@Frank DeFalco that is what you did to your mother you still not better than the block race and the white man do not want you because you think you're white but you're not
The only value this art has, is to show the greatness of the whiteman, and the end of the slaving black. That is its only worth, worthless before being in the hands of the whites. Nothing but symbols of enslavement. Now they are symbols of freedom.
Stupid thought. Portuguese made them? So, where are the Portugueses' art works of their people to compare with the Benin pieces? None such exist. I don't bother to say Europeans are racist/prejudice anymore. I just think they are simple minded.
jb411000 They thought it was a possibility because the Portuguese were doing extensive trading with the Benin people at this time.. In fact much of the bronze are is of Portuguese soldiers and traders. You can find a lot of bronze statues and art all through out Europe during and before these works of art, as it had already gone through its bronze age long before the Benin works.
I'm European... Don't really appreciate being called racist, prejudiced and simple minded. Have a go at my ancestors all you like though, bunch of cunts with they were, or at least the elite land owning classes were.
@@aspeltaofkush3540 a troll is a person who starts quarrels or upsets people on the Internet to distract and sow discord by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community
@@muddyhotdog4103 you tell me instead Africa is viewed as savages while yet producing masterpieces of all varieties cultures arts sciences HUMANITY.. maybe the British crown should display their own masterpieces and give the world back its masterpieces leaving the crown worthless
@@iAm223 um, they do show their own materpieces. Dont be so salty nobody said that, you're taking things out of context acting like the museum/Britain is taking credit for them.. -THAT'S all I was saying. Also..-It's just a few examples, which most of the time are pieces borrowed, circulated, or copied (as are many shown here). I guess people should sit in their own bubbles and not have museums to learn about the world around them? Hmm, okkkk.
Really, poeple even when someone one apprieciate u can't stop the blame , stop this attitude, u will only have less supporters like this. Not all caucasian are the same nor do they approve of what thier ancestors did, in facts some will even changes things if given the opportunity. I am black too from Cameroon
What purpose is the scaring of the face?, why the elaborate head dress?, who was it made for?, Hmm I don't know maybe if you didn't steal it and actually learnt the significance of these questions you're asking from the native owners of the art you won't be cracking your skull to figure it out(which you never probably will by the way) how about that.
I was just thinking that. While they were there philosophizing about who made it, was it the Greeks or Atlantis, or how it was made, was it with wax or with whatever, they could have just asked the people and received simple answers... Dumb Asses
The current Ooni of Ife still wears this head dress today, why not just ask him for the significance, also he bears a marked resemblance to these bronze heads so I believe they were his forefathers
@@seismicvertigo345 They were convinced that we were not completely human beings. They still are. And that's their tragedy. They see themselves as tha alpha and the omega.
@david nichols Just refer to my first comment of this thread to know my point and stop beating around the bush. You think we dont know how some of those so called "works of strange human populations" got to your museums? You must be delusional to think we do not know you and your ways by now. Anyway you can tickle yourself and laugh.
Victor Mace 👍🏾ancient Egyptians were Black. Greece which is the cradle of European civilization was a colony of Kemet for more than 2000 years and it wasn’t until 700 BCE that the Greeks were finally allowed to attend the Egyptian mystery schools,(If the founders of ancient Egyptian civilization weren’t Greeks, then they could never be Caucasians. )This fatal mistake of Kemetians to allow the Greeks attend their mystery schools led to the conquest of Kemet by Alexander the Greek in Ca 300BCE. And this idiot ordered the libraries to be burnt down. Today some of the tribes like the Dogon of Mali still have the ancient knowledge. Other tribes in Africa hide their knowledge in great secrecy. Good so, we’re just waiting till these pink bastards go extinct.
This art is Beautiful. I love looking at the African facial features on the art. Imagine how much more Black art was stolen, or destroyed that we'll never see.
This whole patronizing video made me angry. EDIT: Also stop saying "Europeans couldn't believe african's could do this" say "Europeans made the decision to spin the narrative that africans couldn't do it, because it helped to allow them to become thieves and slavers".
It's called world history, they are learning and showing it to the world to show Africa in a good light.. What's wrong with that? Doing a lot more than it was under the dirt where they found it.
@@muddyhotdog4103 What's wrong with that? THINK ABOUT THAT STATEMENT? How would you like it if someone stole your belongings and stood on the street corner and displayed it? Would you be happy? Would you want it back? THINK!
@@sedaniels7330 Ohh, I didn't know these people were still alive.. I'm sorry.. pffff lmfao. Umm YA, if I died knowing people in the far future were going to preserve, respect, and idolize my work then I would be happy about it. Are you f'ing kidding me?
@@muddyhotdog4103 Actually what amazes me is Europeans/White Americans are fascinated with African, Caribbean, and South America culture and artifacts, create a narrative without truly learning about the people and then wish to claim these people are inferior. You know what I respect about the Scandinavians? They have many museums that show THEIR culture. Everything from their arts, music, lifestyle, innovations etc.
