Art and Architecture Of Africans.

Igodomigodo City Ramparts and Moats

Ogiso ("Rulers of the Sky") , who may have numbered as many as thirty-one kings, ruling the kingdom of Benin between 900 - 1170 AD, which is the earliest period so far accounted for in Benin history (Plankensteine 2007).

The first ruler, according to Benin traditions, was Igodo, a prominent elder in his community (Odionwere) who exercised authority over all other elders (Edionwere). Igodo is said to have ruled all the various small communities which collectively formed the kingdom known as 'Igodomigodo', meaning 'land of Igodo' or 'town of towns'. The most prominent among the known Ogiso rulers are Igodo, Ere, Orire, Oriagba and Owodo. The kingdom began as a union of juxtaposed clusters of independent communities, each surrounded by a moat (Egharevba 1968).

Fortification of Benin City

The defensive fortification of Benin City, the capital, consisted of ramparts and moats, call iya, enclosing a 4000 square kilometer (2485.5 miles) of community lands. In total, the Benin wall system encompasses over 10,000 kilometres (6213.7 miles) of earth boundaries. Patrick Darling, an archaeologist, estimates that the complex was built between 800 and 1000 up to the late fifteenth century (Keys 1994: 16). Advantageously situated, the moats were duged in such a manner that earthen banks provided outer walls that complemented deep ditches. According to Graham Connah, the ditch formed an integral part of the intended barrier but was also a quarry for the material to construct the wall or bank (Keys 1994: 594). The ramparts range in size from shallow traces to the immense 20-meter-high rampart (66 feet) around Benin City (Wesler 1998: 144). The Guinness Book of World Records describes the walls of Benin City as the world's second largest man-made structure after China's Great Wall), in terms of length, and the series of earthen ramparts as the most extensive earthwork in the world.
wysinger.homestead.com/ogiso.html


House of a Chief


The Palace of King Gbehanzin






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Thanks Jeri will give it a shot..


Ghezo's Palace

Benin Royal wives traditional wear



The famous Amazons

The Kongo

Many African societies see masks as mediators between the living world and the supernatural world of the dead, ancestors and other entities. Masks became and still become the attribute of a dressed up dancer who gave it life and word at the time of ceremonies.
In producing a mask, a sculptor's aim is to depict a person's psychological and moral characteristics, rather than provide a portrait.
The sculptor begins by cutting a piece of wood and leaving it to dry in the sun; if it cracks, it cannot be used for a mask. African sculptors see wood as a complex living material and believe each piece can add its own feature to their work. Having made certain the wood is suitable, the sculptor begins, using an azde to carve the main features, a chisel to work on details and a rough leaf to sand the piece.
He then paints the mask with pigments such as charcoal (to give a black colour), powders made from vegetable matter or trees (for ochre/earth tones) or mineral powders like clay (to give a white colour).
African peoples often symbolize death by the colour white rather than black; at the same time, many African cultures see white as the colour that links them to their ancestors, and it can therefore have a positive meaning.

No different from ancient Kemet.^

The Woyo live in the area dominated for centuries by the powerful Kongo Kingdom. Despite this, they have managed to maintain their identity, as well as produce a small but distinctive body of art. Like their Kongo neighbors, there are some large magical figures produced, though these are either rare or misidentified. The most well-known of Woyo arts are the beautiful initiation masks, with their colorfully-painted faces diagonal lines extending downward from expressive eyes. Compared to other masks from the Congo they are rare, but the best of them are debatably the most beautiful of all African masks. The sublime combination of color and solemnity leaves a lasting impression on the viewer. In addition to the famous masks, the Woyo produce decorative pot lids, an art-form unique to the Woyo. Though poorly understood, they are exchanged between husband and wife, as a means of secret communication, a vow of faithfulness perhaps. There are utilitarian objects produced, but these are difficult to distinguish from those of their neighbors the Kongo and Yombe.

History: In the 15th century, Queen Nwe led her people, who were to become the Woyo, away from the Congo cataracts, and the confusing and stressful mix of BaKongo groups, into the area in which they currently live. This first "dynasty" was later conquered by the neighboring king of the KiKongo, only to be reborn under the king's sister as the second dynasty, which re-established the Woyo as a distinct people. The Woyo tried to expand their territory northward in the 17th century, only to be pushed back by the Solongo. In the 18th century, the slave trade, disease, and drought gradually diminished their power, leading to an inevitable dissolution of the "monarchy," in favor of a more egalitarian society.
www.africadirect.com/other/peoples/peoples.php?people=Woyo

Such knives can be find among many other peoples surrounding the Ngbaka. Among these peoples lineage heads, leaders in the hunt and religious specialists possessed variant types of throwing knives to not only indicate office but in the past these knives have served as weapons.



