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:43.080 the words of famous brit Rudyard Kipling, it was the 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:49.040 white man's burden to bring civility to Africa. Human sacrifice 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:54.320 sufficed as evidence that the Edo people were uncivilized and 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:57.600 needed to be ruled and shown the way of civilization 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:02.080 by the British Empire. We can even see evidence of 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:06.320 that British justification as well as its true desires to 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:10.639 control trade, in the comments of Ralph Moore, who was 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:16.200 acting consul of the Niger Coast Protectorate, concerning British incursions 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:21.200 on the Kingdom's sovereignty quote. The object of the expedition 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.960 was to open up that country for trade. The tyranny 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:30.000 and oppression of its rulers, prevent any civilizing influences extending 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:34.320 into it, and render life and property so insecure as 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:39.520 to prevent nearly all trade end quote. Obviously, then the 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:43.080 only conclusion you can draw from that is they need 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:49.320 to colonize. The British clearly had the supposed moral rationale 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:53.919 to support a military invasion of the Kingdom of Edo's territory, 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:58.199 and in eighteen ninety seven they were finally given the 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:02.760 opportunity to act on them desires, setting into motion the 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:06.600 chain of events which would ultimately bring about the looting 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:13.920 of the Benin Bronzes. The British had hoped to use 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:17.159 military force to topple the Oba and the Kingdom of 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:21.160 Benin for some time, but they had always refrained for 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:25.640 one reason or another. It was a tenacious acting Consul 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:30.960 General of the Niger Coast Protectorate named James Robert Phillips 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:36.040 who defied orders and in January eighteen ninety seven headed 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:40.479 towards Edo to begin efforts to topple the Oba Oba 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:45.439 Ovan Ramwin. As Phillips and his crew trekked through the 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:48.879 forest towards Edo, they sent add a message to the 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:52.159 Oba that they wished to discuss trade and peace in 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:55.760 the region. In reality, they hoped to take the capital 0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:59.800 by force and either force the Oba into submission or 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:04.320 to capture him. The Oba sent soldiers with a message 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:08.080 for Phillips to halt. The Obo was unable to welcome 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.320 any guests at that time, as it was the Igy 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:15.680 festival and he had ceremonial duties to attend to. Further, 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:19.359 if Phillips wanted to enter the capital later, he would 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:23.159 have to come alone, attended only by a local chief. 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:28.879 Phillips refused to heed that request and the multiple reiterations 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:33.040 of it that followed, and the expedition pressed on. On 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:36.719 January fourth, as Phillips and his men marched closer to 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:41.680 the capital, Edo's soldiers ambushed them. Without even emerging from 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:45.800 the foliage. Soldiers fired at the troop, killing all but 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:50.480 two members of the British expedition. This act, which could 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:53.960 be interpreted as an act of defense or an act 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:58.159 of aggression, gave the British the opportunity they needed to 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:02.320 invade the Kingdom of Edo and topple the Oba and 0:23:02.400 --> 0:23:07.640 the kingdom once and for all. Immediately upon hearing of 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:12.320 the massacre, the British launched what they labeled a punitive expedition. 