@@magsbayou Umm, ya and there's also whites along with other ethnicity's fascinated with all kinds of worldly histories like the dinosaurs, Homo-erectus to Homo-Sapiens, Vikings, Romans/Greeks, Mongolians, and the list goes on forever so what's your point.. Britain, the USA, Italy, Russia you name it have museums showing the culture's and people from the past that inhabited those lands too.. China has museums dedicated to the history of Africa, Rome, ect too.. And no, the people who study these things have great respect for them.. I heard nothing said about these people were inferior or anything in this video.. What's wrong with learning about the history of humans? Archaeology fascinates me and I love learning about people from the past. A lot of these things we would know NOTHING about if people didn't study and learn about them. We might not even know about these Benin bronzes if archaeologists didn't take time to find them, along with many other things in this world. I would agree that Nigeria needs to have the best pieces and majority of them as well, I'm all for that.. And they actually ARE building a museum in Nigeria to take them back. yaaaaay.. Stop thinking so hard into this stuff.
find a way to give then back. there is truly a spiritual side to this cultural collection it represent one of an age old representation of that time in their history so please.
It absolutely is. Just like the horserider from Ife sculpture. It was said to tell the story of how the scultpting art process was exchanged between the Yorubas and the Benins. The 2d plaques were definitely historical documents and the images protruding from their surfaces tell of events. Those were palace documents
@Ooki Cooki wrong the dna test of tutankhamun show he was a bantu negroid type also ramses 2 mummy with the blonde hair is a bantu negroid by dna test, the dna test was done by : dna tribes organization and was published worldwide you are thus fully wrong
@Ooki Cooki That was much later. Egypt existed several thousands of years before Greek or Roman occupation. This like Arab and Persian invasion happened much later.
All next to each other they look eerily real, you can perfectly distinguish them from each other as they're all so filled with personality and humanity.
We have ancient oral traditional that dates our ancestry with ancient kemite. All this information is in our oral traditional. we are unlettered folks, our stories are told my others as they see fit. We are spiritual beings, we lost our heritage when we started receiving and adopting European cultures. Our stories are retold in English language, not always accurate
@@victorogunjimi2206 Bro Egypt ain't middle East. However Ancient Israel was never in Morden day Israel. All happened in Africa. Our ancestors are the ancient people of the bible being retold to us but whitewashed.
At 3:02 the narrator, referring to the Head of Ife, asks, "Why are there holes around the mouth and running along the cheek bone to the ear?" I knew the answer when at 8:30 the narrator talks about 18 head sculptures that were unearthed near the palace of the king of Ife. Those examples show the same kinds of holes above the foreheads extending from ear to ear. They look so much like old fashioned china dolls that had holes perforating their skulls so hair plugs could be attached. So perhaps the narrator answered his own question. Could the holes around the mouth and cheeks be for a mustache and beard? and perhaps the other sculptured heads were of women or shaven men or youths?
@Debra Turner I don't think they care or believe, just look at those so called god fearing evangelical christians in the U.S.A. they been preaching God for year and when their man ran they showed who they were, they voted Trump into office and he one of the biggest Devil ever and they still are backing him
@Debra Turner we all need the Lord... May we pray for them and call them all to repentance and pray that they come to put their trust in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life ..for He is coming soon with the clouds!
This is SERIOUS art. It’s phenomenal. Very serious pieces, handmade…… & people never really deep the level of craftsmanship enough. They’re 1:1 busts of real people, in METAL wtf CARVED BY HAND… 12th-15th century BC ….. let it sink in As in “caucasians” hadn’t even conceived that dimension of artistry yet. They hadn’t even named themselves CAUCASIANS yet !!!! My Lord God bless Africa
ummm. they were building sky-reaching cathedrals, defensive castles, sewing large tapestries, chanting intricate hymns, progressing just fine in painting, and not half bad in sculptures...
no i'm pretty sure that was much later colonialism for resources and empire. not saying it wasn't horrible. but it wasn't because they were "jealous", that's just stupid. also it doesn't have anything to do with my point that the original comment's idea that Europeans hadn't reached that level of artistry is just plain stupid and wishful too.
@@MH-sm5qk LMAOOOOO stop pulling shit outta ur ass. Show us European artwork from the 12th century then😂😂 do you even know when the 12th century was? That’s the 1200s. Italy didn’t go thru their art renaissance till the 1400s and England not till the 16th century. And Blumenbach doesn’t come up with the psuedo-intellectual mumbo jumbo “eugenics/Race Theory” till the 16-17th century when the word ‘Caucasian’ starts to pop up LMAO. So once again stop pulling stuff out of your ass. Also, Europeans did a lot of shit to the others based off envy😂😂wtf do you think the Berlin conference was for. Get the fuck outta here u gaslighter
What moden EUROPEANS failed to realize it that throughout civilization Africans moved about free trading and sharing culture. The ancients interact at a higher level with greater integrity than modern generations.
The video clearly says that most of the original bronzes remain in Africa in the possession of the Ooni (king) of Ife and that most of the heads shown here are copies. Nevertheless, so little refined metal sculpture created in subsaharan Africa survives, all art objects should go back to Nigeria regardless of how they were acquired by collectors and museums. (Actually less than 200 Classical Greek bronze statues survive.) I suggest that the government of Nigeria purchase back as many as possible by its own resources or donations. There are currently at least 20 Nigerian billionaires. The cost would be small considering their value to the people of Nigeria. Many British naively thought they had found savages when they entered Africa. Nigerian arts, literature, science, architecture, peace, and prosperity continue to demonstrate that they were wrong.
I love the comments, the info is researchable.... and reeeeeesearch more. Discover who and what Africa was in its entirety and still is. The more I learn...being honest the angrier I get etc. History is there for the knowledge, learn more from it and we will have already overcome.
