The meaning of Ife: Greece and Rome both surpassed

The Kingdom of Ife
British Museum, London

by Emmanuel Cooper
Sunday, March 21st, 2010

Slowly, the complex cultures in Africa are being discovered, revealing sophisticated societies that could match or even surpass those of ancient Greece or Rome. Such is the case with the Kingdom of Ife, the legendary city that for years was surrounded by tales circulating throughout West Africa describing its finely made sculptures that captured the imagination of early European travellers. Excavations in West Africa (present day Nigeria) carried out in the early decades of the 20th century revealed the legend to be based on fact as a highly developed and naturalistic sculptural tradition was found, which is the subject of the exhibition The Kingdom of Ife.

Further investigations in densely forested shrines set around the city found carved stone figures, totem-like structures and modelled and fired terracotta sculptures indicating a powerful and highly developed state that flourished as a political, social, economic and trading centre from the 12th to the 15th century. The sculptures were so amazing and accomplished that the German archaeologist Leo Frobenius, who carried out much of the early research, assumed he had found the lost Greek civilisation of Atlantis, unable to believe that works of such quality could have been made in Africa.

Later, a group of brass and copper sculptures were found by workmen who were preparing the ground for a new building. The finds included a range of life-sized heads and an elaborately attired torso of the Ooni or king. Much of the information about the sculptures, incorporated in lengthy captions for each sculpture in the exhibition, has been part of the oral tradition of the area. Although now referring to events several centuries ago, the information carries a grain of truth that matches the exquisite detailing of the sculptures.

With more than 100 precisely modelled and expressive sculptures in terracotta and in metal, there is the sense of close observation and careful detailing by the artists who made them. Whether with elaborate crown or headdresses, scarification of often-intricate patterns on the face or the use of rows of beaded necklaces as a display of wealth or power, there is the sense of great skill. More sinister are heads with a mouth gag, probably indicating execution or as human sacrifice. Nor are all the figures perfect – one man is portrayed suffering from elephantiasis with giant testicles.

As a prosperous trading state, Ife was part of regional and long-distance trading routes across the Sahara to North Africa. A wide range of commodities included salt, woven textiles and carnelian beads as well as copper and brass, used to make the sculptures, were imported, while exports included gold, ivory and locally-made glass beads.

The exhibition, set in stygian gloom reminiscent of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, takes a purely conventional approach by showing the objects as art works, each with its own plinth, with little sense of where they came from or the roles they played in this society about which we know so tantalisingly little. A small shrine with a photographic background gives some sense of the dense vegetation of the area and more such presentations would help set these magnificent sculptures in context. The objects, made primarily not as works of art but as part of devotional rituals for use in shrines and ceremonies associated with kingship, suggest that a more contextual setting would heighten understanding of the achievements of the treasures of The Kingdom of Ife.

The Kingdom of Ife continues until June 6

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About The Author

Emmanuel Cooper is an arts critic for Tribune.

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  • terence patrick hewett

    The civilisations of ancient Greece and Rome were not about sculpture. Greece via Rome was foundational to our language, politics, educational systems, philosophy and science as well as the arts. But it is their ideas; transmitted by the written word, which made them such a powerful global influence. Ancient African societies had neither of these; which is why there is no comparison.

  • terence patrick hewett

    The civilisations of ancient Greece and Rome were not about sculpture. Greece via Rome was foundational to our language, politics, educational systems, philosophy and science as well as the arts. But it is their ideas; transmitted by the written word, which made them such a powerful global influence. Ancient African societies had neither of these; which is why there is no comparison.

  • terence patrick hewett

    Care must be taken with definatives when approaching ancient societies since any such nomenclatures either may not have existed or if they did exist carry very different meanings today; Arica is one such. The word Africa has a complex Semitic/Latin etymology (which says a great deal about where the power of ideas lay) and is very much open to debate. To the Latin and Pharaonic civilisations, Africa referred to their particular spheres of intellectual influence; not specifically excluding the hinterland but not paying much attention to it either. The system of Egyptian hieroglyphics is of course very ancient but it did not seem to penetrate south; nor did any southern philosophy influence the north over much. The Carthaginians spoke Punic, a variety of Phoenician and their empire was spread over both Africa and Europe (another word best avoided). The languages of Greek, Coptic and its derivative old Nubian amongst others were used but all these civilisations regarded themselves as part of the “known world” (oikoumene) of which the African hinterland was not part. History is a dangerous business.

  • terence patrick hewett

    Care must be taken with definatives when approaching ancient societies since any such nomenclatures either may not have existed or if they did exist carry very different meanings today; Arica is one such. The word Africa has a complex Semitic/Latin etymology (which says a great deal about where the power of ideas lay) and is very much open to debate. To the Latin and Pharaonic civilisations, Africa referred to their particular spheres of intellectual influence; not specifically excluding the hinterland but not paying much attention to it either. The system of Egyptian hieroglyphics is of course very ancient but it did not seem to penetrate south; nor did any southern philosophy influence the north over much. The Carthaginians spoke Punic, a variety of Phoenician and their empire was spread over both Africa and Europe (another word best avoided). The languages of Greek, Coptic and its derivative old Nubian amongst others were used but all these civilisations regarded themselves as part of the “known world” (oikoumene) of which the African hinterland was not part. History is a dangerous business.

