1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from works 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy. 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: We've talked about a lot of different UNESCO World Heritage 4 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: sites on past episode of the podcast. Yeah, they come 5 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: up a lot. So for the most part, these sites 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: have been remarkable and important in ways that come up 7 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: as generally positive or at least neutral. So, for example, 8 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,520 Speaker 1: there's Poverty Point, which was the largest pre Columbian city 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: north of Mexico. We had a whole episode on that. 10 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: There are parks and civic buildings and crips and other 11 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: structures that were part of the work of Antoni Gaudy, 12 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: which his work there are seven different UNESCO Heritage sites 13 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: in the places that he worked on. Um. We also 14 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: talked about Palmyra and our episode on Zenobia and the Romans, 15 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: and that was a tremendously important site in ancient Syria 16 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: and it's right recently been threatened and in some cases 17 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: damaged by the Islamic State. So most of these UNESCO 18 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: sites that we've talked about don't have like this tremendous 19 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: baggage associated with them, which is not the case today. 20 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: Today's subject is also a UNESCO World heritage site, but 21 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: its place in world history and cultural heritage has very 22 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: different connotations than I think any other site on that 23 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: list that we have talked about before. The Royal Palaces 24 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: of Aboma are a series of earthen palaces and what's 25 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: now beening in West Africa, and they're located and what 26 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: was the capital of the Kingdom of dahome A which 27 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: Uh it's the kingdom that people may not have heard 28 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: of before. Many of these earthen buildings are covered in 29 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: bob relief sculptures if you're not familiar with that term. 30 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: That is like start with a flat surface, slightly raised 31 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: out from that surface is how it's sculpted. Uh. And 32 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: these sculptures document the history of the Fawn people, who 33 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: did not have any written language at the time. So 34 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: this complex is culturally really important to the history of 35 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: the Fund people, very historically important to West Africa. But 36 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: the source of a lot of the Kingdom of the 37 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: Homay's wealth is that these palaces were being built while 38 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: the Atlantic slave trade was really thriving, and a lot 39 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: of the money and power that that went along with 40 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: building these structures came from the slave trade. So that 41 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: means that it's also part of the cultural history of 42 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: the whole world, basically, not just West Africa, in a 43 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,679 Speaker 1: way that I think a lot of people often don't 44 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: talk about. So that's what we're going to talk about today. 45 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about the Kingdom of Dahoma and 46 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: these palaces and the place that these structures have come 47 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: to represent, and basically the cultural history of the world. 48 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: The region of Africa that is now the Republic of 49 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: Benin is home to more than forty different ethnic groups. 50 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: The largest of these is the Phone people. Uh The 51 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 1: Phone are traditionally an agricult trull society, growing crops like cotton, yams, 52 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: and millet, and after it was introduced by Europeans also 53 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: tobacco and most of Africa, the Phone people recorded their 54 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: history using oral or visual methods, but not writing. So 55 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: history was passed from generation to generation through dance and 56 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: visual arts and songs and stories. Most of the very 57 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: official retellings, which were the ones that were repeated over 58 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: and over and over and then changed very little from 59 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: one storyteller to another. We're commissioned by the monarchy in 60 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Dahoma, a royal herald or storyteller was 61 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: entrusted with both creating the story and relating it accurately. 62 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: Every time, you would actually be punished if he got 63 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: it wrong or if he told a version that wasn't 64 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: the official one, and one of his primary objectives in 65 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: telling these stories was to glorify and celebrate the reigning 66 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: king or past kings. So while history of Dahoma and 67 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: kings stayed pretty much the same from generation to generation, 68 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: other facets of the kingdom's history are less documented and 69 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: sometimes contradictory depending on who is doing the telling. We 70 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: do know that three primary divisions formed among the Phone 71 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: people after their ancestors migrated into what's now Benin and Togo, 72 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: and this is in the thirteenth century. These were the Alatta, 73 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: the Porto Novo, and the Dahoma kingdoms. These kingdoms were 74 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: often at war with with one another and with other 75 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: neighboring kingdoms whose people were part of other ethnic groups. 