Art, Loot and Empire: The Benin Bronzes 

THE LOSERS IN A WAR ALWAYS DESPISE THE VICTORS !!

@@salamjihad3449 of course, is the owner of the land supposed to love the thief.

@@idaraudoh2808 EXACTLY !!! IF THE THIEF STEALS A WHITE MAN'S BIKE IS HE SUPPOSED TO LOVE HIM?

But our people still love the white man and his ways. Is that not strange, in spite of slavery and colonialism. A kind of Stockholm Syndrom.

@@ADE-of-LAGOS NO ! NOT STRANGE AT ALL . SLAVERY AND COLONIALISM ARE THINGS THAT HAPPENED LONG AGO BY PEOPLE LONG DEAD.. MOST PEOPLE WHO LOVE OTHERS IS BECAUSE OF WHO THEY ARE INDIVIDUALLY. BUT THERE ARE STILL RACISTS OUT THERE WHO JUDGE PEOPLE BY THEIR SKIN COLOR. THATS FOR SURE .

Benin empire was greatly blessed with Education, the ibo ancient Benin empire people were reading, writing and even children were attended schools and daycare too before the European knew the alphabet. those ancient bronze artifacts stolen by the British were ancient Igbo and Yoruba artifacts stolen by the Edo Oba rising kingdoms after Benin empire had declined totally around 1500AD. Edo or Dahomey kingdom are not the original Benin empire these people are just the namesake of the great Benin empire we heard about

​@@kukurukudaydanbreak2040Clown alert 😂

and lost

@@guff9567 CONQUERED? YOU MEAN BY INFESTING ENGLAND? RAPING THEIR WOMEN? ECT ? OK YOUR RIGHT !!

BUT THESE MODERN NIGERIANS ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE OBJECTS !! THEY BELONG TO A LONG-LOST CULTURE !! THAT IS LIKE GIVING THE OLD ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ARTIFACTS TO THE MODERN EGYPTIANS !! THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM ! JUST BECAUSE THEY HAPPEN TO LIVE AT THE SAME PLACE THE ARTIFACTS WERE CREATED IS THE ONLY SIMILARITY !!

Most of these arts goes back to the 10th century.

European still on top. Enslaving other European people for not being from the "correct" dogma was enough to enslave men, women and children, once you was a slave adult or child you could be rent ed to a brothel. From Poland, Russia or even Germany and on to Circassia was common use of they weren't Catholics, for instance. And yet during the American colonies period was common use to enslave families by contract of they had debth and there was a public market were they were soldi and signed contracts. Of course this of we di not count the Roman Empire but those were not Christian times.

EVERY CULTURE OR RACE IN HISTORY JUSTIFIES THEIR CRIMES !! NOT JUST BRITISH !!

And we pretend like every other race hasn’t done far far worse. Isn’t THAT funny

I have to agree I just could not bear her constant pause fillers and droll tone. Shame as like you say she new her subject extremely well.

@@Sussex-Spaniel Yes I agree. She knows a lot and the story is fascinating but her delivery is very difficult to listen to.

i had to speed up the vid 1.5x cuz i was nodding off to sleep

@Nancy, what is the point of you commenting in this video if you had difficulties listening to her? I haven’t seen much historian who pinpoint what had happened like is!

WRONG !!

ITS HAS BEEN LIKE THAT FOREVER!! THE BRISH/WHITE MAN DIDNT INVENT IT !!

Black men covert people watches every day. You’re crying about crimes 200 years ago whilst you commit all the crimes TODAY. Incredible self awareness lol

The Edo people came into Benin with the help of Portuguese and sold the Igbo Benin into slavery

@@kukurukudaydanbreak2040 😀

@@kukurukudaydanbreak2040 Clown 🤡 🤣

There were lots of human sacrifices among the Edo people

Sir you dont know your history try reading at her majestys request by walter dean myers. Also Forbes and sir Richard Burton watering the ancestors .and slave hunts.

NO

So, the looter didn't document where these sculptors were taken? There is no need for verification, for all the sculptors are the cultural image of a kingdom and are very symbolic objects to only Bini in present-day Edo State, Nigeria.

@@nmg1909 BUT THESE MODERN NIGERIANS ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE OBJECTS !! THEY BELONG TO A LONG-LOST CULTURE !! THAT IS LIKE GIVING THE OLD ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ARTIFACTS TO THE MODERN EGYPTIANS !! THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM ! JUST BECAUSE THEY HAPPEN TO LIVE AT THE SAME PLACE THE ARTIFACTS WERE CREATED IS THE ONLY SIMILARITY !!