  • Mr Bill

    Actually if you done your research, you’ll know why Ife is compared to rome and/or Greece. There societies wasn’t about sculpture either. It was everything about them that reminded Europe about Greek culture. They had everything the Greeks had except a known written language. Rome and Greek culture only survived because of tha Arab. If not we would had known nothing about Rome or Greece. FYI Rome and Greece would had no culture if it wasn’t for the phoenicians written language or Egyptian influences. All ancient Greek scolars knew that. Greek culture is important because European colonist spread it, not Greece or Rome. In fact the Romans after controlling egypt adopting kemet culture. Africa society had language, politics, educational systems, philosophy and science and this was document by Arabs and Europeans . Before you spit out your racist remarks, do the research yourself and try to prove these lies that no historian will help you with or prove.

  • Mr Bill

    Actually if you done your research, you’ll know why Ife is compared to rome and/or Greece. There societies wasn’t about sculpture either. It was everything about them that reminded Europe about Greek culture. They had everything the Greeks had except a known written language. Rome and Greek culture only survived because of tha Arab. If not we would had known nothing about Rome or Greece. FYI Rome and Greece would had no culture if it wasn’t for the phoenicians written language or Egyptian influences. All ancient Greek scolars knew that. Greek culture is important because European colonist spread it, not Greece or Rome. In fact the Romans after controlling egypt adopting kemet culture. Africa society had language, politics, educational systems, philosophy and science and this was document by Arabs and Europeans . Before you spit out your racist remarks, do the research yourself and try to prove these lies that no historian will help you with or prove.

  • terence patrick hewett

    Oh dear, some people will see race in everything. Although the Arabs did preserve some Greek manuscripts, the legacy of Greece and Rome was willed to western civilisation by Christianity and Judaism; buttressed by Roman Law it became the West’s great reforming force and the basis and structure of society itself. As I remarked previously history is a dangerous business.

  • terence patrick hewett

    Oh dear, some people will see race in everything. Although the Arabs did preserve some Greek manuscripts, the legacy of Greece and Rome was willed to western civilisation by Christianity and Judaism; buttressed by Roman Law it became the West’s great reforming force and the basis and structure of society itself. As I remarked previously history is a dangerous business.

  • terence patrick hewett

    Most of the more sophisticated communities in the African hinterland; the Kingdom of Zimbabwe for example, were at the end of long trade routes emanating from the mediterranean region, and controlled commodities such as the trade in ivory and gold. But they were precisely that; trading societies. The absence of a sophisticated written language is crucial for the development of higher level narrative. Even with complex writing systems such as Egyptian cursive hieroglyphics this is difficult, but it does not preclude disciplines such as mathematics, engineering and science. The non- pictographic consonantal alphabets such as Phoenician, Greek and Latin, descended from pictographic systems and enabled the societies centred on the mediterranean to dominate their known world and eventually the narratives of the globe itself; even in the matter of dress, the great gift to the world of the middle Celto-mediteraneran civilisations are the triubhas. The philosophical decedents of the Graeco-Roman tradition both figuratively and literally wear the trousers. It can be argued convincingly that the decline in the power of Islam after the fourth battle of Lepanto was due to the lack of a simple and universal non-pictographic alphabetical system.

    The movement to re-write a history which is solidly backed up by manuscript and archaeology has more to do with current global power politics than scholarship. When I was a student I shared a flat with a Scots mathematics postgraduate and when we got pissed he used to start to play the “Scots invented everything” game. To which I countered with the “Scots invented nothing at all” game. Neither of us would give ground so we used to go down the pub and find someone else to argue with; which is exactly where I am going now; so God bless us every one said Tiny Tim.

  • terence patrick hewett

    Most of the more sophisticated communities in the African hinterland; the Kingdom of Zimbabwe for example, were at the end of long trade routes emanating from the mediterranean region, and controlled commodities such as the trade in ivory and gold. But they were precisely that; trading societies. The absence of a sophisticated written language is crucial for the development of higher level narrative. Even with complex writing systems such as Egyptian cursive hieroglyphics this is difficult, but it does not preclude disciplines such as mathematics, engineering and science. The non- pictographic consonantal alphabets such as Phoenician, Greek and Latin, descended from pictographic systems and enabled the societies centred on the mediterranean to dominate their known world and eventually the narratives of the globe itself; even in the matter of dress, the great gift to the world of the middle Celto-mediteraneran civilisations are the triubhas. The philosophical decedents of the Graeco-Roman tradition both figuratively and literally wear the trousers. It can be argued convincingly that the decline in the power of Islam after the fourth battle of Lepanto was due to the lack of a simple and universal non-pictographic alphabetical system.

    The movement to re-write a history which is solidly backed up by manuscript and archaeology has more to do with current global power politics than scholarship. When I was a student I shared a flat with a Scots mathematics postgraduate and when we got pissed he used to start to play the “Scots invented everything” game. To which I countered with the “Scots invented nothing at all” game. Neither of us would give ground so we used to go down the pub and find someone else to argue with; which is exactly where I am going now; so God bless us every one said Tiny Tim.