76 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: Dahoma's kings were central to virtually every single aspect of 77 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: Dahoman culture. They were at the heart of political, social, military, 78 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: and religious power. Every king was expected to make the 79 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: kingdom bigger and greater during his rule, while also revering 80 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: the kings that had come before. After his death, each 81 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: king had a quasi religious cult who honored and maintained 82 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: his memory, and once a new king took the throne, 83 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: he would choose names for himself as well as symbol 84 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: that would become part of the visual art that would 85 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: document his deeds throughout his reign. Each king also had 86 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 1: a motto that represented his rule. The Homies first king, 87 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 1: for example, was Gardnahssu, who came into power around His 88 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: symbols were a male bird that was later named after him, 89 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: a drum, and a hunting stick, and his motto was 90 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: I am the biggest bird and the loudest drum. You 91 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: can't keep the bird from singing and you can't keep 92 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:30,919 Speaker 1: the drum from beating. Perhaps because the Homies second king, Daco, 93 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: came to power after usurping his older brother, it's third king, 94 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: who Jabaja, set down a specific process for naming a successor. 95 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: Although the title of king was inherited, it wasn't as 96 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: simple as going from father to eldest son. Each king 97 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: selected the male heir he thought would be the best 98 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: candidate to follow him on the throne. Royal ministers and 99 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: diviners would have to approve this choice before a new 100 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 1: king could ascend. Who Jabaja was also the king who 101 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: established Dahoma's capital at Aboma. This is about sixty five 102 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: miles or a hundred and four kilometers inland. If you're 103 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: imagining the coast of Africa where it makes that sharp 104 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: kind of east west turn. Uh Benin what's now Benin 105 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: is part way down that flatter area, So it was 106 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 1: basically north in from the coast, rather than east or 107 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: west as you might imagine in other parts of Africa. 108 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 1: So King Hujabaja also instituted a lot of the traditions 109 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: that would become hallmarks of Dahomy and culture. One of 110 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,479 Speaker 1: these was a month long annual customs ceremony, which was 111 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: for the entire kingdom to participate in, as well as 112 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: any visiting dignitaries from other kingdoms or other parts of 113 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: the world. The annual custom ceremony was basically a big, 114 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: colorful festival with military parades and religious observances that were 115 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,720 Speaker 1: tied to Voodoo beliefs and practices that were part of 116 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: Dahoman culture. The Voodoo tradition into Homa included belief in 117 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: the spirit world, possession of ancestral spirits and reverence of 118 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: the spirits of deceased ancestors. It also involved animal and 119 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: human sacrifices. The person sacrificed were typically prisoners who were 120 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: executed in honor of prior kings. Some wives of deceased 121 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: kings would also sacrifice themselves as part of funeral rituals 122 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: to go with the king into the afterlife, while others 123 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 1: would continue to live in his palace and maintain the 124 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: king's memory. In addition to establishing the capital and instituting 125 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: the annual customs festivals, King Hujabaja built the first royal 126 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: palace and aboma. This is a collection of courtyards and 127 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: their surrounding buildings, all of them contained within a cobb wall. 128 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: This was in part a defensive maneuver. King Hujabaja knew 129 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: that since the kingdom's goal was to expand and get bigger, 130 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: doing so was going to involve conquering neighboring kingdoms, and 131 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: so he needed to be able to defend himself and 132 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: a royal family from any kind of retribution or counter attack. 133 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: So he built a defensible palace and settled his relatives 134 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: in the surrounding area so that he could provide sort 135 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: of a bigger buffer between himself and any potential attackers. 