Oodua descended from sky and made the land to expand after the 200 god's name it Ile ife, to appeal lamorodu from mecca as the ooni decided to leave his priest job to take the position as oodua of ife while his father aliveb show the god's are really wise at ife.
@@charlesogansuyi9152 "We believe in Osanobua, the supreme god or Oghanosa, who is the creator of the world. The Bini believe that Osanabua created the earth. Afterwards, three or four other spiritual entities or beings came down to inhabit the earth." - Chief Priest of Benin,Isekhure "Osanobua then came down on a chain, from the sky, to demarcate the earth and allocate responsibilities. Osanobua appointed the youngest son as ruler of the earth. The son called the earth (Agbon) and promptly set up his headquarters at Igodomigodo." -Source- Benin Royal family of North America
When the Romans invaded England none of the English knew to write or read but we Black Africans built all the pyramids and a great civilisation in Kemet(now called Egypt), in Nubia and all over in Africa. If all the museums must return everything they stole in Africa, nothing will be left in those museums.
Btw the brass head did not turn black with a green tint naturally rather the British took care of the same heads and plaques the same way they did with their bronzes which caused them to loose their GOLDEN appearance. Just wanted to clarify that :)
Nigeria did not exist back then...And all Nigerian are not Yoruba. As you know there are many Yoruba people in west africa. The kingdom streched to the (now) Republic of Benin.
Yoruba Believes The Head Is The Most Important Aspect Of Human. Many Of Their Scrupture Has Large Head. What does head means to Yoruba? Ori (known as Orí in Latin America) is a Yoruba metaphysical concept. Ori, literally meaning "head," refers to one's spiritual intuition and destiny. It is the reflective spark of human consciousness embedded into the human essence, and therefore is often personified as an Orisa in its own right. It is believed by the Yoruba religion that human beings are able to heal themselves both spiritually and physically by working with the Orisa to achieve a balanced character, or iwa-pele. When one has a balanced character, one obtains an alignment with one's Ori or divine self. It is also believed that Ori be worshiped like Orisha. When things are not going right, Ori should be consulted. And to make things right Ori should be appeased. This is because whatever one becomes or whatever happens in one's life is as destined by Ori.
The same Greeks had to learn from the Africans who is much older in civilization, and after all that you all have witness in Egypt , Sudan, Zimbabwe, Timbuktu, and countless others yet you still question what Africans can and cannot do, beats me
This really pissed me off... The head is the symbol and the face of oduduwa. It has more significance than any other stolen artifacts and it's a shame that it's sitting in a British museum.
@@jmcnair444 You get rid of like half of the documentary's length if you just have one person say 'oh it was definitely this' with no explanation, to be fair. And it wouldn't be in the British Museum if the Benin Kingdom hadn't been enslaving people.
Those artifacts was stolen from my ancestors and these crooks are making money off of stolen property. That's a crime that should be tried in a world court as a crime against humanity.
power recognizes power, unless Africa unites & put aside religious & tribal differences the attitude towards Africa & its people & its property will never change, & the way I see it Europe & Asia has got Africa & African people by the nuts economically, that's why countries can come into Africa as an economic hitman & take or buy very cheap African resources. unity is a strength.
sammy...things are rapidly changing though. Africa is on the path to complete unity. They just implemented the Africa free trade area. Next will be adopting one continental currency, one passport and finally the creation of the United States of Africa. No more looting of African resources by Western vultures.
@@cypriantertullian7495I hope so. one should keep an eye on missionaries & do-gooders from Europe & America, not forgetting black sellouts. WE HAVE NO FRIENDS.
All complaints aside, I think I know what the little holes are for. They could be for sewing on hair and facial hair! It's just a thought, but it makes sense and seems to fit where the holes were made. Brilliant pieces or art, these are! Just lovely! And so realistic I can almost see them speaking.
I had a translation in my language of this documentary in my channel and it was bloked and quickly deleted. And this is here since 2014! Please, tell me this "magic". What can I do to don't receve warnings from youtube? Even wanting to pay to have right to post things they simple don't answered me. What can I do?
The dating is terrible, 800 years ago Ife and her neighbors had already stopped heavy markings on themselves to just the few, light or bold on the cheeks!
The title is incomplete and misleading. The incompleteness has to do with the missing word...STOLEN. the misleading part has to do with implying that the masterpieces were of British origin.
All those stolen African priceless artifacts in a British museum should raise a lot of Red Flags the moment you see them in that place.. Does anyone ask where and how did they get them?? HMMM!!?..
They got it from being the dominant world power for over a century and having the largest empire in history with one quarter of the world under their thumbs. You're very late being outraged over things that occurred hundreds of years ago. I do believe they should give them back, just make replicas and give the originals back, people will still go to the museum to see the replicas.
UA-cam comments usually range from the frightening to the frighteningly stupid, but the comments here are giving me life. Ordinary people in the comments basically sounding smarter than the blind 'experts' in the documentary
I just visited the British Museum it's so sad. They separate Egypt like is not in Africa . The civilization it's too great to be African it will be conflicting to the propaganda they preach.
Egypt is on the island of Crete! They'll never admit Egyptian civilization is African. Happily there's an awakening and the truth their scholars knew for years is coming. Would they have chopped of noses of egyptian statues if they were "fine aquiline Grecian noses".
These items were not removed. They were looted, and now the British museum proudly displays them, without any apparent remorse. Fitting, for a colonial exhibition.
