Post by anansi on Sept 28, 2024 11:25:11 GMT -5
The Street lights of Benin city, what inspired this thread, I heard something to the effect that Benin was among the first nations to used street lights, I was a bit surprised that street lights were relatively recent in European history post Roman era I should add, appearing in early modern times, but in Benin city street lighting were already common.
Benin City was also one of the first cities to have a semblance of street lighting. Huge metal lamps, many feet high, were built and placed around the city, especially near the king’s palace. Fuelled by palm oil, their burning wicks were lit at night to provide illumination for traffic to and from the palace.
When the Portuguese first “discovered” the city in 1485, they were stunned to find this vast kingdom made of hundreds of interlocked cities and villages in the middle of the African jungle. They called it the “Great City of Benin”, at a time when there were hardly any other places in Africa the Europeans acknowledged as a city. Indeed, they classified Benin City as one of the most beautiful and best planned cities in the world.
In 1691, the Portuguese ship captain Lourenco Pinto observed:
“Great Benin, where the king resides, is larger than Lisbon; all the streets run straight and as far as the eye can see. The houses are large, especially that of the king, which is richly decorated and has fine columns. The city is wealthy and industrious. It is so well governed that theft is unknown and the people live in such security that they have no doors to their houses.”
In contrast, London at the same time is described by Bruce Holsinger, professor of English at the University of Virginia, as being a city of “thievery, prostitution, murder, bribery and a thriving black market made the medieval city ripe for exploitation by those with a skill for the quick blade or picking a pocket”.
www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/18/story-of-cities-5-benin-city-edo-nigeria-mighty-medieval-capital-lost-without-trace#%3A~%3Atext%3DBenin%20City%20was%20also%20one%2Cto%20and%20from%20the%20palace.
FIG. 126. A Benin Hand-Lamp. Every arm has a different design (see Fig. 122) and is about half and inch or 12 mm. wide; two of the arms are cracked and have been rivetted together by means of pieces of brass plate (a) and copper rivets (b). The diameter of the pan is about 15 inches (38 centimetres). It will be observed that the two hawkbells depending above the mannikins are of different pattern from those handing on the snuffer fig. 127, the ornamentation being zigzag on one of the two and arched on the other.
I have elsewhere pointed out that one of the dominant features of Benin art is its variety. “All the gentry had these lamps. Palm oil was put in the pan, and a piece of raw cotton wool placed on the edge of the pan served as a wick; a small flat piece of iron was placed on the top of the wick to prevent the oil all taking fire at once. Fig, 127 shows the implement used for snuffing and picking up the cotton wool. The open compounds at night, full of people and lit up with these lamps, were very striking” (C, Punch)
"The king's court is square and located on the right-hand side of the city, as one enters it through the gate of Gotton. It is about the same size as the city of Haarlem and entirely surrounded by a special wall, comparable to the one which encircles the town. It is divided into many magnificent palaces, houses and apartments of the courtiers, and comprises beautiful and long squares with galleries, about as large as the Exchange at Amsterdam.
The buildings are of different sizes however, resting on wooden pillars, from top to bottom lined with copper casts, on which pictures of their war exploits and battles are engraved. All of them are being very well maintained. Most of the buildings within this court are covered with palm leaves, instead of with square planks, and every roof is adorned with a small spired tower, on which casted copper birds are standing, being very artfully sculpted and lifelike with their wings spread."
"The city, together with the court of the queens, is five to six miles in circumference, or, excluding this court, 3 miles within her gates."
The text then speaks of the walls of the walled administrative city, Benin City, as rising
"to the height of ten Feet, double Pallasado'd with great and thick Trees, with Spars of five or six Foot, laid Crossways, fasten'd together, and Plaister'd over with Red Clay, so that the whole is cemented into one intirely; but this surrounds hardly one side; the other side having onely a great Trench, or Ditch, and Hedge of Brambles, unpassable, with little less difficulty than a Wall, and con∣sequently a good Defence.
An illustration of the ancient moat system in Benin City
The Gates, * being eight or nine Foot high, and five broad, and made of one whole Piece of Wood, hang, or rather turns on a Pin, in the middle, being the fashion of that Countrey.