136 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: So King Hujabaja is also believed to have started to 137 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: Homey's first all female fighting force, who Europeans would later 138 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: refer to as Amazon's. If that piques your curiosity, I 139 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: actually already have a book on them, and unless something 140 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: goes catastrophically wrong and I figure out it won't work somehow, 141 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: these women will be an episode later on, and then 142 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:39,479 Speaker 1: we can talk about wonder Woman. Uh. The Domian Amazon's 143 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: became an elite fighting force and a traditional part of 144 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: the king's guard. Hujabaja ruled from about sixteen forty five 145 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: until sixteen eighty six. His successor was his son Akada, 146 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: who held the throne until seventeen o eight. Acaba's brother 147 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: a Gaja was the next in line, and he conquered 148 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: a number of neighboring tribes and kingdoms, including ones that 149 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: had larger armies than the Kingdom of the Homemade did. 150 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: One of A Godda's conquests was the port town of Ouida. 151 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: Da was already an important player in the Atlantic slave 152 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: trade at this point, and conquering the port at Wida 153 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,319 Speaker 1: meant that the the Homeade kingdom soon had its first 154 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: contact with Europeans, more than two hundred years after they 155 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: first arrived in that part of Africa and well into 156 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: the establishment of the slave trade. But before its peak, 157 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: the Kingdom of the Homa had already shown itself to 158 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: be eager to expand and conquer its neighbors. And now 159 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: with the direct contact with Europeans and the opportunity to 160 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: sell their prisoners of war as slaves, the kingdom basically 161 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: had access to a huge pool of resources to be 162 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: able to continue its expansion. So we're going to talk 163 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,440 Speaker 1: about exactly how that played out after a brief word 164 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: from a sponsor, so to return to the peak of 165 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 1: the Homies history and the peak of its its power 166 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: and luments. Once it had control of the port at Wida, 167 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 1: the Homemade began selling slaves directly to Europeans, who at 168 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: that point we're buying about six thousand slaves a year 169 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: from that part of Africa. By the time the Atlantic 170 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 1: slave trade was abolished, roughly two million slaves would leave 171 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: West Africa from the coast of what's now beneath. The 172 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,440 Speaker 1: cycle played out like this, Dahoma would conquer one of 173 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,319 Speaker 1: its neighbors and take its citizens as prisoners of war. 174 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,199 Speaker 1: It would then sell those people to European slave traders, 175 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: most of which would be sent to plantations in the 176 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: America's Dahoma would accept payment in the form of, among 177 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,440 Speaker 1: other things, weapons, which it used to strengthen its army 178 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: and conquer new territory and defend itself from neighbors. Eventually, 179 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: this cycle meant that Dahoma was one of the largest 180 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: and most powerful kingdoms in all of Africa, and it 181 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: had a near monopoly on the West African slave trade, 182 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: had a military force that was armed with weapons that 183 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,439 Speaker 1: were acquired through the slave trade, and at this point 184 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 1: about twelve thousand soldiers served in its army, along with 185 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 1: about four thousand of the so called amazons. However, the 186 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,720 Speaker 1: peak of Dahomey's power didn't actually last terribly long. As 187 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: Dahoma was at the height of its influence, the abolition 188 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: movement was thriving in many parts of the world, and 189 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 1: several nations had already stopped participating in the Atlantic slave trade, 190 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: even if they still had slavery within their borders. This 191 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: also meant that while Dahomey was selling fewer slaves, those 192 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: slaves that it did sell went at a much higher price. Basically, 193 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:41,079 Speaker 1: once the cultural thought turned against slavery, they were able 194 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: to be like, well, everyone hates you for this, now 195 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,959 Speaker 1: we're going to charge you more money. As the Atlantic 196 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,959 Speaker 1: slave trade declined, European powers turned their attentions in Africa 197 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: away from acquiring slaves and toward Africa's not natural resources. 