And why they try to make it as if Egypt is not in Africa. They say the colossal bust of ramases in Egypt, but in Africa when it come to the ifa bust. Egypt is apart of Africa if u ask the people from there and look at the map. False history leads to false perceptions, but of course the devil is the 😈.
#MightyMelanatedNation twalk Western Narrative mate as Egypt is in Africa so is Saudi Arabia in West Asia. But they divided the world according to their views. Very sad state of affairs.
Still with the lies, the Ife bronzes are MUCH older than that, over a thousand years old and some African historians say they closer to 2000 years old.
looking at this British artist trying to decipher how these bronze head sculptures were made is quite hilarious! dude, you will never know keep presupposing
Those that committed this actrocity against Benin kingdom,only God that will give them what they truly deserves. Because,what they did was totally evil and barbaric
how don't like it how they imply the other styles of Africar are. I find them to be the most fascinating and beautiful, though these sculputures are also stunning
Sad how Ethiopia Government is literally one of the few, but if not only, country that got some or all of their artifacts back. They cherish their history. Embarrassing!
If it was found there, how pray tell could you continue to question the aptitude and capability of the African artists? Any absurdity to justify theft. These are the great ancestors of the same people that created Egyptian pharaonic art.
If the British continues to give back everything then only thing remaining in the British museum will be a stupid Queens portraits which no one will visit to see.
"In 1897, over 2000 works of art were removed from Benin City in Nigeria after the city was destroyed by British troops." The correct word is STOLEN.
@Frank DeFalco take one to know one dirty stinking low-life dog
@Frank DeFalco that is what you did to your mother you still not better than the block race and the white man do not want you because you think you're white but you're not
The only value this art has, is to show the greatness of the whiteman, and the end of the slaving black. That is its only worth, worthless before being in the hands of the whites. Nothing but symbols of enslavement. Now they are symbols of freedom.
@@viraldashboard7936 worthless to who exactly? Not for the people in Nigeria who sure he'll want their art objects back!
I can not believe this happened..What ya need to do is go to London and get your art work back !!! This is out of line !!!!!!!!!
I am just intrigued as a young black African of how much of our history is hidden from us
A lot. There are a lot of archaeological excavations to do on the whole african continent.
The Black African culture and physical appearance are rich, intriguing, and beautiful. It has been hidden on purpose.
@@anaangel5434 thank you for that insight sir/ madam, very much appreciated👌👌
This is freakn sad....
Do the research you would be amazed at our greatness
Stupid thought. Portuguese made them? So, where are the Portugueses' art works of their people to compare with the Benin pieces? None such exist. I don't bother to say Europeans are racist/prejudice anymore. I just think they are simple minded.
They can't help themselves I don't listen to their rubbish. The point is they will never return them my friend .
jb411000 They thought it was a possibility because the Portuguese were doing extensive trading with the Benin people at this time.. In fact much of the bronze are is of Portuguese soldiers and traders. You can find a lot of bronze statues and art all through out Europe during and before these works of art, as it had already gone through its bronze age long before the Benin works.
How about racist, prejudiced, and simple minded?
I'm European... Don't really appreciate being called racist, prejudiced and simple minded. Have a go at my ancestors all you like though, bunch of cunts with they were, or at least the elite land owning classes were.
@@aspeltaofkush3540 a troll is a person who starts quarrels or upsets people on the Internet to distract and sow discord by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community
Master pieces of the British museum or master pieces of Africa
Can't be both? Master pieces of Africa being showed in a British museum?
10:00 he says the British museum mostly have copies.
Master pieces of Nigeria
@@muddyhotdog4103 you tell me instead Africa is viewed as savages while yet producing masterpieces of all varieties cultures arts sciences HUMANITY.. maybe the British crown should display their own masterpieces and give the world back its masterpieces leaving the crown worthless
@@iAm223 um, they do show their own materpieces. Dont be so salty nobody said that, you're taking things out of context acting like the museum/Britain is taking credit for them.. -THAT'S all I was saying. Also..-It's just a few examples, which most of the time are pieces borrowed, circulated, or copied (as are many shown here). I guess people should sit in their own bubbles and not have museums to learn about the world around them? Hmm, okkkk.
Return the artifacts to Nigeria.
Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
Africans sold Africans to slavery. Fuck your art!
Why it might end up buried again
@Easter Worshipper oh hi again you
@Easter Worshipper do you remember me
Wish this had been title Masterpieces of Nigeria.
@VOTE UBISI Get with the times, we are the same race.
They stole everything from us Africa could be the richest country
Why would you want to do that? It’s beautiful and priceless art.
@@teaburg no we are not the same
Really, poeple even when someone one apprieciate u can't stop the blame , stop this attitude, u will only have less supporters like this. Not all caucasian are the same nor do they approve of what thier ancestors did, in facts some will even changes things if given the opportunity. I am black too from Cameroon
What purpose is the scaring of the face?, why the elaborate head dress?, who was it made for?, Hmm I don't know maybe if you didn't steal it and actually learnt the significance of these questions you're asking from the native owners of the art you won't be cracking your skull to figure it out(which you never probably will by the way) how about that.
I was just thinking that. While they were there philosophizing about who made it, was it the Greeks or Atlantis, or how it was made, was it with wax or with whatever, they could have just asked the people and received simple answers... Dumb Asses
The current Ooni of Ife still wears this head dress today, why not just ask him for the significance, also he bears a marked resemblance to these bronze heads so I believe they were his forefathers
That’s a sculpture of the Head of the great Oba Olokun
Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
@@seismicvertigo345 They were convinced that we were not completely human beings. They still are. And that's their tragedy. They see themselves as tha alpha and the omega.