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:16.800 They assigned Admiral Sir Harry Rawson, who we met in 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:20.520 the beginning of the episode, to lead the charge. The 0:23:20.640 --> 0:23:25.719 name Punitive Expedition reveals the sentiment behind raws and mission, 0:23:26.160 --> 0:23:30.280 which was to take Benin city and, if possible, capture 0:23:30.359 --> 0:23:34.040 the Oba. He assembled a force of about twelve hundred 0:23:34.080 --> 0:23:37.840 men and on February ninth headed up the Niger River 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:42.199 and into the forest towards Edo. While they didn't know 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:46.120 exactly where they needed to head to get to the capitol, 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:49.560 as few British had ever made it to the city, 0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:54.679 their determination wiped away any doubt in their minds. This 0:23:54.880 --> 0:23:59.760 anchoring proved helpful as they faced attacks from Edo's soldiers 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:03.359 who were trying to protect their kingdom and their king 0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:08.320 The Edo's soldiers stayed hidden in the trees, therefore able 0:24:08.400 --> 0:24:12.919 to attack with the elements of surprise without revealing themselves 0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:17.480 and opening themselves up to attack in return. Despite the 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:21.480 best defensive efforts of the Edo's soldiers, just over a 0:24:21.520 --> 0:24:26.560 week after the British launched their Punitive expedition, they captured 0:24:26.680 --> 0:24:30.800 the city by force. As I discussed in the opening 0:24:30.920 --> 0:24:35.119 of the episode. Admiral Rawson and his men were able 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:38.840 to wander the city freely, as it had been abandoned 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:42.360 by the Oba, who would surrender himself to the British 0:24:42.520 --> 0:24:48.840 later that year. Rawson's expedition's most important find was the 0:24:48.920 --> 0:24:54.760 Benin Bronzes. The British had mixed reactions to the bronzes, 0:24:55.119 --> 0:24:59.080 all of which, however, were tainted by their racist beliefs. 0:24:59.680 --> 0:25:03.600 On one end of the spectrum, Officer Ralph Moore declared 0:25:03.800 --> 0:25:08.879 they had been quote hideously constructed. Reginald Bacon, the most 0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:13.240 complimentary of the bunch, wouldn't even attribute the brilliant and 0:25:13.320 --> 0:25:17.480 talent of the artwork to the Edo people, instead suggesting 0:25:17.640 --> 0:25:22.200 that the pieces were quote suggestive of almost Egyptian design 0:25:22.680 --> 0:25:27.959 and of quote Chinese work. Regardless of the British opinions, 0:25:28.240 --> 0:25:32.679 the British, ever, conscious of money, recognized the value in 0:25:32.720 --> 0:25:36.919 these pieces of art and swiftly packed them up. The 0:25:37.040 --> 0:25:41.200 bronzes were eventually brought to London, where forty per cent 0:25:41.320 --> 0:25:45.040 of the looted art was accessioned by the British Museum. 0:25:45.400 --> 0:25:48.680 Another chunk given to the soldiers of the expedition as 0:25:48.800 --> 0:25:53.280 trophies and the rest were sold largely to museums around 0:25:53.320 --> 0:25:56.800 the world and in the hands of others. Was where 0:25:56.840 --> 0:26:07.639 the Benin Bronzes would remain for decades. The punitive expedition 0:26:07.800 --> 0:26:10.880 ultimately brought about the end of the Kingdom of Edo 0:26:11.280 --> 0:26:14.879 as the reigning power in the Niger Delta. After the 0:26:14.920 --> 0:26:18.240 sack of Itedo or Benin City, the Kingdom of Benin 0:26:18.359 --> 0:26:23.119 became absorbed into the British Colony of Nigeria. However, the 0:26:23.320 --> 0:26:27.280 Edo people did not just disappear as the British assumed 0:26:27.320 --> 0:26:31.560 control of their land, nor did the monarchy entirely dissolve. 0:26:32.200 --> 0:26:35.639 In fact, the Kingdom of Edo still exists within the 0:26:35.760 --> 0:26:40.520 Nigerian state and there is a currently reigning Oba. Youare 0:26:40.720 --> 0:26:45.000 the second, the fortieth in an unbroken line of rulers. 