198 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: Many European powers began establishing colonies in Africa in search 199 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: of plants and minerals and the like. The reason we're 200 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: not really talking about America here is that while America 201 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,439 Speaker 1: had become an independent nation at this point, wasn't really 202 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: to the point of sending colonists to Africa yet that 203 00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: America was or the United States was really just colonizing 204 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: North American territory at this point, So and Dahoma. The 205 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: resource that European colonists were looking for was mostly the 206 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: palm nut, which could be used to produce an oil 207 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: that could be applied to anything from lubricating machines to 208 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: making soap. Kinguizo established a palm oil industry in the 209 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: Homeade while continuing to also trade in slaves. When King 210 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: Guizo's successor, Glele took the throne, Dahoma was under huge 211 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: diplomatic pressure from various European powers to end both the 212 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,679 Speaker 1: slave trade and their practice of human sacrifice, which was 213 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: still taking place at annual customs. Glare resisted this, and 214 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: Sir Richard Burton, after visiting from Great Britain, wrote of 215 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 1: the diplomatic efforts, quote, to abolish human sacrifice here is 216 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: to abolish to homemade. The practice originates from filial piety, 217 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,960 Speaker 1: it is sanctioned by long use and custom, and it 218 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: is strenuously upheld by a powerful and interested priesthood. When 219 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,680 Speaker 1: the trans Atlantic slave trade was finally abolished in the 220 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:26,680 Speaker 1: mid nineteenth century, the Homemade power really did start to 221 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: wane pretty quickly. After a series of confrontations with the 222 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: Eggbuck Kingdom, the homades declining army could no longer stave 223 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: off incursions from the French. The Homemade fought back against 224 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: France the early eighteen nineties, and then in two after 225 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,839 Speaker 1: a series of battles in which the Homemade continually lost 226 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: ground to the French, the Dahomayan army retreated to the 227 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: capital at Abome. That's when King Behanzon, who was the 228 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: penultimate king of Dahoma ordered the army to torch the city. 229 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,679 Speaker 1: Rather than allowing the kingdom's relics in the same sacred 230 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: tombs of its ancestors and past kings and other important 231 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: cultural sites to fall into Frinch hands. King Behanson surrendered 232 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: to France on January eighteen four and he went into exile. 233 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: Dahoma became a French protectorate, and the French installed Behnson's 234 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: half brother, agli Agbo, the first to the monarchy, before 235 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: they deposed him and installed their own provincial government. Even 236 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 1: though the royal lineage has continued to today, a Goalie 237 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: Agbo is regarded as the last reigning king of the 238 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: Dahoma Kingdom. Similarly to the British view of Rhodesia that 239 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: we talked about in our recent podcast on that subject, 240 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: France did not view the people of Dahoma as quote 241 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: mature enough to govern themselves, so the people of Dahoma 242 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: were both heavily taxed by the French and highly restricted 243 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: in what they were allowed to do. Most traditional customs 244 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: and observances were banned, not just the human sacrifices, things 245 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: that would be viewed as much more innocuous were also outlawed. 246 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: French missionary schools were instituted to try to move children 247 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: away from their cultural heritage and onto a European Christian worldview. 248 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: It seemed like at this point the history and the 249 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: culture of Dahoma was likely going to disappear, especially since 250 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: the primary visual record, those Ba relief sculptures that were 251 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: on many of the palaces, had been damaged or destroyed 252 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: by fire. However, the oral traditions of songs and storytelling 253 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: were entrenched enough in the Phone people that Dahomeyan history 254 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: was kept alive through them. In Nive, the Historic Museum 255 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: of Abomy was established in the palaces, which was the 256 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: first national museum in West Africa. The Republic of Dahoma 257 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: became independent again, first as an independent French state in 258 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: ninety eight and then fully independent in nineteen sixty. The 259 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: government of Dahomey sought UNESCO's advice on how to preserve 260 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: the remaining structures and the Bob relief sculptures and Aboma 261 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy seven. UNESCO offered advice and assistance and 262 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: placed the entire compound on its list of endangered sites. 