Damn Ife look like he can come back to life
His name is Olokun (King of the Sea) not Ife.
The culture vultures
ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
Witch Chan Do they?
@Witch Chan Are you implying that you don't understand what I am implying?
@david nichols yet you have countless artifacts of unproductive people in your musuems? Give it all back.
Arrogant theives.
@david nichols Just refer to my first comment of this thread to know my point and stop beating around the bush. You think we dont know how some of those so called "works of strange human populations" got to your museums? You must be delusional to think we do not know you and your ways by now. Anyway you can tickle yourself and laugh.
The last time I looked on a map Egypt, with the Great pyramid and sphinx was in AFRICA..
@Victor Mace PREACH BROTHER👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
Michael Davis 😂😂😂
Victor Mace 👍🏾ancient Egyptians were Black. Greece which is the cradle of European civilization was a colony of Kemet for more than 2000 years and it wasn’t until 700 BCE that the Greeks were finally allowed to attend the Egyptian mystery schools,(If the founders of ancient Egyptian civilization weren’t Greeks, then they could never be Caucasians. )This fatal mistake of Kemetians to allow the Greeks attend their mystery schools led to the conquest of Kemet by Alexander the Greek in Ca 300BCE. And this idiot ordered the libraries to be burnt down. Today some of the tribes like the Dogon of Mali still have the ancient knowledge. Other tribes in Africa hide their knowledge in great secrecy. Good so, we’re just waiting till these pink bastards go extinct.
Beautiful bronzes and proof of the sophistication of pre-colonial Africa.
This art is Beautiful. I love looking at the African facial features on the art. Imagine how much more Black art was stolen, or destroyed that we'll never see.
This whole patronizing video made me angry.
EDIT: Also stop saying "Europeans couldn't believe african's could do this" say "Europeans made the decision to spin the narrative that africans couldn't do it, because it helped to allow them to become thieves and slavers".
So they are not ashame to display something that don't belong to them , what a shame
It's called world history, they are learning and showing it to the world to show Africa in a good light.. What's wrong with that? Doing a lot more than it was under the dirt where they found it.
@@muddyhotdog4103 What's wrong with that? THINK ABOUT THAT STATEMENT? How would you like it if someone stole your belongings and stood on the street corner and displayed it? Would you be happy? Would you want it back? THINK!
@@sedaniels7330 Ohh, I didn't know these people were still alive.. I'm sorry.. pffff lmfao. Umm YA, if I died knowing people in the far future were going to preserve, respect, and idolize my work then I would be happy about it. Are you f'ing kidding me?
@@muddyhotdog4103 Actually what amazes me is Europeans/White Americans are fascinated with African, Caribbean, and South America culture and artifacts, create a narrative without truly learning about the people and then wish to claim these people are inferior. You know what I respect about the Scandinavians? They have many museums that show THEIR culture. Everything from their arts, music, lifestyle, innovations etc.
@@magsbayou Umm, ya and there's also whites along with other ethnicity's fascinated with all kinds of worldly histories like the dinosaurs, Homo-erectus to Homo-Sapiens, Vikings, Romans/Greeks, Mongolians, and the list goes on forever so what's your point.. Britain, the USA, Italy, Russia you name it have museums showing the culture's and people from the past that inhabited those lands too.. China has museums dedicated to the history of Africa, Rome, ect too.. And no, the people who study these things have great respect for them.. I heard nothing said about these people were inferior or anything in this video.. What's wrong with learning about the history of humans? Archaeology fascinates me and I love learning about people from the past. A lot of these things we would know NOTHING about if people didn't study and learn about them. We might not even know about these Benin bronzes if archaeologists didn't take time to find them, along with many other things in this world. I would agree that Nigeria needs to have the best pieces and majority of them as well, I'm all for that.. And they actually ARE building a museum in Nigeria to take them back. yaaaaay..
Stop thinking so hard into this stuff.
find a way to give then back. there is truly a spiritual side to this cultural collection it represent one of an age old representation of that time in their history so please.
Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
FIND A WAY? TO MY MIND IT'S SIMPLE. JUST PACK THEM UP AND SEND THEM BACK DAMN IT!!
This is not "Art". I believe this is one of Africans' ways of telling the story of their past; instead of writing.
That's a stupid comment
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 it not art is pictures
It absolutely is. Just like the horserider from Ife sculpture. It was said to tell the story of how the scultpting art process was exchanged between the Yorubas and the Benins. The 2d plaques were definitely historical documents and the images protruding from their surfaces tell of events. Those were palace documents
True. They were recorders/chroniclers of important events, incidents and happenings like media of today do
The art is stunning. Beautiful.
Same way they refuse to say we build the Pyramid's.
@SARAI Dawta of ISRAEL there is nothing delicate about pig skin lol
So who built it ??? If not the people pfff
@@ReneeDougan-yu5bm garlic pork breath
@Ooki Cooki wrong the dna test of tutankhamun show he was a bantu negroid type also ramses 2 mummy with the blonde hair is a bantu negroid by dna test, the dna test was done by : dna tribes organization and was published worldwide you are thus fully wrong
@Ooki Cooki That was much later. Egypt existed several thousands of years before Greek or Roman occupation. This like Arab and Persian invasion happened much later.