www.africadirect.com/products.php?category=5&subcategory=85





All the above is from the Kuba people Kongo



The Kuba Kingdom

Nestled in the fertile forest and savanna bordered by the Sankuru, Lulua, and Kasai rivers, the Kuba kingdom was a conglomerate of several smaller principalities of various ethnic origins. Sometime around 1625, an outsider unseated a rival ruler and unified the area's chiefdoms under his leadership. This man was Shyaam a-Mbul a Ngoong-Shyaam "the Great." Kuba oral histories reveal that he was the adopted son of a local queen who left his home to travel to the Pende and Kongo kingdoms in the west. Empowered by mystical knowledge of foreign customs and technologies, Shyaam became the architect of Kuba political, social, and economic life. Advanced techniques of iron production and crops from the Americas such as maize (corn), tobacco, cassava (manioc), and beans were introduced. The government was reorganized around a merit-based title system that dispersed power and promoted loyalty among the

The Kongo kingdom, an immensely powerful state spanning parts of present-day Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and the Congo Republic, adopted Christianity as its state religion in the fifteenth century. By the end of the seventeenth century, the kingdom had largely disintegrated in the face of devastating social and political upheavals. The resulting chaos bred a number of popular movements that looked to Christianity for a spiritual solution to the kingdom's problems.

One of these movements, called Antonianism, was launched in 1704 by a Kongo visionary called Dona Beatriz, or Kimpa Vita. Dona Beatriz advocated a more thorough Africanization of the Catholic church and claimed that through direct contact with heaven she had observed the Holy Family to be Kongo. Ultimately found guilty of heresy by both the local nobility and the church, Dona Beatriz was burned at the stake.

The primary emblem of this movement was Saint Anthony of Padua, a saint associated with the protection of children and mothers and conceived as the source of Kongo salvation. Known as Toni Malau, or "Anthony of Good Fortune," his image appeared on religious insignia kept by his followers for protection against ill health and other problems. This small pendant, cast from brass, depicts Saint Anthony with tonsured head wearing a monk's habit and knotted rope belt. He carries a cross in his right hand while in his left he supports an open book, upon which the Christ Child stands clutching a goldfinch foreshadowing the Crucifixion.

www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kuba/hd_kuba.htm




This 1786 engraving gives an exact description of their clothing . . . their loincloth is made from 'macout' a local term meaning fabric made from straw. With the advent of trade with Europeans, the loincloth came to be made of various fabrics, including linen, cotton, silk, or even velvet. They are excessively decorated with red coral, the ultimate luxury . . . Rich people wear a long silver chain that fits low around their waist. But out of their apparel, the most important is a fur pelt with groups of small bells that they wear near their 'natural parts'; it is what they call their 'canda'. This means skin. This part of their clothing is their seal of honor" (pp. 70-72; our translation).
wysinger.homestead.com/loango.html

The Swahili

Kilwa History
The earliest substantial occupation at Kilwa Kisiwani dates to AD 800, and the city became a major trade center from the 1100s to the early 1500s. The site was important during the Shirazi dynasty of the 11th and 12th centuries AD, and under the rule of Ali al-Hasan, a Great Mosque was built, and trade connections to southern Africa and the near and far east were established. Kilwa Kisiwani was one of the principal ports of trade on the Indian Ocean, trading gold, ivory, iron and coconuts from southern Africa, including the Mwene Mutabe south of the Zambezi River, for cloth and jewelry from India, and porcelain from China. The first gold coins struck south of the Sahara after the decline at Aksum were minted at Kilwa Kisiwani, presumably for facilitating international trade. One of them was found at the Mwene Mutabe site of Great Zimbabwe.
Kilwa and Ibn Battuta
The famous Moroccan trader Ibn Battuta visited Kilwa in 1331 during the Mahdali dynasty, when he stayed at the court of al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman Abu'l-Mawahib [ruled 1310-1333]. It was during this period that the major architectural constructions were made, including elaborations of the Great Mosque and the construction of the market complexes of Husuni Kubwa and Husuni Ndogo.


Gedi ruins: The ruins are the remains of a town located in Gede, a village near the coastal town of Malindi in Kenya. It is suggested that between the 13th and 14th to 17th centuries, Gedi was a thriving community along coastal Kenya. Although no written record exists of this town, excavations made between 1948 and 1958 have revealed that the inhabitants of Gedi traded with people from all over the world. “The artifacts that were found in the ruins, such as Chinese porcelain and Venetian glass, indicate that Gedi was a wealthy city that traded with Portugal, Italy, China, India and the Arab world” (Mombasa Kenya coast: Gedi ruins, http://www.articlebase.com). The ruins have a mosque, a palace, and large stone houses. The city’s streets were laid out at right angles and had drainage gutters. It is assumed that the village was abandoned in early 16th century. The ruins were declared a Historical monument in 1948.


Lamu





Kilwa Ruins , Husuni Kubwa , 14th century Sultans palace , Kilwa Kisiwani

Gerezani fort in Kilwa Kisiwani,Tanzania


Swahili script

The real Sinbad probably sailed on one of these and probably came from here.

Thanks Arara Sabalu
I replace the name Benin city with the original name Igodomigodo
And yes it is very easy to confuse or lump the two together after all everyone in mass media does.

There are indeed layers of people to peel back The Aja Gezo's people, the Fon (Dahomeans) the the Yoruba who produced the obas, all covering or dominating the same area ,please feel free to to add, correct and expend the thread..