263 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty five, in the palace of King Leile 264 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: was entirely rebuilt because of damage. By then, it was 265 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: one of the last intact buildings still standing on the site. 266 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: Before the existing structure was demolished, the fifty six bo 267 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: relief sculptures that were on it were cut out of 268 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: its walls to preserve them. Most of these were badly 269 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: damaged and only fifty could be saved. The Getty Conservation 270 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: Institute visited the site in nineteen ninety one and determined 271 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: that all of the remaining BA relief sculptures on the site, 272 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: including those fifty that had been cut out of the 273 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: walls of King Lailes Palace, were critically endangered. So from 274 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: ninete to ninety seven the Republic of Benin's Ministry of 275 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: Culture worked together with the Getty Conservation Institute to conserve 276 00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: as many of the reliefs as possible. This started is 277 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 1: studying exactly what factors could cause the sculptures to deteriorate, 278 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,679 Speaker 1: preventing further damage and rebuilding the palace they had originally 279 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 1: been removed from. Local artists assisted with the project as 280 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: well and made replicas of the original bar reliefs which 281 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 1: would be installed into the rebuilt palace. The original bar 282 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: relief still exists, but they are part of museum exhibitions, 283 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: while the replicas adorned the replica palace walls. The Republic 284 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: of Nahma was renamed Benin after a new constitution was 285 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: adopted in and we're really just glossing over a ton 286 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: of instability and turbulence, a couple of other fires that 287 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: have further damaged the palaces. But very very long story, 288 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: very short. Benin is still a republic and its government 289 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 1: has become a pretty stable democracy, and conservation and repair 290 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:54,400 Speaker 1: work are still ongoing in Aboma on these palaces. We're 291 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 1: going to talk about the palaces specifically in the sculptures 292 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:01,120 Speaker 1: and why they are so culturally important. After another brief 293 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: word from a sponsor, back into a Beaumain. Once the 294 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: capital was established at a Beaumain, each king of Dahomy 295 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: built his own palace, following the same general layout, architectural style, 296 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: and building materials as the previous kings. By law, only 297 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: royalty could build structures taller than one floor, so the 298 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: palaces at Abouma were much taller than the homes that 299 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: surrounded them. This made the whole compound look imposing and powerful. 300 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: The word palace here is also kind of misleading. We 301 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: alluded to this earlier in the show. Each king's palace 302 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: was really a compound of earthen buildings with thatched roofs 303 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: that were arranged around multiple courtyards. Each courtyard and its 304 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,919 Speaker 1: buildings had specific functions and a design that was related 305 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: to governance, to religious observances, or to some other activity. 306 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: One of these was the Podoge Courtyard. We're guessing at 307 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: the pronunciation there, and that is where the king held court. 308 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: Adjacent to that courtyard were the council meeting in the 309 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: guards quarters, along with other administrative buildings. To allude to 310 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:09,399 Speaker 1: what's Holly's talking about, this is a case where we 311 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: found multiple contradictory pronunciations for everything from reputable sources not 312 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: saying random things on the Internet like there would be 313 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: a Unesco video and Miriam Webster with totally different pronunciations 314 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: of everything or no pronunciation. Another was the Agillalla Hanu Courtyard, 315 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: which was for more religious significance. The buildings around it 316 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: were for ancestral worship. They held altars. Also, formal receptions 317 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 1: would be held there. Adjacent to the Agilalla Henu Courtyard 318 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: was the Agillilla building, which was this huge reception hall 319 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: with many many doors in a bedroom on either end. 320 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: The back doors, which faced away from the courtyard, led 321 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 1: to the king's private residences. So by the time the 322 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: last palace as we're using that word today was built, 323 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: the overall royal compound at a Boma was enormous. Today 324 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,880 Speaker 1: the World Heritage Site incorporates one and ninety acres that's 325 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: roughly forty four hectares of land. When the compound was burned, 326 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 1: rather than having it fall into the hands of the French, 327 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,440 Speaker 1: many of the thatched roofs were what was completely destroyed. 