I wonder how many unexplainable works of art were simply melted down or destroyed...
Exactly!
OR why didnt they take gold as payment in stead of families of people?
And black people still believe that lie... like white Jesus
All next to each other they look eerily real, you can perfectly distinguish them from each other as they're all so filled with personality and humanity.
Those are incredible!
We have ancient oral traditional that dates our ancestry with ancient kemite. All this information is in our oral traditional. we are unlettered folks, our stories are told my others as they see fit. We are spiritual beings, we lost our heritage when we started receiving and adopting European cultures. Our stories are retold in English language, not always accurate
@@victorogunjimi2206 Bro Egypt ain't middle East. However Ancient Israel was never in Morden day Israel. All happened in Africa. Our ancestors are the ancient people of the bible being retold to us but whitewashed.
British Museum is like the Thief's brazen display of his loot
At 3:02 the narrator, referring to the Head of Ife, asks, "Why are there holes around the mouth and running along the cheek bone to the ear?" I knew the answer when at 8:30 the narrator talks about 18 head sculptures that were unearthed near the palace of the king of Ife. Those examples show the same kinds of holes above the foreheads extending from ear to ear. They look so much like old fashioned china dolls that had holes perforating their skulls so hair plugs could be attached. So perhaps the narrator answered his own question. Could the holes around the mouth and cheeks be for a mustache and beard? and perhaps the other sculptured heads were of women or shaven men or youths?
sound like they been racist for a long time, next they'll be saying that aliens came down and made them
Hahaahahaha
Just like they did the pyramids
@Debra Turner I don't think they care or believe, just look at those so called god fearing evangelical christians in the U.S.A. they been preaching God for year and when their man ran they showed who they were, they voted Trump into office and he one of the biggest Devil ever and they still are backing him
@Debra Turner we all need the Lord... May we pray for them and call them all to repentance and pray that they come to put their trust in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life ..for He is coming soon with the clouds!
Loool!😂
Its genius stuff, wonderful workmanship...
The repatriation of these Nigerian relics is a must.
Yoruba relics
No European reason for how African art was crafted, is valid...!!
Let the Benin People speak about the sculptures & God will be happy...
Ile Ife not Benin people
This is SERIOUS art. It’s phenomenal.
Very serious pieces, handmade…… & people never really deep the level of craftsmanship enough.
They’re 1:1 busts of real people, in METAL wtf
CARVED BY HAND…
12th-15th century BC ….. let it sink in
As in “caucasians” hadn’t even conceived that dimension of artistry yet. They hadn’t even named themselves CAUCASIANS yet !!!! My Lord God bless Africa
I dig you fam...I feel you 💪🏾
ummm. they were building sky-reaching cathedrals, defensive castles, sewing large tapestries, chanting intricate hymns, progressing just fine in painting, and not half bad in sculptures...
no i'm pretty sure that was much later colonialism for resources and empire. not saying it wasn't horrible. but it wasn't because they were "jealous", that's just stupid. also it doesn't have anything to do with my point that the original comment's idea that Europeans hadn't reached that level of artistry is just plain stupid and wishful too.
@@MH-sm5qk LMAOOOOO stop pulling shit outta ur ass. Show us European artwork from the 12th century then😂😂 do you even know when the 12th century was? That’s the 1200s. Italy didn’t go thru their art renaissance till the 1400s and England not till the 16th century. And Blumenbach doesn’t come up with the psuedo-intellectual mumbo jumbo “eugenics/Race Theory” till the 16-17th century when the word ‘Caucasian’ starts to pop up LMAO. So once again stop pulling stuff out of your ass. Also, Europeans did a lot of shit to the others based off envy😂😂wtf do you think the Berlin conference was for. Get the fuck outta here u gaslighter
Everything good is stolen from Africa - the Spiritual importance of these Heads ... make them priceless too good to be returned
What moden EUROPEANS failed to realize it that throughout civilization Africans moved about free trading and sharing culture. The ancients interact at a higher level with greater integrity than modern generations.
The video clearly says that most of the original bronzes remain in Africa in the possession of the Ooni (king) of Ife and that most of the heads shown here are copies. Nevertheless, so little refined metal sculpture created in subsaharan Africa survives, all art objects should go back to Nigeria regardless of how they were acquired by collectors and museums. (Actually less than 200 Classical Greek bronze statues survive.) I suggest that the government of Nigeria purchase back as many as possible by its own resources or donations. There are currently at least 20 Nigerian billionaires. The cost would be small considering their value to the people of Nigeria. Many British naively thought they had found savages when they entered Africa. Nigerian arts, literature, science, architecture, peace, and prosperity continue to demonstrate that they were wrong.
Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
And just WHY should we purchase back what rightfully belongs to us?
Egypt is in Africa.
Wow, this is amazing! 😮
I love the comments, the info is researchable.... and reeeeeesearch more. Discover who and what Africa was in its entirety and still is. The more I learn...being honest the angrier I get etc. History is there for the knowledge, learn more from it and we will have already overcome.
Ile-Ife, meaning "land that expand." Yoruba mythology says creation started at Ile-Ife. It's home to over 200 gods.
Look for a benin speaking yoruba person and ask the meaning of ile-ife, pure Benin word not mythology. Stop misleading urself.
Nigeria is not a country
@@charlesogansuyi9152 Stop misleading yourself.... you meant to say Yoruba speaking Benin person.
