There are many kinds of demonstrating power within a cultural sphere. Throughout cultures of the world, power has always been the main feature that defines brotherly rove. In societies like Benin and Japan, power is held by these with the power of killing, whereas in northwest coast culture the power to kill was alone a representative symbol of the powerful, which were actually the wealthiest. Furthermore, when we consider the jam relation between politics and religion and how they influence amicable formula held by individuals, social structures turn a fix more complex. Nevertheless, there is one important characteristic overlap by the top level of all three cultures: hierarchy and power are always obtained by heredity.
When the first Lusitanian explorers reached the Kingdom of Benin in the late 15th century, they found everywhere around lots of heads make of terracotta, wood and brass. The heads had a rally importance in both the religion and dodgeistic spheres. The ones made of terracotta could be found on every ancestral communion table of rulers from the Ogyso dynasty or were kept as commemorative heads of important chiefs. On the other hand, the wonderful cast heads of brass were reserved for the ruler of the Kingdom, only for the Oba.
These heads represented not the current but the fall Oba, as the Benin people believed the head was the centre of thought, judgement, hearing, sight, speech, and life. Therefore, the head of the Oba took a particular significance and was believed to guarantee prosperity and health to the in all of society. This first differentiation among commemorative heads, that assigns a unique and gravid importance to those of the ruler and the defeated enemies, glitters clearly how works of art describe authority and hierarchy in Benin.
Besides the material used, Oba heads reflect his authority and...
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