328 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: So even though the earthen walls of the palaces themselves 329 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: were fire resistant and probably survived the initial fire, their 330 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: lack of roofs meant that the structures themselves were exposed 331 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: to the elements, and because this part of Africa has 332 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:34,920 Speaker 1: two rainy seasons a year the weather. The wet weather 333 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: caused the walls themselves to deteriorate. In the nineteen thirties, 334 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 1: many of the thatched roofs were replaced with corrugated tin, 335 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: which removed the overhang that had protected many of the 336 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: bar relief sculptures. So while the structures themselves were more protected. 337 00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: With this set up, the bar relief sculptures were more 338 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: vulnerable and were consequently damaged by the elements. King Agaja, 339 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,480 Speaker 1: who was the fifth king of the home A, was 340 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: the first one to adorn the walls of his palace 341 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,160 Speaker 1: with these sculptures. They were made by moistening the earth 342 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: from termite mounds and adding in fibers and other materials 343 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: to strengthen that kind of mud, and then sculpting it 344 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,400 Speaker 1: and allowing it to dry. The finished relief sculpture would 345 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: be painted with dyes and pigments that were made from 346 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,439 Speaker 1: plants and minerals. Although many other arts and crafts of 347 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: the Phone people were traditionally done by women only, men 348 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,639 Speaker 1: carved the by relief sculptures that were used in the 349 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:33,440 Speaker 1: royal palaces. Similar sculptures did also exist elsewhere in the 350 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: kingdom and in other parts of the Phone culture, but 351 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: in the palaces they became an integral part of documenting 352 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: the kingdom's history. In addition to historical events, myths, and legends, 353 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: they also depicted animals and plants native to the area, 354 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: geometric symbols, and other visual elements. The narrative sculptures are 355 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: presented as pictograms that represent battles or achievements of the king, 356 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: and their tone is overall pretty celibate sell obratory of 357 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: the Phone people and of the dynasty of the kings. 358 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,919 Speaker 1: Some of them do depict real events, while others record 359 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 1: myths and legends of the Phone people. As we alluded 360 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: to previously, by relief sculpture continues to be part of 361 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 1: artwork among the Phone people today. Today. There is actually 362 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,920 Speaker 1: a slave trade memorial at the port of Uta which 363 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,120 Speaker 1: uses bar relief sculpture to depict chained slaves being led 364 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:27,360 Speaker 1: to a boat, seemingly disappearing into the distance. It's called 365 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: the Gate of No Return and it sits at the 366 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: end of the Road of No Return and is meant 367 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: to commemorate both the slaves who left from the coast 368 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: of dahome A and their descendants who lived today. The 369 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: site at Abom, in addition to being you know, a 370 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:45,959 Speaker 1: historical site that is preserved because slavery is an enormous 371 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: thing that happened in the past that we should talk 372 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 1: about rather than ignore, it's an active cultural site for 373 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:57,119 Speaker 1: the Phone people today. King a Goalie Agbo Dajilangi, which 374 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: is h He's also known as a Goalie. Agbo the 375 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 1: third has been king since nine although another king was 376 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: a rival for the throne from two thousand until his death. 377 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: King a Goalie Agbo the third continues to carry out 378 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: rituals and ceremonies at the site. A UNESCO video shows 379 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:19,840 Speaker 1: him meeting descendants of enslaved Africans, explaining that he thinks 380 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: that both Westerners and Africans were both responsible for the 381 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: slave trade, and then apologizing for what happened. Benin formally 382 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 1: apologized for its role in the trans trans atlantic slave 383 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: trade in n President Matteu Karakoi followed his apology, which 384 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 1: was addressed to the enslaved Africans their descendants in the world, 385 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:43,879 Speaker 1: with a tour in which he and other government officials 386 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: traveled to other nations to apologize for their ancestors role 387 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: in the slave trade and to ask for forgiveness. So 388 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: I came at this subject today from kind of a 389 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: weird angle. I read a very interesting but also critically 390 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:07,719 Speaker 1: missing important details tumbler post about these palaces and how 391 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 1: cool they are and the sculptures and all this stuff, 392 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: and I was like that sounds really interesting, and it 393 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 1: did not really mention Benine or the slave trade or 394 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: anything like that. And because I was not really familiar 395 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,440 Speaker 1: with the history of the Homay, I've had no real 396 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:25,400 Speaker 1: thought that would play into it until after I got 397 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: a book and started researching it. And that's kind of way, okay, 398 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,760 Speaker 1: how did that entire post have all that stuff in 399 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: it and not this critically important detail. Uh? And so 400 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: for a while I thought about not doing this episode, 401 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,600 Speaker 1: and then when I got to the part about, uh, 402 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: the people today whose ancestors were an active part of 403 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:51,640 Speaker 1: the slave trade trying to document this and actively talk 404 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 1: about it, and then going on a world apology tour 405 00:24:56,240 --> 00:25:00,159 Speaker 1: changed my thought a little bit. Um. One of the 406 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:04,880 Speaker 1: transisee on our Facebook page when we will post podcasts 407 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: or articles or whatever about slavery is that people will 408 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: come and make this content this these comments that are like, well, 409 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 1: the people in Africa's old slaves, how come nobody ever 410 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:21,159 Speaker 1: talked about that? Right? Number one? That's like a the 411 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 1: fact that one person was selling slaves does not make 412 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,160 Speaker 1: it okay for people to have been buying the slaves. 413 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: The first thing, and the second thing is, as I 414 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: was researching this. I kept finding over and over governments 415 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,199 Speaker 1: in Africa who have like made these massive monuments to 416 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,560 Speaker 1: the slave trade and have formally apologized to the slave trade. 417 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: And there's a whole separate debate about whether government should 418 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,159 Speaker 1: apologize or not. But it seems to me that a 419 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,600 Speaker 1: lot of people do in fact talk about this, especially 420 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 1: from the African perspective. So the better question would not 421 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,240 Speaker 1: be why does nobody talk about this, but more like 422 00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:06,720 Speaker 1: why are by people now listening? Yeah, it's definitely not 423 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 1: something that comes up much in the US for sure. 424 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:14,400 Speaker 1: I can't speak to other countries about it, but yeah, 425 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 1: it's not like this is mystery information that's being with health. 426 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 1: These are pretty public and publicized tours of apology and 427 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:27,440 Speaker 1: discussion that are going on. So people are talking about it. Yeah, 428 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 1: granted a lot of them were at this point ten 429 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: or fifteen or more years ago. Uh. And I it's 430 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: still baffling to be that I've read this whole post 431 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,400 Speaker 1: on Tumbler that just managed to never mention this leave 432 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 1: for at all. Ah, But yeah, that's uh. I'm gonna 433 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:47,359 Speaker 1: link to some pictures of the Gate of No Return 434 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: monument because it's kind of stunning to look at souh. 435 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,439 Speaker 1: This has been a pretty heavy episode today, so I 436 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: have some listener mail. Is it lighter in tone? Much 437 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: lighter in tone? It is about basely nothing of consequence. 438 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:03,920 Speaker 1: It is from dance, Dan says, First, let me tell 439 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,359 Speaker 1: me tell you how much I enjoy your podcast. I 440 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,879 Speaker 1: have both an undergraduate degree and master's degree in history 441 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: and always find your show enlightening and enjoyable. When I 442 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 1: enjoy about your podcast is that you discuss things outside 443 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 1: my field of study. You give me a little bit 444 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:17,919 Speaker 1: of history in areas that I don't know much about. 445 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 1: I have to chuckle about all the people who complain 446 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: about your pronunciation of different not so easy to pronounce 447 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,880 Speaker 1: names you're talking about. It reminds me of two experiences 448 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,360 Speaker 1: humorous to me that I had while living in Italy. 