Oodua descended from sky and made the land to expand after the 200 god's name it Ile ife, to appeal lamorodu from mecca as the ooni decided to leave his priest job to take the position as oodua of ife while his father aliveb show the god's are really wise at ife.
@@charlesogansuyi9152 "We believe in Osanobua, the supreme god or Oghanosa, who is the creator of the world. The Bini believe that Osanabua created the earth. Afterwards, three or four other spiritual entities or beings came down to inhabit the earth." - Chief Priest of Benin,Isekhure
"Osanobua then came down on a chain, from the sky, to demarcate the earth and allocate responsibilities. Osanobua appointed the youngest son as ruler of the earth. The son called the earth (Agbon) and promptly set up his headquarters at Igodomigodo." -Source- Benin Royal family of North America
When the Romans invaded England none of the English knew to write or read but we Black Africans built all the pyramids and a great civilisation in Kemet(now called Egypt), in Nubia and all over in Africa.
If all the museums must return everything they stole in Africa, nothing will be left in those museums.
dude, these bronze heads look like real people
If they would have found them in Egypt they would say they weren't black, yet the style of sculpting looks like it's from the Nile region.
No it’s not
Lets not do this lets not participate in cultural erasure this is yourba art.
@@crepe80 looks like, ofcourse it's not from the Nile region. The same way bead and metal ornaments look alike inside Africa.
Btw the brass head did not turn black with a green tint naturally rather the British took care of the same heads and plaques the same way they did with their bronzes which caused them to loose their GOLDEN appearance. Just wanted to clarify that :)
Europeans are toxic when it comes to African and or human history don’t trust anything they say because they really want to control the narrative
Those monsters stole all of that African art!
They continue to deny the Majesty of Afrika!!!
I have a great idea! Why not ask the Africans!?
Believe or not, those art works were made by Nigerians
Ah... yes! It's a Well known fact
Nigeria did not exist back then...And all Nigerian are not Yoruba. As you know there are many Yoruba people in west africa. The kingdom streched to the (now) Republic of Benin.
*They were made by Yorubas
@@seismicvertigo345 Benin kingdom is not yoruba
@@readfrank5577Yoruba not benin
Yoruba Believes The Head Is The Most Important Aspect Of Human. Many Of Their Scrupture
Has Large Head. What does head means to Yoruba?
Ori (known as Orí in Latin America) is a Yoruba metaphysical concept.
Ori, literally meaning "head," refers to one's spiritual intuition and destiny. It is the reflective spark of human consciousness embedded into the human essence, and therefore is often personified as an Orisa in its own right. It is believed by the Yoruba religion that human beings are able to heal themselves both spiritually and physically by working with the Orisa to achieve a balanced character, or iwa-pele. When one has a balanced character, one obtains an alignment with one's Ori or divine self. It is also believed that Ori be worshiped like Orisha. When things are not going right, Ori should be consulted. And to make things right Ori should be appeased. This is because whatever one becomes or whatever happens in one's life is as destined by Ori.
Beautiful
Calling Africans backwards 🤣who civilized the Greeks?🤔
For those who don't believe we created these crafts.
Bitch Africa is the birth place of art.
The same Greeks had to learn from the Africans who is much older in civilization, and after all that you all have witness in Egypt , Sudan, Zimbabwe, Timbuktu, and countless others yet you still question what Africans can and cannot do, beats me
Exactly.
Forgotten African high cultural civivisision, thousand years ago?
Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
So many backhanded compliments. How many times do you have to mention that Europeans thought Africans were backwards? We get it damn.
THEY still take advantage of the continent today
This really pissed me off... The head is the symbol and the face of oduduwa. It has more significance than any other stolen artifacts and it's a shame that it's sitting in a British museum.
Yeah cause they stole it !!!!!
It's Oduduwa! That's who's face it is, they make a documentary asking questions that could easily be answered by a Yoruba person
@@jmcnair444 You get rid of like half of the documentary's length if you just have one person say 'oh it was definitely this' with no explanation, to be fair. And it wouldn't be in the British Museum if the Benin Kingdom hadn't been enslaving people.
Those artifacts was stolen from my ancestors and these crooks are making money off of stolen property. That's a crime that should be tried in a world court as a crime against humanity.
All they do is exploit, lie, rewrite, hide, manipulate, steal and oppress
power recognizes power, unless Africa unites & put aside religious & tribal differences the attitude towards Africa & its people & its property will never change, & the way I see it Europe & Asia has got Africa & African people by the nuts economically, that's why countries can come into Africa as an economic hitman & take or buy very cheap African resources. unity is a strength.
sammy...things are rapidly changing though. Africa is on the path to complete unity. They just implemented the Africa free trade area. Next will be adopting one continental currency, one passport and finally the creation of the United States of Africa. No more looting of African resources by Western vultures.
@@cypriantertullian7495I hope so. one should keep an eye on missionaries & do-gooders from Europe & America, not forgetting black sellouts. WE HAVE NO FRIENDS.
Also,numerous other sophisticated diciplines.Most accurate forms of verifiable divination that I have 'ever,ever,' experienced.
Great documentary would love to have /see you guys incorporate more Africans in the story telling aspect.
I am from Ile Ife and my heart aches
Give back Africa it's treasures NOW!!!!!!
Couldnt beleive Africans were capable...unbelievable
Interesting art👍
We can only tell our story ourselves
Return these works to us, it doesn't belong to Britain.