@@salamjihad3449 Benin was looted in 1897, that's a little over 120 years ago. That's during the time of your great grandparents. The great grandson of the Oba at the time, is alive and well, and sits on the throne of Benin. Ancient Egypt on the other hand, ended THOUSANDS of years ago.

@@uchenna127 OF COURSE!! THEY ARE NOT EVEN TO COMPARE!!

@@salamjihad3449 All your arguments are draped in ignorance. Why even bother, or is it your intention to misinform?

Indeed

Devil has changed a Saint.

DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT THESE PIECES WOULD STILL BE AROUND IF THE EUROPEANS DIDNT TAKE THEM TO THE MUSEAUMS FOR ALL TO SEE ?

@@salamjihad3449 yes, because they were around 800 years before

@@ohivonmenisunuoya THE PYRAMID TREASURES WERE AROUND 3,000 YEARS TOO BUT THEY ARE ALL GONE TOO !!! YOU MAKE NO SENSE !!

it just means the elite were killed, genius.

The Beninese economy was much more diverse in the 17th century when compared with the 19th century. The sahel to the north also faced extreme political turmoil pretty much from the 1591 Moroccan invasion until the French conquest in the 1890s. That’s a whole trade network disrupted.

@@elimartinez7704 please and study elementary west African history in order to know the difference between the Benin kingdom of present day Nigeria that is being referred to in this video and the Benin republic (a French speaking and French colonised west African country). There’s the Benin kingdom in present day Nigeria (makers of the famous Benin bronzes) and there’s the French speaking west African country called Benin 🇧🇯 republic formerly called the republic of Dahomey.

MAYBE WHEN THE AFRICAN COUNTRIES SETTLE DOWN !

OUR WEALTH??? BUT THESE MODERN NIGERIANS ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE OBJECTS !! THEY BELONG TO A LONG-LOST CULTURE !! THAT IS LIKE GIVING THE OLD ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ARTIFACTS TO THE MODERN EGYPTIANS !! THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM ! JUST BECAUSE THEY HAPPEN TO LIVE AT THE SAME PLACE THE ARTIFACTS WERE CREATED IS THE ONLY SIMILARITY !!

Benin was wealthy because it made itself so through trade and quality artisanal products that were coveted around the world. Slaves had always been a part of this trade, but it did not start to eclipse other trade goods and industries until the 17th century. Understand that the dramatic expansion of slavery in the Americas had negative impacts for both European and African existing governments and institutions The landed nobility of Europe were usually not the ones who benefitted from slavery. The emergence of capitalism in Europe coincides with colonialism. As slavery grew, the power of the nobility waned and centralized authority could be established since the monarchs took all the tax revenue from slavery and its products for themselves. A similar thing happened in Africa. The previously decentralized and autonomous nations became more centralized (as a general trend) as the rulers took in more and more revenue from the slave trade. Eventually in Europe, this backfired and the new non-noble middle class (the bourgeoisie) began to exert more and more power, and this scared the central government of Britain, so much so that they decided that the institution of slavery needed to be abolished and the power of their viceroys and trading companies needed to be broken and absorbed by the crown. In the 19th century the British government took direct control of most of their colonies and starting bullying countries to get rid of slavery. This also coincided with a growing SOCIAL abolition movement in BOTH Europe and Africa (but we never talk about African abolitionists because we always wanna give Europeans the credit) This also coincided with a surplus in agricultural production in Britain, which meant this: the British government could undermine their viceroys and trading companies and centralize their own power while simultaneously taking advantage of surplus food production in their homeland to force peasant farmers off their land and into the cities, where they would be a source of incredibly cheap (but technically and legally not slavery) labor for factories. Instead of having slave colonies that threaten central authority they would just invade counties and set up a “capitalist” system of extraction of natural resources. But wait! The rest of the world is not living in this horrible way! What do we do? Well easy! Just blow it all up so your people never find out about these other civilizations and think to themselves “hmm my life sucks but it’s the best we got”

@@elimartinez7704I don’t know who told you those lies but listen and listen good, the Edo People NEVER engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. They were traders and did business with the Portuguese long before the British and rest of the world got to know about them. Benin Empire (Edo tribe/people) of Nigeria 🇳🇬 have NOTHING to do with the Republic of Benin 🇧🇯 (country) formerly known as the kingdom of Dahomey who were trans Atlantic slave traders (its public information) well documented and you can look it up. We do not share any ethnicity with the people of Beni 🇧🇯 (Dahomey), we are a completely different people found in Edo State, Nigeria 🇳🇬.