449 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: I had to take a train from northern Italy to 450 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,560 Speaker 1: southern Italy, and my best practiced Italian, which wasn't that good, 451 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:37,679 Speaker 1: I asked the gentleman at the ticket counter for a 452 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 1: ticket to the small town of Pescachi. You would have 453 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:45,439 Speaker 1: thought that I was speaking absolute gibberish. His questions and 454 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 1: reply immediately exceeded my Italian skills. Only with the help 455 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,160 Speaker 1: of the person in line behind me. Could they find 456 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: my destination by searching through a book of stations? Then, 457 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: in a tone slightly filled with contempt, the man and 458 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,400 Speaker 1: the ticket office said, or something to that point, oh 459 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: you mean pest keech Chi. Boy? Did I not feel 460 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 1: so bright? Wishing I spoke better Italian? Fast forward eight 461 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,200 Speaker 1: hours when I arrived in southern Italy. Since pest Keetche 462 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,399 Speaker 1: is such a small station, I had to switch trains 463 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,679 Speaker 1: to a small train car and the front end of 464 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: the very last platform. Not wanting to take the wrong 465 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 1: train and armed with my new pronunciation, I asked the 466 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: conductor is this the train to pass Keechchi? He responded, 467 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:34,960 Speaker 1: while shaking his head to the side, No, Pescochi. All 468 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: I could do was chuckle. I couldn't win the pronunciation game. 469 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:39,880 Speaker 1: I'm going to skip the second part of his letter 470 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: because it goes into how to pronounce his surname, and 471 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: we don't usually get that deep into being able to 472 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,440 Speaker 1: identify people in our listener mail. I wanted to read 473 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: this for two reasons. When it's funny and to it 474 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:52,160 Speaker 1: reminds me of a story that I have told the 475 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: Holly before, and was going to tell on a previous 476 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: episode and then didn't do. When I was in college, 477 00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,600 Speaker 1: I had a two day comprehensive exam that I had 478 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,719 Speaker 1: to pass us to graduate, and I had a study 479 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: group of folks who mostly were also Writing Center peer 480 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: tutors with me, and we were all on a trip 481 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: to present uh a talk about Writing Center peer tutoring 482 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: at a conference, and we ran into a prior colleague 483 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:18,680 Speaker 1: of ours and her brand new PhD advisor, and we 484 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: were all kind of swapping stories about studying for this 485 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: as an exam, and we talked about our favorite literary term, 486 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: which was him Martia, and her instructor did not know 487 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:31,040 Speaker 1: what we were talking about, and we were like, oh, 488 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: you know, it's like the fatal flaw in a in 489 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: a hero of a story that causes the downfall of 490 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: the hero. And her PhD advisor went, oh, Marcia, and 491 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 1: we were all mortified because we had learned the wrong 492 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: pronunciation from our you know, bona fide PhD and English instructor. 493 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 1: Years and years and years. Almost twenty years later, I 494 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 1: was telling Holly the story and I went to the 495 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 1: dictionary to look up the word, and what was there? 496 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:10,840 Speaker 1: Ham Rtia as the pronunciation. So that is our nothing 497 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: of consequence listener mail to cap off our very heavy 498 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: episode about the spoils of the Atlantic slave trade. So 499 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:24,320 Speaker 1: thank you Dan for writing us something a little lighter 500 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: to end this episode on it. If you would like 501 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: to write to ask about history or anything else, we 502 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 1: are a history podcast at how stiff works dot com. 503 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: We're also on Facebook at facebook dot com, slash miss 504 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: and history, or Twitter at miss in history or tumbler 505 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: is missing history dot com, laer dot com. We're also 506 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 1: on pandriss at pinterest dot com slash miss in history. 507 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 1: Our spreadshirt store, miss in history dot spreadshirt dot com 508 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 1: has t shirts and phone cases and other good stuff 509 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: like that. If you would like to learn more about 510 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: what we have talked about today, you can't go to 511 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: our parent company's website, that's how stuff works dot com. 512 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: But the words human trafficking into the search bar. The 513 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,960 Speaker 1: trafficking of human beings is not something that has gone away. 514 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:05,760 Speaker 1: It still existing. To read that article to learn more 515 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,160 Speaker 1: about it. You can also come to our website, which 516 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: is missed in history dot com, where we have show 517 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 1: notes and an archive of every episode we've ever done. 518 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: I'll put in some links to two pictures of these 519 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 1: houses and of the monument to the slave trade that's 520 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,240 Speaker 1: at Weeta, And you can do all that a whole 521 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 1: lot more how stuff works dot com or missed in 522 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: History dot com for more on this and thousands of 523 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: other topics. Is it how stuff works dot com