All complaints aside, I think I know what the little holes are for. They could be for sewing on hair and facial hair! It's just a thought, but it makes sense and seems to fit where the holes were made. Brilliant pieces or art, these are! Just lovely! And so realistic I can almost see them speaking.
We don't attach hair to it.
I like the Ife heads as they make me feel peaceful and they look so calm and dignified. I also like the music at the start of this video.
I had a translation in my language of this documentary in my channel and it was bloked and quickly deleted. And this is here since 2014! Please, tell me this "magic". What can I do to don't receve warnings from youtube? Even wanting to pay to have right to post things they simple don't answered me. What can I do?
The dating is terrible, 800 years ago Ife and her neighbors had already stopped heavy markings on themselves to just the few, light or bold on the cheeks!
The title is incomplete and misleading. The incompleteness has to do with the missing word...STOLEN. the misleading part has to do with implying that the masterpieces were of British origin.
All those stolen African priceless artifacts in a British museum should raise a lot of Red Flags the moment you see them in that place.. Does anyone ask where and how did they get them?? HMMM!!?..
They got it from being the dominant world power for over a century and having the largest empire in history with one quarter of the world under their thumbs. You're very late being outraged over things that occurred hundreds of years ago. I do believe they should give them back, just make replicas and give the originals back, people will still go to the museum to see the replicas.
RETURN WHAT YOU HAVE STOLEN!!!!
Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
Nä We open their eyes. The evidence is scattered in all corner of the world🇳🇬
Sadden me to see this. Psalm 83.
SHALOM ISRAEL..they still learning from us...
Africans made these sculpers as they make pieces that look like themselves!!
The past will always hunt the British folks
UA-cam comments usually range from the frightening to the frighteningly stupid, but the comments here are giving me life. Ordinary people in the comments basically sounding smarter than the blind 'experts' in the documentary
heres one: Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
The crown looks like hes omo Chango or Shango also He can be a babalawo. The only one i know with hair in the front is elegua
That's the traditional crown of OONI - The title of the king of Ife
Great Ancient ife Kingdom (Land of expansion)
Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
Land of Blood
@@NeptunesLagoon
ile ife ≠ benin
just saying
@@Jayzonny Nope, just sayin... SMH
@@Jayzonny ife is a state in yoroba
@@Jayzonny Ile ife or Otu ife is the origin of Yoruba people it means land of expansion where the yoruba race began before their current location
I’m just sad that Attenborough fronted up in this doco. He just ads himself to the long list of apologists to the theft of these treasures.
Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
Way to completely miss the purpose of the narration. Did you even watch it?
so the statue of Ramases is not in the African section...
I just visited the British Museum it's so sad. They separate Egypt like is not in Africa . The civilization it's too great to be African it will be conflicting to the propaganda they preach.
Unfortunately they practice this method of separating Egypt from Africa at the Metropolitan museum in New York City as well
Egypt is on the island of Crete! They'll never admit Egyptian civilization is African. Happily there's an awakening and the truth their scholars knew for years is coming. Would they have chopped of noses of egyptian statues if they were "fine aquiline Grecian noses".
I cry, mamma Africa. 😕😕😕
These items were not removed. They were looted, and now the British museum proudly displays them, without any apparent remorse. Fitting, for a colonial exhibition.
We still have the same supremacist pressing thumbs down.
And why they try to make it as if Egypt is not in Africa. They say the colossal bust of ramases in Egypt, but in Africa when it come to the ifa bust. Egypt is apart of Africa if u ask the people from there and look at the map. False history leads to false perceptions, but of course the devil is the 😈.
#MightyMelanatedNation twalk Western Narrative mate as Egypt is in Africa so is Saudi Arabia in West Asia. But they divided the world according to their views. Very sad state of affairs.
We need our materials back ASAP
The holes were for mounting fibers to mimic hairs african art was very advanced
Still with the lies, the Ife bronzes are MUCH older than that, over a thousand years old and some African historians say they closer to 2000 years old.
#OduduwaRepublic
Benin was destroyed for a disgusting reason: ua-cam.com/video/RzIyUamUYFU/v-deo.html
looking at this British artist trying to decipher how these bronze head sculptures were made is quite hilarious! dude, you will never know keep presupposing
Put it back
Been to the British Museum many times, the real ironic thing is, there is virtually nothing from Britain in the whole place.
Those that committed this actrocity against Benin kingdom,only God that will give them what they truly deserves. Because,what they did was totally evil and barbaric
AMEN TO THAT
The Benin Kingdom was still practising slavery into the late 19th century.
Nigerians are the descendants of slave traders.
how don't like it how they imply the other styles of Africar are. I find them to be the most fascinating and beautiful, though these sculputures are also stunning
I see people that look like that every day.
Sad how Ethiopia Government is literally one of the few, but if not only, country that got some or all of their artifacts back. They cherish their history. Embarrassing!
If it was found there, how pray tell could you continue to question the aptitude and capability of the African artists? Any absurdity to justify theft. These are the great ancestors of the same people that created Egyptian pharaonic art.
GIVE ALL OF IT BACK!
Can we get them back plz.
If the British continues to give back everything then only thing remaining in the British museum will be a stupid Queens portraits which no one will visit to see.
Lol
Actually the land of Ife is believed to be the beginning of civilisation.
Give It Back.
We made it by ourselves. Africa