0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:49.879 Efforts in Nigeria to reclaim the bronzes began in the 0:26:50.000 --> 0:26:55.160 nineteen thirties and really took hold after Nigerian independence from 0:26:55.200 --> 0:27:00.800 Britain in nineteen sixty. It wasn't until twenty twenty one, 0:27:00.840 --> 0:27:03.639 over one hundred years after the sack of Edo and 0:27:03.800 --> 0:27:09.439 almost one hundred years after Nigerian's first started calling for repatriation, 0:27:10.080 --> 0:27:15.000 that their efforts finally bore fruit when Jesus College, Cambridge 0:27:15.440 --> 0:27:19.840 returned the first Benin bronze, a brass casting of a 0:27:19.960 --> 0:27:25.359 cockrel to Nigeria. Hundreds of pieces have since been returned 0:27:25.440 --> 0:27:31.640 to Nigeria or Nigerian ownership. I specified Nigerian ownership because 0:27:31.800 --> 0:27:36.760 some pieces are still located in museums in for example, Germany, 0:27:37.160 --> 0:27:40.439 but as opposed to being owned by that museum, they 0:27:40.480 --> 0:27:45.520 are now there on loan. The question remains, however, who 0:27:45.600 --> 0:27:49.440 in Nigeria should get ownership over the pieces of art. 0:27:50.080 --> 0:27:53.480 Some argue that the Oba and royal family of the 0:27:53.560 --> 0:27:58.119 Kingdom of Benin should have ownership over the pieces, after all, 0:27:58.119 --> 0:28:03.359 these sculptures and reliefs were originally created as religious pieces 0:28:03.400 --> 0:28:07.520 for use by the royal family. Others argue that the 0:28:07.640 --> 0:28:12.119 Nigerian state should have ownership over the pieces, which should 0:28:12.160 --> 0:28:16.119 be displayed in museums like the new Edo Museum of 0:28:16.200 --> 0:28:21.720 West African Art. Unfortunately, this debate over ownership has created 0:28:21.920 --> 0:28:26.560 tension within Nigeria over the objects and has slowed down 0:28:26.600 --> 0:28:31.320 the repatriation process. But the Nigerian government and the Nigerian 0:28:31.400 --> 0:28:36.080 people continue to advocate to bring home the beautiful objects 0:28:36.160 --> 0:28:40.480 known as the Benin Bronzes. Only time will tell when 0:28:40.760 --> 0:28:44.000 or if they will ever be fully returned to Edo. 0:28:51.200 --> 0:28:54.480 That's the story of the Benin Bronzes. But keep listening 0:28:54.520 --> 0:28:58.640 after a brief sponsor break to hear about a fascinating 0:28:58.720 --> 0:29:11.360 discovery about where the material for the bronzes actually came from. Earlier, 0:29:11.440 --> 0:29:14.600 I touched briefly on how the Kingdom of Edo benefited 0:29:14.640 --> 0:29:18.760 from the slave trade with Europeans. As the Edo conquered 0:29:18.880 --> 0:29:22.360 more territory, they would sell their prisoners of war from 0:29:22.400 --> 0:29:26.680 those battles to first the Portuguese and later the British. 0:29:27.320 --> 0:29:30.840 We know how important these trade relationships were to the 0:29:31.000 --> 0:29:36.040 Edo because they made reliefs that featured Portuguese traders. As 0:29:36.080 --> 0:29:40.080 I discussed, the bronzes chronicled the history of the Edo 0:29:40.160 --> 0:29:44.920 people in addition to acting as religious objects. Clearly, the 0:29:45.080 --> 0:29:49.200 Portuguese were important enough to the Edo's history that they 0:29:49.240 --> 0:29:54.160 felt compelled to preserve their image. But the connection between 0:29:54.240 --> 0:29:58.880 the Benin Bronzes and the Portuguese slave trade goes deeper 0:29:58.880 --> 0:30:04.600 than just some de pictions of Europeans. Scientists and archaeologists 0:30:05.000 --> 0:30:08.600 have been working for decades to determine the source of 0:30:08.680 --> 0:30:12.280 the brass used in the metal pieces of the Benine 0:30:12.280 --> 0:30:16.360 bronzes as a reminder, the bronzes were not actually made 0:30:16.440 --> 0:30:19.840 of bronze, or not all of them. Brass is an 0:30:19.840 --> 0:30:24.280 alloy mainly composed of zinc and copper, but also includes 0:30:24.360 --> 0:30:28.920 other elements for our purposes, the most important of these 0:30:28.960 --> 0:30:34.080 additional metals is lead. By studying the lead isotopes in 0:30:34.120 --> 0:30:39.760 the pieces, scholars can determine the origins of the brass. Now, 0:30:39.800 --> 0:30:43.600 it's long been suspected that the brass for the Benin 0:30:43.720 --> 0:30:49.320 bronzes came from manilas, or brass rings that the Portuguese 0:30:49.560 --> 0:30:55.240 used as currency when trading enslaved peoples with West African tribes. 0:30:55.800 --> 0:30:59.920 So scholars put that hypothesis to the test and compare 0:31:00.000 --> 0:31:03.840 aired the composition of the bronzes to the composition of 0:31:03.960 --> 0:31:08.920 manilas recovered from five shipwrecks and three land sites in 0:31:09.000 --> 0:31:12.920 West Africa, Western Europe, and off the east coast of 0:31:12.960 --> 0:31:17.200 the United States. And as it turns out, the bronzes 0:31:17.320 --> 0:31:22.719 were indeed made of metal from the manilas, specifically early 0:31:22.960 --> 0:31:27.560 versions of the rings called taquis. So, in another meta 0:31:27.720 --> 0:31:33.040 moment in this episode, the reliefs depicting Portuguese traders were 0:31:33.080 --> 0:31:36.440 made out of the very metal that the Itedo received 0:31:36.640 --> 0:31:49.280 through trade from the Portuguese. Noble Blood is a production 0:31:49.520 --> 0:31:54.280 of iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Menkey. Noble 0:31:54.280 --> 0:31:58.680