The King's Palace is Quadrangular, * standing on the right hand of the City, as you enter at the Gate from Gotton,of no less compass than it, and in like manner surrounded; sub-divided into several stately Courts, Houses, and Apartements in the Countries; containing within fair and long Galleries, one larger than the other, but all supported on Pillars of Wood, cover'd from the top to the bottom with melted Copper, whereon are Ingraven their War∣like Deeds and Battels, and are kept with exceeding Curiosity. Most of the Roofs of this Palace are cover'd with Palm Canes, and every corner adorn'd with a Turret, rising high with a Spire, on whose tops, as we do here, place ..."
and,"The city has thirty very straight and very wide streets, each about one hundred and twenty feet wide, or as wide as the Heere of Keizersgracht, here in Amsterdam, with houses from one side to the other, where many wide side roads, still somewhat less wide, lead into the houses are built along it in good order, close to each other, like in our country, decorated with facades and sidewalks, and roofs of palm leaves, or the leaves of banana trees, or other foliage, are not higher than one stadium, but usually large, with long galleries on the inside, especially the houses of the nobles, and divided into many rooms, which are separated by walls of red clay earth, very decently made; which they manage to make so smooth and plain, and shine like a mirror, by washing and rubbing it, maintaining it as any wall in Holland, made from chalk. From the same earth are made the upper floors. In addition to that, each house is provisioned with a well: in short, the houses there are built like no other of that region." (from the 1670 John Ogilby translation from the Dutch into (Elizabethan) English. So successful was this translation and given its different title of "Africa" was for centuries wrongly attributed to the Englishman)
Architecture of Unforgetting
ARTICLE 3 EVERY DAY THINGS AND THE OBJECTS OF LIVING: Hand lamps in the city … “The open compounds at night, full of people and lit up with...
stolenbeninbronzes.blogspot.com/2021/12/3-every-day-things-and-objects-of.html
Lamps taken from Benin City during the invasion by British forces in 1897. British Museum.
Benin City was also one of the first cities to have a semblance of street lighting. Huge metal lamps, many feet high, were built and placed around the city, especially near the king’s palace. Fuelled by palm oil, their burning wicks were lit at night to provide illumination for traffic to and from the palace.
Story of cities #5: Benin City, the mighty medieval capital now lost without trace. Guardian.
Ụkpụrụ̄
Lamps taken from Benin City during the invasion by British forces in 1897. British Museum. Benin City was also one of the first cities to have a semblance of street lighting. Huge metal lamps, many...
ukpuru.tumblr.com/post/174637248022/lamps-taken-from-benin-city-during-the-invasion-by
An illustration of the ancient moat system in Benin City
stolenbeninbronzes.blogspot.com/2021/12/3-every-day-things-and-objects-of.html
Lamps taken from Benin City during the invasion by British forces in 1897. British Museum.
Benin City was also one of the first cities to have a semblance of street lighting. Huge metal lamps, many feet high, were built and placed around the city, especially near the king’s palace. Fuelled by palm oil, their burning wicks were lit at night to provide illumination for traffic to and from the palace.
Story of cities #5: Benin City, the mighty medieval capital now lost without trace. Guardian
ukpuru.tumblr.com/post/174637248022/lamps-taken-from-benin-city-during-the-invasion-by
Benin City was also one of the first cities to have a semblance of street lighting. Huge metal lamps, many feet high, were built and placed around the city, especially near the king’s palace. Fuelled by palm oil, their burning wicks were lit at night to provide illumination for traffic to and from the palace.
When the Portuguese first “discovered” the city in 1485, they were stunned to find this vast kingdom made of hundreds of interlocked cities and villages in the middle of the African jungle. They called it the “Great City of Benin”, at a time when there were hardly any other places in Africa the Europeans acknowledged as a city. Indeed, they classified Benin City as one of the most beautiful and best planned cities in the world.
In 1691, the Portuguese ship captain Lourenco Pinto observed:
“Great Benin, where the king resides, is larger than Lisbon; all the streets run straight and as far as the eye can see. The houses are large, especially that of the king, which is richly decorated and has fine columns. The city is wealthy and industrious. It is so well governed that theft is unknown and the people live in such security that they have no doors to their houses.”
In contrast, London at the same time is described by Bruce Holsinger, professor of English at the University of Virginia, as being a city of “thievery, prostitution, murder, bribery and a thriving black market made the medieval city ripe for exploitation by those with a skill for the quick blade or picking a pocket”.
www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/18/story-of-cities-5-benin-city-edo-nigeria-mighty-medieval-capital-lost-without-trace#%3A~%3Atext%3DBenin%20City%20was%20also%20one%2Cto%20and%20from%20the%20palace.
FIG. 126. A Benin Hand-Lamp. Every arm has a different design (see Fig. 122) and is about half and inch or 12 mm. wide; two of the arms are cracked and have been rivetted together by means of pieces of brass plate (a) and copper rivets (b). The diameter of the pan is about 15 inches (38 centimetres). It will be observed that the two hawkbells depending above the mannikins are of different pattern from those handing on the snuffer fig. 127, the ornamentation being zigzag on one of the two and arched on the other.