@@elimartinez7704​​⁠I don’t know who told you those lies but listen and listen good, the Edo People NEVER engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. They were traders and did business with the Portuguese long before the British and rest of the world got to know about them. Benin Empire (Edo tribe/people) of Nigeria 🇳🇬 have NOTHING to do with the Republic of Benin 🇧🇯 (country) formerly known as the kingdom of Dahomey who were trans Atlantic slave traders (its public information) well documented and you can look it up. We do not share any ethnicity with the people of Beni 🇧🇯 (Dahomey), we are a completely different people found in Edo State, Nigeria 🇳🇬.

@@elimartinez7704​​⁠​​⁠I don’t know who told you those lies but listen and listen good, the Edo People NEVER engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. They were traders and did business with the Portuguese long before the British and rest of the world got to know about them. Benin Empire (Edo tribe/people) of Nigeria 🇳🇬 have NOTHING to do with the Republic of Benin 🇧🇯 (country) formerly known as the kingdom of Dahomey who were trans Atlantic slave traders (its public information) well documented and you can look it up. We do not share any ethnicity with the people of Beni 🇧🇯 (Dahomey), we are a completely different people found in Edo State, Nigeria 🇳🇬.

WHY WOULD THEY BE MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE THAN THE SCIENTIST?

BUT THESE MODERN NIGERIANS ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE OBJECTS !! THEY BELONG TO A LONG-LOST CULTURE !! THAT IS LIKE GIVING THE OLD ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ARTIFACTS TO THE MODERN EGYPTIANS !! THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM ! JUST BECAUSE THEY HAPPEN TO LIVE AT THE SAME PLACE THE ARTIFACTS WERE CREATED IS THE ONLY SIMILARITY !!

A bit presumptuous to assume just because a historian is white they don't know about a certain culture or time period, you wouldn't make the same assumption of someone of Asian or African descent speaking about Western history. A historian is a historian.

@@taumctauface1886 THEY ARE RACIST !!!

Scientists on stolen art work which does not belong to the country

Portuguese were there before them and didn't loot all these artifacts.

ALL SOLDIERS ARE SAVAGES !!

WTF? HOW ? YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE SACRED SPIRITUALITY !! LOL

BUT THESE MODERN NIGERIANS ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE OBJECTS !! THEY BELONG TO A LONG-LOST CULTURE !! THAT IS LIKE GIVING THE OLD ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ARTIFACTS TO THE MODERN EGYPTIANS !! THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM ! JUST BECAUSE THEY HAPPEN TO LIVE AT THE SAME PLACE THE ARTIFACTS WERE CREATED IS THE ONLY SIMILARITY !!

@@salamjihad3449 The Benin empire is closer to modern Nigerians than the Egyptian Dynasties are to modern Egyptians

@@davyroger3773 I GUESS SO !! THE EGYPTIAN EMPIRE WAS 5000 YEARS AGO. BUT THE BENIN EMPIRE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MODERN BENIN EITHER. TOTALLY DIFFERENT RACE OF PEOPLE !! SAME WITH MODERN EGYPTIANS.

@@salamjihad3449 u need a knock

The force that marched on Benin (after a previous force of 250 had been massacred) was 200 white officers and NCOs, 1000 black soldiers and about 2,000 black porters, the kingdom of Benin's population was in the hundreds of thousands, all of the kingdoms of modern day Nigeria totalled over 10 million - if the British were cowardly, sneaky, evil thieves how did they win against such a vast, powerful advanced people? The locals may not have had the most modern weapons but had been trading for guns for over 300 years by then, they are acclaimed metal smiths but not learnt to make their own in 300 years? they had bowmen, if only 20% of the Benin males had fought the births they would have been 20,000+, if 20% of all the Nigerian kingdoms had fought it would have been over 1 million. In 1920 report on West Africa Nigeria's population was 16.5 million, the British population was 3,000. The West African Frontier Force was over 100,000 with everyone bar the officers and senior NCOs being locals - now have a think and see if you can work out how so few British kept control over such a vast area with so many people then you will see who stole most things either on a Brits behalf or to sell to a a Brit, I say mot as there was obviously some stolen direly by Brits but they didn't carry the large heavy stuff off themselves, they paid bribes and wages to lots of non Brits who helped and did the lifting and carrying. As to your "once a thief, always a thief " I take it you accept it also applies to the Kingdom of Benin for all the people they stole or traded from others who stole them and sold to the Europeans as slaves over 350 years, an estimated 2 million people. "Once a slaver thief, always a slaver thief" 😉

Human sacrifice was universal. Name a country where it didn't take place? In fact, I'm pretty sure it still happens right now, within those secret societies, scattered all over the Western World.

