Head of a Queen Mother, Cast brass, Benin, Nigeria, 16th century. A special altar for Queen Mother was maintained within the royal city. Queen Idia, mother of Oba Esigie, king of Benin from the late fifteenth to the early sixteenth century, played a key role in her son's military campaigns against the Igala people, which may have been over control of the Niger waterway. Benin finally won these wars and made the Igala king a vassal of the Oba. British Museum

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Head of a Queen Mother, Cast brass, Benin, Nigeria, 16th century. A special altar for Queen Mother was maintained within the royal city. Queen Idia, mother of Oba Esigie, king of Benin from the late fifteenth to the early sixteenth century, played a key role in her son's military campaigns against the Igala people, which may have been over control of the Niger waterway. Benin finally won these wars and made the Igala king a vassal of the Oba. British Museum

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Photo credit: © World History Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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