I have elsewhere pointed out that one of the dominant features of Benin art is its variety. “All the gentry had these lamps. Palm oil was put in the pan, and a piece of raw cotton wool placed on the edge of the pan served as a wick; a small flat piece of iron was placed on the top of the wick to prevent the oil all taking fire at once. Fig, 127 shows the implement used for snuffing and picking up the cotton wool. The open compounds at night, full of people and lit up with these lamps, were very striking” (C, Punch)
"The king's court is square and located on the right-hand side of the city, as one enters it through the gate of Gotton. It is about the same size as the city of Haarlem and entirely surrounded by a special wall, comparable to the one which encircles the town. It is divided into many magnificent palaces, houses and apartments of the courtiers, and comprises beautiful and long squares with galleries, about as large as the Exchange at Amsterdam.
The buildings are of different sizes however, resting on wooden pillars, from top to bottom lined with copper casts, on which pictures of their war exploits and battles are engraved. All of them are being very well maintained. Most of the buildings within this court are covered with palm leaves, instead of with square planks, and every roof is adorned with a small spired tower, on which casted copper birds are standing, being very artfully sculpted and lifelike with their wings spread."
"The city, together with the court of the queens, is five to six miles in circumference, or, excluding this court, 3 miles within her gates."
The text then speaks of the walls of the walled administrative city, Benin City, as rising
"to the height of ten Feet, double Pallasado'd with great and thick Trees, with Spars of five or six Foot, laid Crossways, fasten'd together, and Plaister'd over with Red Clay, so that the whole is cemented into one intirely; but this surrounds hardly one side; the other side having onely a great Trench, or Ditch, and Hedge of Brambles, unpassable, with little less difficulty than a Wall, and con∣sequently a good Defence.
An illustration of the ancient moat system in Benin City
The Gates, * being eight or nine Foot high, and five broad, and made of one whole Piece of Wood, hang, or rather turns on a Pin, in the middle, being the fashion of that Countrey.
The King's Palace is Quadrangular, * standing on the right hand of the City, as you enter at the Gate from Gotton,of no less compass than it, and in like manner surrounded; sub-divided into several stately Courts, Houses, and Apartements in the Countries; containing within fair and long Galleries, one larger than the other, but all supported on Pillars of Wood, cover'd from the top to the bottom with melted Copper, whereon are Ingraven their War∣like Deeds and Battels, and are kept with exceeding Curiosity. Most of the Roofs of this Palace are cover'd with Palm Canes, and every corner adorn'd with a Turret, rising high with a Spire, on whose tops, as we do here, place ..."
and,"The city has thirty very straight and very wide streets, each about one hundred and twenty feet wide, or as wide as the Heere of Keizersgracht, here in Amsterdam, with houses from one side to the other, where many wide side roads, still somewhat less wide, lead into the houses are built along it in good order, close to each other, like in our country, decorated with facades and sidewalks, and roofs of palm leaves, or the leaves of banana trees, or other foliage, are not higher than one stadium, but usually large, with long galleries on the inside, especially the houses of the nobles, and divided into many rooms, which are separated by walls of red clay earth, very decently made; which they manage to make so smooth and plain, and shine like a mirror, by washing and rubbing it, maintaining it as any wall in Holland, made from chalk. From the same earth are made the upper floors. In addition to that, each house is provisioned with a well: in short, the houses there are built like no other of that region." (from the 1670 John Ogilby translation from the Dutch into (Elizabethan) English. So successful was this translation and given its different title of "Africa" was for centuries wrongly attributed to the Englishman)
Architecture of Unforgetting
ARTICLE 3 EVERY DAY THINGS AND THE OBJECTS OF LIVING: Hand lamps in the city … “The open compounds at night, full of people and lit up with...
stolenbeninbronzes.blogspot.com/2021/12/3-every-day-things-and-objects-of.html
Lamps taken from Benin City during the invasion by British forces in 1897. British Museum.
Benin City was also one of the first cities to have a semblance of street lighting. Huge metal lamps, many feet high, were built and placed around the city, especially near the king’s palace. Fuelled by palm oil, their burning wicks were lit at night to provide illumination for traffic to and from the palace.
Story of cities #5: Benin City, the mighty medieval capital now lost without trace. Guardian.
Ụkpụrụ̄
Lamps taken from Benin City during the invasion by British forces in 1897. British Museum. Benin City was also one of the first cities to have a semblance of street lighting. Huge metal lamps, many...
ukpuru.tumblr.com/post/174637248022/lamps-taken-from-benin-city-during-the-invasion-by
An illustration of the ancient moat system in Benin City
stolenbeninbronzes.blogspot.com/2021/12/3-every-day-things-and-objects-of.html
Lamps taken from Benin City during the invasion by British forces in 1897. British Museum.
Benin City was also one of the first cities to have a semblance of street lighting. Huge metal lamps, many feet high, were built and placed around the city, especially near the king’s palace. Fuelled by palm oil, their burning wicks were lit at night to provide illumination for traffic to and from the palace.
Story of cities #5: Benin City, the mighty medieval capital now lost without trace. Guardian
ukpuru.tumblr.com/post/174637248022/lamps-taken-from-benin-city-during-the-invasion-by