Same with the greek and roman sacrifices.

This video is about Benin bronzes tho so it makes sense they wouldn’t delve into the subject matter. It’s a fairly short video and that would clearly need more time dedicated to it. It doesn’t appear to be “glossed over” meaningfully and surprisingly mentioned at all was my first thought.

u are such a vile thing

The same thing happened in the UK and the entire Europe. The same happened in the Bible, Greek, and Roman empires. You are silly and ignorant to try to insert you useless bias here.

Who were they selling the slaves to Mr man , or didn't hear the woman explaination that britian industries almost came to a halt because trade of oil and rubber was controlled by the oba? When you have closed heart you will not hear an explanation given to you, came hear to type rubbish just to distract people from the subject Why is it that almost all the southern kings like Oba ovoranmen , king jaja of okpobo and nana ishekiri was dealt with because of their resources. You think the British are saints because you are one.

My dear, what you don't understand is that ,those people whom where to pass the knowledge to us where killed and their children where taking to Europe, we where left with nothing.

Benin city has an airport, main highways & doesn't have a seaport since its not located on the coast. Sir you are a idiot

You obviously have not been to Benin City to type this crap; your ignorance is pathetic The city lay out of centuries ago was built on in modern times eg Central Benin with the Oba's Palace at the centre of the city,, Ring Road with outlying roads leading off it in a well organised manner Benin city today is a modern, developed city with a thriving economy, arts and culture still practised like the days of the ancestors

U and ur generations will wallow in pain and poverty for typing this rubbish..

You are quite ignorant. Benin city is in NIGERIA which has bullet electric trains, high rises, rich with oil and a booming tech hub. You must live under a rock🙄

After using all their resources to build your kingdom and then amalgamate different languages and people to form a country, thereby, making them underdeveloped. The European is the problem Africa isn't developed. All the problem in Africa is tribal.

@@nmg1909 And that is where the divide and rule tactics starts from: tribal differences.

@@nmg1909 AFRICA ISNT DEVELOPED BECAUSE OF WAS !! LOSING WARS !!

@@nmg1909 LOL ARE CRAZY?

@@nmg1909 ITS ALL OTHER PEOPLE's FAULT !! LOL

They are for humankind, but belong in Africa, where they were stolen from in an act of destruction.

Do you hear yourself even speak????????

The bronzes belong in Nigeria because that is where they come from. People of every nation should be able to be able to have their own history around them. Not to mention the economic gains that Nigeria has lost out on from tourism etc. Even as these bronzes are slowly restituted to their home country, there is no way to pay back the decades they have missed out on these incredible pieces of history. And you know what? Nigerians are just as capable of looking after artifacts as any American or European.

Camoens DE CEVANTES. For your information, Boko Haram operates in the northern part of Nigeria and not in the south where Benin exists today and where the artifacts will be kept. Please get get your facts right before commenting.

@@ajibolaobe2780 My friend, actually who is wrong is you. It is a fact that people who inhabit Nigeria absolutely has nothing to do with the people who created the culture of Benin's bronzes. Therefore, they are not heirs of these magnificent sculptures, which would be protected in the museums of Europe.

Huh? I just can’t with this opinion

Benin bronzes have been in existence for 800 years before the looting.

Imagine exhibiting your foolery publicly. Did you know many of these artifacts were looted in the palace of a king? Will Queen Elizabeth allow all the cultural artifacts in the kingdom to be destroyed? You probably may not have a culture like Africa though.

EVERY ONE GETS TO SEE THEM NOW !!

WE CAN ALL GO AND SEE THEM IN THE MUSEUM !!

No you are wrong, same people. Don't say what you don't know.

@@okititi9829 HOW ARE THEY THE SAME PEOPLE? THEY ONLY LOOK SIMILAR !! NOTHING ELSE IS THE SAME .

@@salamjihad3449 Look, I am Nigerian, you won't lecture me on my culture, especially one u have no idea about. I believe u did not watch the documentary and u do have some inherent biases u need to work on. What long lost culture are u talking about, the descesdants of the artisans that created these bronzes are still alive today, with some still practicing their profession till date. The bronze was gotten through trade with the portuguese, the first europeans to make contact and trade with this part of west-africa. Some of the bronze works depict this contact between the two parties. Apart from serving as a system of documenting events, the bronzes were a symbol of prestige and power that adorned the palace of the Oba. Don't forget they were made by melting down the bronze manila (money/currency) gotten through trade with the portuguese.

@@okititi9829 THEY COPIED THEM FROM THE GREEKS!

@@okititi9829 TOTALLY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.